A Human Resources Management view On Survival after Covid-19 in Nigeria
Whether telecommuting will permanently become the new norm for business operations or people will go back to their physical workspace in post covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria is yet uncertain. However, what is certain is that things will not exactly be the same again. Whatever the case may be, there are a number of skills that organizations will need to be able to overcome and survive the challenges and crisis that are inevitable after covid-19, strategic human resource management skills are some of those.
The success, long-term performance and business continuity of any organization heavily depend on the human resources in them. This means that the way an organization manages its human resources starting with their acquisition, to the way they are developed, motivated and retained determines the success or failure of the organization at any given time. Thus it is important for organizations to take a strategic and integrated approach towards the formulation and implementation of their HR functions and entire business functions in order to be able to stand the heat that is inevitable after covid-19.
A robust performance appraisal system is necessary to keep employees focused on the business objectives. A consciously crafted 360 degrees appraisal program which measures each employee’s performance holistically will identify performance gaps which the HR office through learning and development specialist will respond to by recommending appropriate training to fill skip gap for optimal performance expectation.
Strategic human resource management is a new approach to human resource management that links organization’s human resource management functions to organization’s overall objectives through HR activities such as recruitment, selection, training, reward and promotion. Strategic HR management identifies and aligns the skills possessed by the employees with the goals that are to be achieved by the organization. It ensures that HR management is “fully integrated into strategic planning, that HRM policies cohere both across policy areas and across hierarchies and that HRM policies are accepted and used by line managers as part of their everyday work”.
Effective implementation of strategic human resource management will help organizations survive and achieve competitive advantage in coming days after covid-19 in the following ways:
- Facilitate the identification, prioritization and exploitation of opportunities
- Allow an objective view of management problems
- Provide an integrated and co-operative approach to dealing with opportunities and problems
- Provide a framework that improves co-ordination and control of activities
- Provide a framework that enables effective internal communication among employees
- Help to integrate behaviors into total effort
- Reduce the effects of adverse conditions and changes as well as foster positive attitude towards change
- Allow for effective allocation and utilization of few available resources
CONCLUSION
Considering the current situation of things, it is not uncommon for one to fall into the thinking trap that post covid-19 will pose lots of challenges and difficulties to organizations. As undisputable as that is, it is also good to know that there are lots of business opportunities that will be available during the period. However, it is the ability to readily identify and maximize the opportunities that will guarantee the survival and business continuity of any organization. Strategic Human Resource Management skills will enable an organization to achieve optimization of limited resources, efficiency, effectiveness, and continuous improvement