Organizational Challenges Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

By: Lester Sobrevega

PSY 3204

INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

Instructor: Prince Joash L. Dacles, RPm

The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic adversely affected the fundamentals of how organizations
work. Organizations, from the smallest SMEs to the largest corporations, all have changed to
adapt and survive amidst the challenges presented by the pandemic. We see that organizations
persevered, but there are many that have buckled under the weight of these challenges and
perished. The pandemic is almost over, showing signs of fading, but the unpredictability of it
requires organizations to stay vigilant and have a robust system to ensure business continuity.
Here are some of the challenges that organizations faced amidst the pandemic, and some insights
on how they may better cope moving forward.

1. Reducing the impact and/or transmission of the virus

This was the first and most important challenge that organizations faced when the virus hit. The
outbreak of the highly contagious Covid-19 virus made all members of any organization
susceptible to being infected; it is important that the organization act as fast as possible to
minimize the number of infected individuals, and lessen the spread of the virus within the
organization. In order to centralize all efforts, organizations may wish to establish a core crisis
team to coordinate response efforts and define objectives. This team can also be responsible for
reviewing crisis and business continuity plans, developing different scenarios and putting them
to the test in order to prepare for unknown variables surrounding the outbreak. This team will act
as the go to personnel throughout the crisis, to ensure consistency across all departments and
functions. Centralization also allows the members of the crisis team better allocation of the
company's resources for faster turnaround time in the enactment of directives and plans.

2. Job security and employment status

The impact of the pandemic on organizations manifests in a lot of ways, but one thing that can be
immediately felt is its effects on job security and employment status. With the possibility of
employees falling ill, or not being able to carry out their duties for a number of factors, it is
extremely important that contingency plans are put in place for all critical roles. Firstly,
organizations need to identify these roles, determine the skills needed to fulfill these positions,
and establish who can replace these key individuals. In order to mitigate the loss of any critical
roles, human resources will need to identify any skill gaps, accelerate training of candidates
and/or search externally for suitable replacement candidates. Organizations may also need to
identify where they can free up capacity, and redeploy skills where most needed. It is also
important to manage employee expectations in the event of downsizing, keeping in mind the
trust and confidence that the employees have with the company, and how it also affects
productivity.

3. Maintaining flexibility

The pandemic changed the nature of how organizations conduct their business; during these
times it is important to remain flexible to be able to adjust to any unforeseen scenarios moving
forward. Companies will have to remain flexible and be willing to engage employees around
issues of workplace policies and culture to ensure they remain appealing. Flexibility is no longer
some fancy soft benefit employers can use to lure millennial workers under the guise of
work-life balance, it’s a need and an expectation for workers of all ages and backgrounds. One
good example is for working parents, flexibility is fast becoming a key component in how they
make their work fit into their lives and support from the organizations they work for is going to
be highly valuable to those people. Being able to apply different contingency plans and adjusting
work arrangements are invaluable to ensure business continuity like split-team arrangements,
work-from-home, flexible schedules.

4. Health and Wellness

The focus on health and wellness for all members of any organization remains paramount to the
survival of the organization. In addition to the physical stresses of the effects of the virus when
someone falls ill, its effect on the emotional and mental health of individuals cannot be
understated. Over the last year or so, mental health has become a key priority for employers and
organizations. As everything slowly shifts into a post-pandemic world, it will be important to
keep a close on wellness as employees deal with yet another change. There continues to be a
great deal of uncertainty for many employees when it comes to the health of loved ones, their job
security for the future and high levels of general anxiety surrounding world events. In line with
this, the safety of all employees is still of utmost importance. Employees may face different
health risks depending on the type of work they do, where they do it and their own health status.
Organizations face challenges in supporting different populations of workers and ensuring
fairness across the whole workforce. For those who still need to physically report to work,
organizations are still encouraged to monitor their employees' health and wellness.

5. Evolution of skills and training

The pandemic has shifted the basic processes of each organization, and it needs to be taken into
account that the change in these processes require an evolution of skills and knowledge. The
necessary updates that need to be made to existing skills and knowledge needs to be conducted
through training. It is also important to stress the importance of training during these times, as
there are a lot of employees that have been laid off due to downsizing of companies. Many of
those that were let go do not wish to go back and many of the aforementioned businesses require
people with different skills than they did just a few years ago. This evolution of desired skills
means companies now have to support the development of the workforce both internally and
externally. Internally, the development programs of learning and development will have to drive
development of new skills and identify people for emerging roles and leadership opportunities.
The delivery of training and development through new means like online meetings, conference
calls, and online learning systems also needs to be taken into account, and appropriate measures
must be taken to ensure proper delivery of said materials.

6. Performance management

Despite the pandemic, members of the organization are still required to meet performance
standards to ensure business continuity. With the stress on the health of the workforce, some
members of the organization may be required to perform at a higher productivity level, or even
the performance metrics may be pushed higher to account for the reduced workforce. In this
situation, measuring employees' performance during this crisis can be challenging, considering
the modification of the working conditions. Furthermore, there are many factors related to the
COVID-19 outbreak that may influence employees' performance. It is crucial for organizations
during this health crisis to maintain and strengthen their performance management process. They
should communicate relevant information related to the company's strategic direction to their
employees, to collect useful business data, and to provide feedback to them, which will help
these organizations to retain their talents. Keeping a robust performance management system
also ensures the company’s business continuity despite further challenges down the line.

7. Staffing and Hiring

It is undeniable that the pandemic also affected organizations' staffing and hiring processes.
Downsizing was heavily adopted by organizations by cutting back on recruitment of high-skill
jobs more than low-skill jobs, to reduce their costs and try to sustain their business. Laying off
employees is not an easy decision for organizations, but it might be inevitable in times of crisis
such as COVID-19. The main challenge of HRM practitioners, in this case, is to support
managers and employees during this process and to offer proper information. However, it might
not be easy in the context of uncertainty. Whether it’s the unbinding of work to geographic
location or changing the way how human resources interview, vet and screen people, companies
are having to rethink the recruitment process for a couple of reasons. First is the adaptation to the
era of remote work, allowing candidates to interview virtually in a process that is smooth and
transparent as a signal of company culture and values. Second is a greater push for diversity.
Reliance on traditional methods of recruiting, screening and vetting tools such as the resume are
going to have to change if companies are going to create a workforce that reflects that of our
society more accurately. Adoption of social media, off-site document submissions, and moving
to online meetings and interviews are just some of the ways that the inherent staffing and hiring
processes are changing for the better.
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