How HR Systems Help Businesses During the COVID-19 Pandemic

HR teams are having to swiftly accommodate a new form of working. The pandemic has led to extreme changes throughout many industries and it is something few could have prepared for.  Even the most experienced HR professionals can struggle during these times if the right tools and resources are made available and utilised.

For any business wanting to thrive and not just survive this period in history, the basis of this is a strong HR department and an HR system by Cezanne is one of the best ways to give much-needed support throughout COVID-19.

Below, we discuss exactly how HR systems are helping HR departments, business owners and employees during this time.

1. In-House Tracking

HR systems can provide a way to track employee contact and should an employee fall victim to the virus, the right steps can be taken quickly to reduce the spread as much as possible.

HR systems have proven themselves to be more useful than ever before with this. As many staff are not following conventional shift patterns due to staggering to allow for social distancing or working from home intermittently, it can be difficult to see who has come into contact with each other.

Using HR systems to monitor traffic in the workplace not only allows managers to keep track of shifts but can provide a quick insight into who has been in the office when,

Absence management is another tool within HR systems, this can be anything from requesting holiday, allocating time off to care for family and sickness management.

Staff can log when they have had to take time off due to illness and declare symptoms and if they have had to visit doctors of hospitals and complete self-assessments for returning to work.

Options can now be added to flag coronavirus symptoms or positive test results. Managers can be alerted straight away and can analyse which members of staff should stay at home to prevent the spread.

2. Monitoring Mental Health

Half of workers have received no mental health support during the pandemic. HR teams are responsible for looking after the mental wellbeing of employees, regardless of a pandemic or not.

This lack of support isn’t always due to a shortage of willingness from employers, rather the means to implement this may seem complex.

Mental health has been impacted significantly since WHO announced the pandemic and detecting this within staff members can be increasingly difficult while so many are working remotely.

Unfortunately, many still see a stigma attached to mental health issues and aren’t willing to reach out themselves.

Video calling doesn’t always provide the best platform to analyse employees and gain an insight into their wellbeing as it can be deemed as impersonal and privacy is not always available to those working from home.

HR systems allow surveys and questionnaires to be created that staff can complete when they feel safe to do so. This can give an understanding of how an individual is doing and HR can take the appropriate steps to help.

 

Some staff may not wish to openly declare their mental state, so instead, questionnaires can be completed anonymously. Although individual aid may not be able to be provided with this way, patterns in diminishing mental health can be pinpointed and addressed. 

For example, certain teams may show higher signs of stress and anxiety, HR can then take action to give more support to this area.

3. Easy Communication

At the moment, quick workplace conversations and passing comments and requests while walking through the office are gone.

Remote working can bring up issues when it comes to communication, but it is crucial that communication is maintained to ensure the smooth running of the business.

Emails have been a basis for communication for many years, however, there is no way of tracking if these have actually been read and they can easily be lost within hectic inboxes.

Video calling has increased in popularity during lockdown, but this platform is not always the best place to relay large amounts of data, especially with the added risk of loss of slow connections.

HR systems allow a platform of communication that can be tailored to any need when wanting to share information.

Recipients can be grouped so only relevant teams receive this and managers can add trackers to see who has and has not read this. There are even options to ask colleagues to ‘tick and agree’ that they have read and understood this.

This means that everyone is up to date with vital information and there can be no confusion in the future over who this was related to.

4. Onboarding Processes

Recruitment has had to change alongside HR, no longer can candidates be invited for interviews and group assessments are out of the questions.

Similarly, if external recruitment was previously used, meeting with these professionals can be almost impossible.

HR systems can help with the full process, from advertising a role on multiple platforms, grouped candidates and contacting them regarding their application status and even collating information for new-starters and training schedules. 

5. Self-Service

HR departments are a notorious profession and every hour is precious for these employees. Too often are HR teams being inundated with requests for previous payslips, updating employee contact information or simply providing emails for other members in the organisation.

HR systems provide a self-service platform to employees who can access this from any device and in any location, meaning they can access what they need without having to make a request to HR.

These are just some of the ways HR systems are proving their worth during the pandemic. Businesses who already had these systems in place are finding new ways to adapt and change this software to suit their needs during this time, while those who previously didn’t have an HR system are now wondering how they ever coped without it.