The impact of Covid19 from a HR perspective and lessons learned for the future

I sat down with Merilyn Speiser, Founder & Principal of Catalina Consultants to discuss the huge impact of Covid19 for businesses to date and some of the changes we can expect in the future.

We are well past the initial shock / transition period of WFH. Do you feel most companies have settled in to the “new normal” or are there still some major mountains to be climbed?

I think that most have settled in to a new normal quite well for now but moving forward the mountains will look different. What’s been great with the new normal is that business did adapt operationally really quickly and really well. Even the ones that had said ‘it will never happen, we will never agree to having people work from home it just won’t work for us’ – even they made it work. 

The main thing that allowed WFH to fall in to place so well was technology of course, we are just so advanced these days and it was a game changer. So, for short term it’s been great overall for many, but it’s the long term issues and implications yet to come that we need to be prepared for including the effects on mental health, culture and financial pressures. 

The last 6 months must have been incredibly busy for your team. What were the new issues that employees and employers were facing being in a pandemic for the first time?

The first thing people had to try and understand was the health issue itself, including the legalities and obligations. What should we do and what are we compelled to do in this scenario? For example employees were concerned to be on public transport and didn’t want to go in to work. Employers didn’t know what guidelines to work from and new ones weren’t out in time for many of their questions, as well as their employees questions. The uncertainty of it all created a lot of anxiety, we were all so used to having rules in place. 

The whole ‘stood down’ issue and the interpretation around this was also a very new matter for both employees and employers to try to understand. Previously this had come in to play primarily when there was a natural disaster and that’s not very common. If you remember, Qantas was a high profile company tackling this issue early on in the piece and it was covered extensively by the media, so employees and employers were asking a lot of questions based on how they saw it play out for them.

We were all turning to Fairwork for guidance in relation to these very new matters but it really wasn’t until Jobkeeper was announced that we got some much needed clarity around the issues that were rightly concerning employees and employers. Jobkeeper itself then became new legislation that people were trying to understand, including its ‘grey areas’. It was interesting to watch Accounting and HR teams come together and work very cohesively to decipher and communicate this new piece of legislation.

Having your workforce operating from home and understanding the work health and safety requirements became a huge issue for employers too. Having 1 or 2 people at home versus your whole workforce bought up many questions about what the rules were and how policy & procedure needed to change. Location of work needed to be changed in employment contracts and also in some awards. People were rightly grappling over what they can and can’t do. 

 Many roles are now moving to a part or full time ‘work from home’ capacity. Tell us the good, the bad and the ugly from a HR viewpoint, with this new style of working?

The best part about having staff work from home is that people feel safe. Having them enabled with technology that makes them visible and able to successfully perform their role from home has been another positive that I think many thought was unachievable. Resistance was there in the past to trust people at home and a change in that attitude had to be put on fast dial which was great to see. For a lot of people the elimination of a commute has also been a major positive.  

The bad has unfortunately included the fact that some people simply do not work well from home. It requires a certain kind of focus, including the ability to set structured start and finish times and not have that blur happening between your work world and home life. The blur as I like to call it makes people really unproductive, sometimes without even knowing it.

Another challenge was with people who were new or junior to an organisation, unfortunately what we saw on numerous occasions was that the mandatory work from home scenario was a little bit disastrous for them if quality onboarding was not put in place. Isolation when you are in a new role or just learning is rarely going to be a good thing if you are not supported. These individuals are often seeking the certainty that they gain by just being around peers, mentors and Managers.

And of course the ugly is the mental health issues, which will take time to unfold. We have unfortunately seen issues of depression and anxiety due to loneliness, as well as susceptibility to domestic violence. For some people the workplace is their safe place not the other way around. OH&S is not just about a workstation set up and some people are and will slip under the radar as to whether they are in fact ok. 

Some individuals will have demonstrated that they are super productive at home and others won’t have performed so well. Both will be asking about long term work from home options. How will this work?

The legal position is that when you come out of lock down where employees must work at home, you have a right to mandate that it is on their contract that they perform their duties at a work address and they need to return to the office. These were pre Covid rules and they remain the same, everyone can go back to that as long as a safe and healthy workplace is provided. There is nothing in an award or in legislation that would allow an employee to take action against this.

However Managers can have the discretion to offer individuals the opportunity to amend employment contracts and have them work either part or full time from home, regardless of performance. Of course we recommend best practice in these scenarios and having a business case that proves employees being offered work from home options have achieved deliverables is ideal – but ultimately the employer can be brave as they want in making these choices. 

There’s obviously been a massive mindset shift since the start of the pandemic. How do you think this will affect the vibe and culture of organisations when they return to the office?

Its interesting because we had an example of a client that had all staff working at home but as soon as restrictions lifted they wanted all staff back, they felt that it wasn’t working for them. There was a lot of resistance and we needed to consult with staff at length about their concerns. But once they were all back, every one of them identified just how much they had in fact missed working with others and that productivity was greater being together.

On the other hand there are a lot of organisations that are saying to staff ‘you do you’ and allowing employees to have the option to either work from home or return to the office. This is having an interesting effect as it becomes more challenging to encourage people back in to the office as time goes by. Those that have returned are in some instances feeling the change in the culture and leaving because of this.

So half and half is not working for some organisations. For many it will not work at all, particularly if outcomes are generated by team morale and dependency.

Can staff earn overtime / time in lieu working from home? How will something like this work fairly for both parties?

For individuals that work with a time cost system or timesheet this will be a lot simpler to manage from home. Ultimately as long as there is evidence that the additional work is being done it really should be no different to an arrangement of OT in the office. The biggest difference is the reliance of trust that people are remaining productive in their core hours.

We can imagine that there will be many organisations seeking the support of HR professionals to review their organisational structure right now. What are the tell-tale signs that you may need some external support to help you navigate the best way forward?

 A major tell-tale sign that you need to restructure is when there has been a financial impact and there is a requirement to consolidate roles and headcount. Another prevalent one is when new efficiencies have been created, it’s a good time to re design your entire structure and look in to the future.

Ensuring that you consult a professional when looking at these changes really is vital. Many employers make changes that trigger contractual issues without them knowing. They neglect the fact that if you change the role by 30% or more redundancy may be required to be offered and following due process is essential to avoid unfair dismissal. Any change that could flow through to the contract needs to be considered.

Another costly mistake that we see quite often is that it’s usually the support functions that are cut resulting in junior level staff leaving and the pressure cascading up. More senior individuals absorb their tasks and end up overworked and disillusioned. The cost benefit of this is often overlooked also as it’s the more senior salaries that create bigger impact. Having a thorough objective view on these issues means decisions are made based on what’s best for the structure and not based on people. 

  Now, a very important question! I know it’s only September BUT it is the time when Christmas parties start getting planned! How do you think Christmas will look this year?

Many organisations have told us that they wont be proceeding with Xmas parties, instead they will be giving gifts such as hampers that are more of a ‘gift to the family’ of staff members thanking them for their support.

Some are looking at parks and open spaces, but are obviously eagerly awaiting the rulings in relation to gathering sizes. And others have spoken of on-site functions, if you can provide a safe workplace you can provide a safe party, particularly if its sit down and not cocktail with limited numbers. I think there will plenty of on-site catered functions.