Every role in every vertical in every industry is facing massive changes to the way it typically operates. As the need for contactless and rapid transactions becomes more urgent, essential businesses (and those that have become essential during the pandemic) have to ramp up their processes and change their reliance on manual processes.
Source: BOKEH STOCK / Shutterstock
The same goes for several departments within a business that have to maintain the security of the data they handle while ensuring employee safety and efficiency. The Human Resources department, in particular, will have to undergo shifts in adapting to the present global climate.
As the department in charge of the employee workforce (internal clients), the challenges the HR department faces are multilayered. Not only do some have to adapt to a mostly, if not entirely, remote workforce, but they also have to ensure the safety of employees and onboard new hires to meet the changing needs of the business.
They have to shift traditionally in-person processes to remote workflows and manage the agreements digitally. Moving slowly is not an option, as the world, in many ways, has picked up the pace of business.
Here are three solutions to the challenges HR professionals might face in the time of COVID-19:
1. A Legal Center for Policy Updates
As so many things are in flux, a company’s internal and external policies will inevitably change. The HR department will need a way to effectively communicate those changes to employees and collect and store their responses.
E-mailing the updates is an OK solution in a pinch, but a legal center on your company’s Intranet hosting (updated) policies is better. That way, employees can quickly, remotely, and centrally access new and returning policies (e.g., employee agreements, the screening form and policy, modified work schedules, the general hygiene policy, etc.).
2. Symptom Screening
A healthy workforce is essential to the survival of businesses in a post-COVID-19 world. While some businesses have moved to a remote model for work, some do not have that option available to them.
In order to ensure the safety of the workforce, businesses should conduct symptom screenings at the beginning of every workday or shift. Some software providers offer this type of solution to meet the demands of a mobile-friendly workforce. If employees fill out a mobile-friendly screening form, they will be able to report whether they have symptoms like fever and trouble breathing without putting the rest of the workforce in danger. Some providers also offer a policy acknowledgment form, which can be centrally saved by HR in one location, along with the symptom screening form.
3. Self-Service Employee Onboarding
In-person hiring and onboarding is no longer feasible and won’t be for some time to come. HR departments that rely heavily on manual processes for hiring and onboarding new employees will need to go digital sooner rather than later. This is especially true if your business is one that has experienced a greater volume of business and needs to hire more employees faster to keep up with the new pace.
One solution would be to automate the creation of your standardized agreements using self-service contracts and store them in a centralized location. Not only will new hires be able to access these easily, but HR will be able to keep track of all necessary documentation.
Not only do you have to keep your employees safe, but you also have to be prepared to communicate essential changes to your workforce. Screen employees for symptoms daily, and use self-service contracts to hire and onboard new employees quickly.
By enabling these necessary efficiencies, HR departments across industries and verticals will prepare themselves for success in a post-COVID world.
 Brian Powers is a licensed attorney and the founder and CEO of PactSafe. As CEO, Powers leads the strategic vision of the company’s high-velocity contract acceptance platform. Before founding PactSafe, his law practice focused primarily on representing the transactional needs of tech companies. Powers is a frequent speaker, instructor, and author on topics ranging from click-thru contract acceptance to privacy-related consent management. To learn more about PactSafe, click here. |