The Role of HR in Crisis Response and Business Continuity

CHROs representing a portion of the United Kingdom’s largest companies met virtually to discuss business continuity amidst the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19. At the time of the town hall on 7 April, UK residents have been working from home for 3-4 weeks. Death tolls are increasing, but new cases are slowly decreasing. 

In this virtual gathering, participants discussed the value of their role in crisis response. To set the stage, UK CHROs responded to a survey prior to the town hall indicating the following:

33% are continuing standard business operations at a reduced level

36% expect to return to standard business operations in 3 to 6 months

60% report a high or extremely high impact on their organisation’s revenue

57% predict a high or extremely high impact on their organisation’s budget

The discussion was led by Angela Williams, Chief People Officer, British Airways; Neil Hayward, HR Director, HS2; Mike Hawes, Senior Vice President, HR, Avis Budget Group; Jane Storm, Chief People Officer, Saga and Jo Mosley, HR Director, Salvation Army. They represent different sectors and discuss the implications for their respective transportation, retail, social service and finance industries. They shared some similar experiences and reflections on how their organizations are responding to the coronavirus crisis.

Immediate Response

Most organisations had no more than 24 hours to communicate to their employees their approach to COVID-19 and the adjustment to life in quarantine. CHROs’ organisations had some ability to work remotely in place already, but none had a 100 percent remote workforce, much less one that had to be implemented on short notice. All reported that they had to immediately create a safe and efficient environment for their frontline employees and scale up their remote workforces. Challenges included keeping the frontline operating safely without disruption, managing internal and external communications and re-sizing the business.

Executives are trying to avoid furlough at all costs by saving jobs through reducing hours and redefining roles. The goal is to maintain employment and continue operating efficiently through these shifts. A large key factor in handling these issues and shifts was communication. Executives found being responsive, transparent and aligned in their communication helped engage their workforce and provide them the information and resources to continue performing as usual. 

Putting People First

Above all else, the number one priority for CHROs was the safety of their employees. This doesn’t just go for the obvious precautions and measures implemented for frontline employees, but also for remote workers. Investing in resources to keep morale high and anxiety low while working in isolation is critically important. 

CHROs are getting creative in how they are providing support for their people. Some are hosting virtual group activities to help people stay connected and socialize. Distributing a company newsletter where coworkers can share positive stories every day has helped with morale for one CHRO’s organisation. 

The silver lining of this unfortunate situation is it has created an opportunity for organisations to better understand how to respond to their employee’s concerns, issues and needs.  

Future Outlook

Executives are just now exiting “crisis response” mode and entering “strategising for the future” mode. Re-integration is key. CHROs are predicting the nature of work will fundamentally change. Things will not go back to normal when it comes to working from the office five days a week, and organisations will have to accommodate a more flexible work environment for their employees based on their individual situations.

Through this time, leadership teams are gaining a deeper understanding of what it’s like to be a frontline employee, which is providing them with necessary knowledge when restructuring their organisations, rebuilding their operating model and strategising for the future. 

Overall, executives are approaching adversity and turning it into an opportunity — an opportunity to feel inspired by change, to be different, to learn something new and to take care of their people.

This situation has created an opportunity to respond to employees’ issues and concerns at the pace we should always be responding.

Thoughts from the Community

The discussion about crisis response and business continuity planning included questions about trusting your employees to actually work from home and how to keep managers inspired to engage their teams. 

Executives found communicating effectively and promoting autonomy has proven good performance from their employees during this time. The tone of “we’re all in this together” has kept employees engaged and connected with their colleagues and their organisation more than ever.

In terms of how the CHROs are rating their organisations' responses, the consensus was they are doing okay, are constantly learning every day, adapting to the cultural shift taking place and are looking forward to the opportunities this change is creating for their business.

by CHROs, for CHROs

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