Strategic HR Coronavirus responses
Expecting
theunexpected
The Coronavirus pandemic has meant HR leaders have
had to step up to the challenging job of ensuring
employees are cared for. A UK lockdown was announced
by the prime minister on 23 March and has led to
the majority of employees working remotely. So how
has HR adapted to safeguard staff?
Penny Aspden,
group organisational
development director,
Torus
The OD team at Torus has
previously invested time and
effort in building the team, working in a
more agile way and ensuring that people are
used to working across our disciplines of OD
operations, OD business partnering and
talent development.
This has meant that while the Coronavirus
pandemic has caused a great deal of
disruption to our business, the team are
better equipped to respond than we might
have been.
As we are now all largely working remotely,
we have been in constant contact with
business areas, each other and importantly
with the team that is co-ordinating our
organisational response to the situation.
We are providing a range of data, support
and practical guidance to colleagues across
the Torus Group, as well as developing
emergency procedures that are designed to
enable colleagues to function with maximum
ease at this time.
30 HR April 2020 Where possible we have kept focus
on business as usual, shifting priorities
accordingly to accommodate requirements
as the current situation unfolds. Virtual
meetings, updates and briefings have formed
the backbone of our new daily routine.
Importantly though we are still finding time
to keep in touch socially within the team to
keep the situation as normal as possible.
Jennifer Lawrence,
HR director, Costcutter
Supermarkets Group
As an HRD of a food retailer
I feel a huge sense of
responsibility in helping to
keep the nation fed.
Shortly after 5pm on Monday 16 March we
made the decision to get all of our support
office and field colleagues set up and working
from home. Since that point it’s all been a
whirlwind of back-to-back Microsoft Team
meetings to pre-empt and respond to the
moving position.
Communicating well with our colleagues
and ensuring we put their health and
wellbeing at the heart of everything we do is
It is times like this that great
leaders rise to provide the
direction, care and support
so desperately needed
front and centre of all conversations. It’s in
times like this that I am thankful for the trust,
respect and empathy we have created among
our organisation.
The focus of the people team has been
ensuring we have continuity of store resources
in order to fulfil our mission; updating our
policies; communicating to our colleagues
and providing support, advice and guidance
in support of their health and wellbeing.
It is times like this that great leaders rise to
provide the direction, care and support so
desperately needed.
Roopa Vyas-Smith,
HR manager,
Gingerbread
For me what matters most
during this Coronavirus
pandemic is our people and
embracing our commitment to them like
never before in the new reality we face.
Any immediate HR priorities at
Gingerbread have shifted to ensure that
staff have everything they need from us;
we know what challenges they might be
experiencing while working from home;
and figuring out how we can best support
physical and mental health during
these times.
After ensuring our workers are cared for
we’re planning to work on building a healthy
remote workplace culture to best keep human
contact alive. HR’s forte is to offer guidance
and maybe lead organisations to think
laterally, flexibly and with compassion. More
than that, HR often becomes the voice of
calm and reason when there is uncertainty
and fear.
What is this social contact now going to
look like? We’ll ask our staff, try things out,
see what works and do it as swiftly as we can.
Productivity may of course dip in the short
term but what’s crucial right now is keeping
our colleagues together, supporting them
where we can, and showing kindness and
understanding with our staff around their
personal and professional commitments.
I’ve committed to contact each of our 30
staff every week just to touch base. HR
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