COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND IMPACTS ON HUMAN RESOURCES AND MARKETING DECISIONS By: MORAN.C ONYEMAECHI
Management and HR consideration is evolving with consideration of digital Technologies focusing more on performance rather than physical presence. Organizations should strive to engage entrepreneur “employees” who know what to do and when to do them without waiting to be pushed. The insistence on “Working with little or no supervision” should be paramount because only creative value adding employees have personal initiatives to execute job requirements.

Many organizations are still relying on the traditional work place where they want staff to be around without focusing on productivity. This is the reason many people who warm seats in organizations without doing anything are considered for higher pay because “they spend more on transport fares” to be in the offices daily.

The emergence of the Coronavirus pandemic has brought a paradigm shift in thoughts. Many organizations have been carrying out serious Cost-Benefit Analysis on some positions in organizations with application of Lean thinking leading to downsizing and outsourcing of job roles. Many employees whose job roles could be performed remotely with periodic report submissions have higher job security than others that became redundant.

This “new normal” situation places a heavy task on Human Resource Professionals in the areas of staffing and job engagements. All jobs ranging from Accounting, Marketing, Purchasing must have the infusion of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in it and the possession of ICT-Job related knowledge should be made compulsory to augment the traditional work environment altered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Organizations should pay premium attention to ONLINE|DIGITAL BRAND COMMUNICATIONS which has become a critical role that kept and still keeping several organizations afloat in the global pandemic era. The online brand communications professionals are the eyes of the organizations while they are asleep and help bridge the communication gaps among the organizations, customers and her online communities locally and internationally. Online presence should be given a foremost consideration and should be maintained just as the physical offices are maintained.

The buying attitudes of customers have changed tremendously in such a way that customers GOOGLE their needs online first and look for links to direct them to selling organizations. Many conclude all transactions online without stepping out with deliveries made at their doorsteps. How can any organization without maintained online presence pop out when customers are searching for products and services online? How can they be competitive?

The coronavirus pandemic has taught and is still teaching organizations great lessons on the need to embrace online offices and media but only very few are getting the signal re-strategising while others are still looming in the dark with poor HR strategies!

Many organizations have lost international partnerships due to their absence online; with no verifiable social media or official website links. The coronavirus pandemic is giving organizations and HR Professionals a great opportunity to weigh their strategies and implement cost cutting decisions that optimise bottom-line by focusing on employees critical job roles, performances and not regular office presence that accumulates costs rather than benefits.

Organizations should start re-thinking towards this direction to animate their operations so that they can remain competitive in the ever dynamic ICT-driven business environment.

Moran.C Onyemaechi is a Seasoned Chartered Admininistrator, Media and Digital Brand Communications Professional overseeing Mo-Think Media; a website design and Brand Communications company (think@mothink.com.ng)