The world is going back to work. What that exactly looks like is unknown, though our priorities will undeniably shift. We thought we knew what disruptive meant; we hadn't an inkling. Organizations have no choice but to quickly adapt and make sense of the unimaginable implications of the pandemic. At the intersection of this humanitarian crisis and economic meltdown is an opportunity for HR professionals to have their moment, should they choose to take it.

CFOs are famous for "not wasting a crisis." HR leaders can follow their example and transform the role of HR from a shared service and support function to a key influence and leadership function. The question now isn't how an organization makes money; it's how an organization's people make sense of what has happened and how, then, are we going to make money.

To successfully re-engage the economy, HR must extend well beyond the role of employment and compliance matters and into the realm of organizational leadership to drive innovation and resilience. HR professionals are uniquely positioned to champion this moment precisely because the seat they have at the table doesn't insist they take their cues from balance sheets. Today, the most valuable skill to rebuild what has been torn asunder is knowing how to define and drive the employee experience.

It's already happening. I recently spoke with Susan Brown, GRP, senior director of compensation at Siemens, and WorldatWork Society Board member, to hear about the changes she's experiencing first-hand because of COVID-19.

"I've seen my role shift from a niche compensation focus to a broader perspective," said Brown, "I'm now looking at pay, benefits, hiring, shifts, and remote working — and truly partnering with my HR colleagues to develop solutions."

Brown said that her team is working on a larger canvas,"from a specific comp design, for example, to the broader question of how we keep employees working safely to how we address financial impacts in our different businesses, to how we want to respond from a societal point of view."

The lessons and principles we apply now are priming us for the bigger challenges ahead. To start, we've set a north star by reimagining how to connect with our people amidst an avalanche of uncertainty.

The first step is to redefine what work and the workplace mean to your people, and what your people mean to the community, within the corporate edges and beyond.

From tactician player to coach

HR has too frequently been marginalized to the organization's policy enforcer, but that role should have been shared by everyone. HR leaders had been shifting their roles to employee experience champions, and this is exactly what people need and our businesses need at this time.

To rebound, HR leaders can refocus the organization and its leaders more squarely on their people. An organization's policies, rewards systems, and the employee experience that existed in the early part of 2020 will mean little to the returning workforce. Use that as an opportunity to build a stronger culture with a deepened focus on putting your people first. For some employees, the bond they had with work and their employers may have weakened. An organization's purpose and how employees connect to the mission will be especially relevant in the times ahead.

In response to COVID-19, led by CHROs, organizations have made sweeping changes to their benefits programs and workplace practices. These could be tough to reverse. Remote work is one important, positive example. WorldatWork recently conducted a poll of 1,500 Total Rewards professionals that found a 415% increase in the number of employees working remotely either full or part time. That means that a suite of workflow processes will need to be rethought.

Right now, some companies, particularly in retail, are doing a good job making people their top priority. Extended leave, hazard pay and job guarantee policies enacted by Trader Joes, Costco, Postmates and others to help employees stay safe during the pandemic exemplify how an organization can show it cares through its approach to benefits.

As we continue to implement these changes, others will follow suit. For example, the 9-5 workday mindset will be swapped by many organizations to focus on tapping the creativity of the full person and giving people the flexibility to do their best work and be most productive when it works for them.

Responsibility within the workplace also will shift. COVID-19 has forced many companies to break down silos. This is an opportunity to consider how to empower more people to make decisions across a flatter organization. Decisions are best when made by those closest to the consumer or those most impacted by it.

Most critically, future HR leaders will be the stewards for their companies in maintaining trust. Communication and transparency are keys to building trust. Putting people first during COVID-19 is testing the trust values within an organization's workforce. HR leaders will play a crucial role in ensuring that the organization communicates as needed and is clear and honest with their own employees on their current situation as they navigate through the crisis.

We are going back to work. The world is working toward a rebound. At some point, companies will need to fill the workforce with new employees. Those future employees will look at how we responded during COVID-19 — it will give them a sense of what our organizations stand for—I mean really stand for. We can use our actions now, which are helping to manage and engage an organization's people to lead the way back to work.

Scott Cawood is president and CEO, WorldatWork, a nonprofit professional association in compensation and total rewards. We serve those who design and deliver total rewards programs to cultivate engaged, effective workforces that power thriving organizations. We accomplish this through education and certification; idea exchange; knowledge creation; information sharing; research; advocacy; and affiliation and networking. Founded in the United States in 1955, today WorldatWork serves total rewards professionals throughout the world working in organizations of all sizes and structures.

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