IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/manlab/v48y2023i2p261-279.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

COVID-19 Induced New Workplace HR Practices: Practitioners’ Perspectives from India

Author

Listed:
  • Sasmita Misra
  • Abhilash Ponnam
  • Pratyush Banerjee

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide a first-hand account of how human resources (HR) practitioners from India are revisiting their traditional perceptions of managing HR in the wake of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This study applies an in-depth interview method to probe the mindset of 13 top-level HR practitioners from India. The time duration of each interview ranged between 45 minutes and 1 hour. The data generated from the qualitative interviews are analysed through latent thematic analysis. The findings throw light on how HR managers in India are rethinking their traditional practices to adjust to the new normal. The themes point to a shift towards a virtual organizational structure, with emphasis given to developing virtual empathy and virtual team building. There is also the resonance of being more future-ready for the potential recurrence of such types of economically disruptive shock events. There is more willingness to hire gig workers and freelancers now given the increased risk of overstaffing in the post-pandemic market. This study provides practitioners with a lot of validity about the way forward in the new world of work-from-home and virtual employment contracts. This is a novel exploration of what some of the senior HR practitioners from India are doing to counter the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic-induced workplace disruption.

Suggested Citation

  • Sasmita Misra & Abhilash Ponnam & Pratyush Banerjee, 2023. "COVID-19 Induced New Workplace HR Practices: Practitioners’ Perspectives from India," Management and Labour Studies, XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources, vol. 48(2), pages 261-279, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:manlab:v:48:y:2023:i:2:p:261-279
    DOI: 10.1177/0258042X231155314
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0258042X231155314
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0258042X231155314?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arthur Huang & Melissa Farboudi Jahromi, 2021. "Resilience building in service firms during and post COVID-19," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(1-2), pages 138-167, January.
    2. repec:eme:mrn000:01409170810898572 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Washika Haak-Saheem, 2020. "Talent management in Covid-19 crisis: how Dubai manages and sustains its global talent pool," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(3), pages 298-301, July.
    4. Narayanamurthy, Gopalakrishnan & Tortorella, Guilherme, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 outbreak on employee performance – Moderating role of industry 4.0 base technologies," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    5. Antriksha Negi & Ravinder Pant & Nawal Kishor, 2021. "Effects of COVID-19: Redefining Work from home & Employee Engagement," Transnational Marketing Journal, Oxbridge Publishing House, UK, vol. 9(3), pages 521-538, November.
    6. Hensvik, Lena & Le Barbanchon, Thomas & Rathelot, Roland, 2021. "Job search during the COVID-19 crisis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    7. Paula Caligiuri & Helen De Cieri & Dana Minbaeva & Alain Verbeke & Angelika Zimmermann, 2020. "International HRM insights for navigating the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for future research and practice," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 51(5), pages 697-713, July.
    8. Carnevale, Joel B. & Hatak, Isabella, 2020. "Employee adjustment and well-being in the era of COVID-19: Implications for human resource management," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 183-187.
    9. Aguinis, Herman & Burgi-Tian, Jing, 2021. "Measuring performance during crises and beyond: The Performance Promoter Score," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 149-160.
    10. Bojan Obrenovic & Jianguo Du & Danijela Godinic & Diana Tsoy & Muhammad Aamir Shafique Khan & Ilimdorjon Jakhongirov, 2020. "Sustaining Enterprise Operations and Productivity during the COVID-19 Pandemic: “Enterprise Effectiveness and Sustainability Model”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-27, July.
    11. He, Wu & Zhang, Zuopeng (Justin) & Li, Wenzhuo, 2021. "Information technology solutions, challenges, and suggestions for tackling the COVID-19 pandemic," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Drago, Carlo & Errichiello, Luisa, 2024. "Remote Work admist the Covid-19 outbreak: Insights from an Ensemble Community-Based Keyword Network Analysis," FEEM Working Papers 341640, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yifan Zhong & Yameng Li & Jian Ding & Yiyi Liao, 2021. "Risk Management: Exploring Emerging Human Resource Issues during the COVID-19 Pandemic," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-23, May.
    2. Luyang Zhou & Shengxiao Li & Lianxi Zhou & Hong Tao & Dave Bouckenooghe, 2023. "The effects of perceived organizational support on employees’ sense of job insecurity in times of external threats: an empirical investigation under lockdown conditions in China," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(4), pages 1567-1591, September.
    3. Ruixin Su & Bojan Obrenovic & Jianguo Du & Danijela Godinic & Akmal Khudaykulov, 2022. "COVID-19 Pandemic Implications for Corporate Sustainability and Society: A Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-23, January.
    4. Lipsa Jena & Subash Chandra Pattnaik, 2023. "COVID-19: Challenges and Changes for Human Resource Management Professionals," Journal of Studies in Dynamics and Change (JSDC), ISSN: 2348-7038, Voices of Inclusive Change and Expressions- (VOICE) Trust, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, vol. 10(2), pages 11-18, April-Jun.
    5. Nelesh Dhanpat & Kamogelo Makgamatha & Reabetswe Monageng & Khanyisa Sigawuki, 2022. "COVID-19: Employee Experience and Adjustment at a State Owned Company in South Africa," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, June.
    6. Jacob P. Manahan, 2022. "Implementation of PRIME-HRM Program Using Cloud-Based Technology," Technium, Technium Science, vol. 4(1), pages 102-119.
    7. Ngqabutho Moyo & Anita D. Bhappu & Moment Bhebhe & Farai Ncube, 2022. "Perceived Risk of COVID-19 and Employee Decision-Making: How Psychological Distress during the Pandemic Increases Negative Performance Outcomes among Healthcare Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-16, June.
    8. Sato, Akiko & Panibratov, Andrei, 2023. "Causal mechanisms of COVID-19 disruptive effects on liability of foreignness and the emergence of new firm-specific advantages," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4).
    9. Cugno, Monica & Castagnoli, Rebecca & Büchi, Giacomo & Pini, Marco, 2022. "Industry 4.0 and production recovery in the covid era," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    10. Ion Popa & Simona Cătălina Ștefan & Ana Alexandra Olariu & Ștefan Cătălin Popa & Cătălina Florentina Popa, 2022. "Modelling the COVID-19 Pandemic Effects on Employees’ Health and Performance: A PLS-SEM Mediation Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-17, February.
    11. Weerarathna R. S & Rathnayake R.M.N. M & Perera L.R.H. G & Kaluarachchi K.R. M & Wickramasena D. N & Arambawatta L. V & H.W.M.C Weligodapola, 2023. "The changing face of HR professionals’ expectations amidst COVID-19: a comparison in between Sri Lanka and foreign context," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(5), pages 4307-4326, October.
    12. Koveshnikov, Alexei & Lehtonen, Miikka J. & Wechtler, Heidi, 2022. "Expatriates on the run: The psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on expatriates’ host country withdrawal intentions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6).
    13. Jooss, Stefan & Conroy, Kieran M. & McDonnell, Anthony, 2022. "From travel to virtual work: The transitional experiences of global workers during Covid-19," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6).
    14. Cristina Veith & Irina Dogaru, 2020. "Digital work in the context of covid 19," Manager Journal, Faculty of Business and Administration, University of Bucharest, vol. 31(1), pages 61-69, December.
    15. Gheorghe Zaman & Nicoleta Valentina Florea & Constantin Aurelian Ionescu & Dan Marius Coman & Doina Constanta Mihai & Nicoleta Luminita Gudanescu Nicolau, 2022. "Mathematical Model for Determining Costs of Unsatisfied Customers of HoReCa Industry," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 24(59), pages 268-268.
    16. Ni, Dan & Jiwen Song, Lynda & Zheng, Xiaoming & Zhu, Jinlong & Zhang, Mengyi & Xu, Lingxiao, 2022. "Extending a helping hand: How receiving gratitude makes a difference in employee performance during a crisis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 967-982.
    17. Francesco Capozza & Ingar Haaland & Christopher Roth & Johannes Wohlfart, 2021. "Studying Information Acquisition in the Field: A Practical Guide and Review," CEBI working paper series 21-15, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    18. Ali Zackery & Joseph Amankwah-Amoah & Zahra Heidari Darani & Shiva Ghasemi, 2022. "COVID-19 Research in Business and Management: A Review and Future Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-32, August.
    19. Isabel Marques & Zélia Serrasqueiro & Fernanda Nogueira, 2021. "Managers’ Competences in Private Hospitals for Investment Decisions during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-14, February.
    20. Xie, Junyi & Ifie, Kemefasu & Gruber, Thorsten, 2022. "The dual threat of COVID-19 to health and job security – Exploring the role of mindfulness in sustaining frontline employee-related outcomes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 216-227.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:manlab:v:48:y:2023:i:2:p:261-279. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.xlri.ac.in/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.