IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-05478986.html

Digital Transformation and the Strategic Role of the HR Function in the Post-COVID Era
[Transformation Digitale et Rôle Stratégique de la Fonction RH dans l'Ère post-COVID Digital Transformation and the Strategic Role of the HR Function in the Post-COVID Era]

Author

Listed:
  • Wiam Saadaoui

    (Université Hassan 1er [Settat])

  • Abdelaziz Tahour

    (Université Hassan 1er [Settat])

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated the digital transformation of organizations, leading to a profound and lasting redefinition of the strategic role of the Human Resources (HR) function. This article presents a critical narrative review of academic and professional literature aimed at analyzing how the health crisis has contributed to repositioning HR from a predominantly administrative function to a central strategic actor in organizational performance and resilience. The methodological approach is based on a thematic and purposive selection of scientific publications, institutional reports, and professional surveys published mainly between 2020 and 2025. The analysis relies on an interpretative and comparative reading of the selected sources, allowing the identification of key dynamics, convergences, and tensions related to the digitalization of HR practices in the post-COVID context. The findings highlight a significant acceleration in the adoption of digital HR tools, the widespread diffusion of hybrid work models, and the strengthening of HR's strategic role in talent management, skills development, employee experience, and organizational resilience. However, this transformation also reveals persistent challenges, particularly regarding cybersecurity, digital fatigue, skills gaps, and the risk of dehumanizing work relationships. The article concludes that the post-COVID era has fostered the emergence of an "augmented" HR function, required to balance digital technologies with a human-centered approach in order to sustainably support organizational performance in an uncertain environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Wiam Saadaoui & Abdelaziz Tahour, 2026. "Digital Transformation and the Strategic Role of the HR Function in the Post-COVID Era [Transformation Digitale et Rôle Stratégique de la Fonction RH dans l'Ère post-COVID Digital Transformation and the Strategic Role of the HR Function in the Pos," Post-Print hal-05478986, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05478986
    DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18301377
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05478986v1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-05478986v1/document
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5281/zenodo.18301377?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
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • M15 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - IT Management
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • M15 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - IT Management
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • M15 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - IT Management
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:hal:journl:hal-05478986. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.