Managing Uncertainties in Human Resource Management during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aimed at providing information to help HR practitioners understand the uncertainties caused by COVID-19 by addressing questions on what certainties are faced by HR practitioners in the education sector;what factors are seen as stressors, what characteristics need to be developed, and what solutions are proposed to overcome uncertainties in this pandemic of COVID-19. This qualitative study used a cross-sectional survey design. Electronic questionnaires were employed to collect qualitative data from 40 respondents based on purposive sampling. The study reveals that there are various types of uncertainties faced by HR managers or practitioners, ranging from organization operation to the ability to predict employees' plans and actions. The main stressor during the pandemic is employees' safety perceptions of threats and risk of COVID-19 transmission. Others are the drastic change in the way of work and job insecurity and lack of valid information about COVID-19. Resilience, tolerance, and curiosity are the qualities that need to be developed by HR managers or practitioners. To overcome the uncertainties, HR Managers and practitioners could provide training on technology and competency development as the best strategy to overcome the uncertainties. Optimizing channels of communication, preparing transparency plans, providing facilities to support teleworking management, and arranging of work flexibility policy are alter strategies. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Multidisciplinary: Applied Business & Education Research is the property of Future Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Fostering employee work engagement and sustainable employment during COVID-19 crisis through HR practices, employee psychological well-being and psychological empowerment

Purpose: This study aims to investigate employee behavior toward work engagement with an integrative research framework that combines human resource practices, employee psychological empowerment and well-being. Moreover, the moderating effect of transformational leadership is tested between employee engagement at workplace during crisis such as COVID-19 and sustainable employment. Design/methodology/approach: This study empirically investigates research framework with 353 responses retrieved from employees working in private sector organizations. The data were collected through structured, closed-ended questionnaires. For inferential analysis, structural equation modeling approach has been used. To test the predictive power of the research framework, blindfolding procedure Q2 is incorporated. Findings: Statistical findings indicate that HR compensation, HR training, opportunity enhancing, motivation enhancing, psychological well-being and empowerment have explained substantial variance (R2 = 67.5%) in employee work engagement during crisis. Concerning with sustainable employment, the transformational leadership and work engagement have shown significant variance (R2 = 20.6%) in determining sustainable employment. Moving further psychological empowerment has revealed maximum effect size (f2) to determine employee engagement behavior at work place during pandemic crisis. The blindfolding procedure Q2 has exhibited substantial power to predict employee work engagement and sustainable employment during crisis such as COVID-19 pandemic. Practical implications: This study has several contributions to theory and practice. Theoretically, this study develops an integrative research framework with the help of human resource practices and employee psychological factors such as employee well-being and empowerment. Therefore, practically, this research suggests that factors such as opportunity enhancing, transformational leadership and employee psychological empowerment need managerial attention to increase employee engagement at workplace and sustainable employment during pandemic crisis. Social implications: With the growing concerns of layoff during pandemic crisis, employees have shown lack of interest at workplace because of psychological fears. Nevertheless, this study has established that policymakers could enhance employee engagement at workplace and sustainable employment during crisis by redesigning HR practices and improving employee psychological well-being and empowerment. In addition to that, employee psychological well-being and empowerment are considered healthy factors for human beings and nurture society at large. Originality/value: This research is original as it establishes an integrative research framework grounded in HR practices, employee psychological empowerment and employee psychological well-being to investigate employee behavior at work place during crisis such as pandemic. In addition to that, this study has enriched leadership literature by examining the moderating effect of transformational leadership between employee work engagement and sustainable employment. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Human Resource Management in Times of the Pandemic: Clustering HR Managers' Use of High-Performance Work Systems

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many organizations and the way work is performed, emphasizing the importance of human resource management (HRM). Although the HRM literature confirms the vital role of HR managers for firm recovery and survival during a crisis, knowledge remains scarce about what HR managers actually do in times of high disruptions, like a crisis. In this chapter, we explore the use of high-performance work system (HPWS) practices among 269 HR managers during the COVID-19 pandemic;a common set of HRM practices used to engender employee and organisational performance. Using cluster analysis, we identify two distinct groups of HR managers, engaging either in high or low levels of HPWS practices during the crisis. We then investigate how these two clusters relate to organizational and individual characteristics, as well as HR managers' perceptions of the pandemic. For instance, we find that those managers implementing HPWS to a high degree perceive more changes in their work context than their counterparts do. Our findings provide unique and new insights into group-specific differences associated with high and low levels of HPWS practices. We thereby contribute to the HR literature a fuller understanding of HRM system use in times of a crisis. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.

Perspectives of human resource practitioners in two urban local authorities in Zimbabwe

Orientation: This study examines the experiences of human resource (HR) practitioners in two urban local authorities (ULAs) in Zimbabwe. Research purpose: The research aimed to understand the human resource management (HRM)-oriented strategies and the extent to which HR practitioners' experiences could enable effective implementation. Motivation for the study: There is a need to understand the challenges HR practitioners in ULAs in Zimbabwe face in delivering effective HRM. Research approach/design and method: The study adopted a qualitative research approach using semi-structured interviews with 17 purposively selected HR practitioners. Thematic analysis was used to extract themes from the interviews. Main findings: The findings revealed five themes of HRM challenges in Zimbabwean ULAs, including political interference, resource constraints, bureaucracy and the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Human resource management delivery is hindered by stakeholder involvement, performance management gaps, technology gaps and limited interaction with line management. Additionally, traditional HRM approaches committee-focused procedures, and inadequate investment in employee education limit HRM capabilities and procedures. Practical/managerial implications: The study suggests that policymakers and HR practitioners in ULAs in Zimbabwe should pay attention to the identified HRM challenges and proposed solutions to enhance HRM delivery and HR performance. The proposed conceptual model can serve as a guide to overcoming HRM challenges. Contribution/value-add: This study adds to the limited research on public sector HRM in Africa, and stakeholders and HR practitioners can benefit from the conceptual model and recommendations for streamlining HRM procedures in ULAs in Zimbabwe. © 2023. The Authors.

Changes in Learning Tensions Among Geographically Distributed HR Advisors During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In this chapter, we research how changes in learning tension because of the COVID-19 pandemic affect the learning capabilities of HR advisors in a geographically distributed public HR function. The primary research question is therefore: How do tensions related to learning among HR advisors in a health-sector trust change during the COVID-19 pandemic? Through a longitudinal study consisting of interviews, focus groups, observations, and document studies, we found that the different views with respect to the digital provision of HR services, as well as learning and development, created a tension between the centralized and decentralized HR advisors before the pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the preconditions for collaboration across the centralized and decentralized HR advisors were changed. Everyone had to work from home with a geographical distance to colleagues and users, combined with more frequent meetings in a crisis situation, which created a sense of unity and belonging. This led to a reduction in learning tensions and cognitive distance and changed the view of learning and development. The combination of a high tension before COVID-19, and a lower tension during COVID-19, was the balancing act that led to the HR advisors being able to learn from each other, even at a distance and be a relevant support in the innovation process. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.

Nurturing Employee Engagement at Workplace and Organizational Innovation in Time of Crisis With Moderating Effect of Servant Leadership

The current study strives to examine the impact of HR practices, working condition, intergroup relations, goal congruence, passion for work and organizational learning culture toward employee engagement and organizational innovation. In addition to that the moderating effect of servant leadership is tested between employee engagement and organizational innovation. The research design of this study is grounded in quantitative research approach. Data were retrieved from employees working in Saudi manufacturing organizations. Overall, 241 respondents have participated in this voluntarily research survey. Research framework was tested with structural equation modeling technique. Results revealed that human resource prac-tices, working condition, intergroup relations, passion for work, goal congruence and organizational learning culture have explained large variance R-2 52.8% in measuring employee work engagement. Similarly, organizational innovation is measured with employee work engagement and servant leadership and explained substantial 55% variance in organizational innovation. Likewise, the results of the blindfolding analysis revealed substantial predictive power Q(2) 41.4 to predict organizational inno-vation. Therefore, in determining employee work engagement at workplace goal congruence has shown substantial effect size f(2) when compared with other exogenous constructs. Practically, this research suggests that goal congruence, human resource practices, and servant leadership are core factors which enhance employee engagement at workplace and organiza-tional innovation in time of crisis and therefore need managerial attention. This study is unique as it examines employee engagement behavior with an integrative research framework. In addition to that the role of servant leadership has been studied as moderator between the relationship of employee engagement and organizational innovation.

Review on Digitalization of Human Resource Management Functions

The article discusses the importance of digital HR transformation in organizations in the post-pandemic world. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it necessary for HR departments to prioritize restructuring the culture of organizations by adopting a hybrid working model that provides flexibility to employees. Digitalization has become an enabler that changes behaviors, communication, and interactions with customers and employees, and HR's role as a change agent is crucial in this regard. HR departments are being asked to lead the digital transformation sweeping organizations worldwide, and they need to support organizations in redesigning job roles with outcome-based performances. HR digital transformation is the process of changing operational HR processes to become automated and data-driven. The article explains that HR digitalization processes incorporate the use of digital channels and the use of social media platforms for recruiting, and it provides examples of HR functions that have successfully been innovated. The article concludes by emphasizing the need for HR to develop competencies as a strategic business partner to lead the organization's overall growth strategy based on digitalization tools.

HR121 targeting HR2 domain in S2 subunit of spike protein can serve as a broad-spectrum SARS-CoV-2 inhibitor via intranasal administration.

The continuously emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants pose a great challenge to the efficacy of current drugs, this necessitates the development of broad-spectrum antiviral drugs. In the previous study, we designed a recombinant protein, heptad repeat (HR) 121, as a variant-proof vaccine. Here, we found it can act as a fusion inhibitor and demonstrated broadly neutralizing activities against SARS-CoV-2 and its main variants. Structure analysis suggested that HR121 targets the HR2 domain in SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) 2 subunit to block virus-cell fusion. Functional experiments demonstrated that HR121 can bind HR2 at serological-pH and endosomal-pH, highlighting its inhibition capacity when SARS-CoV-2 enters via either cellular membrane fusion or endosomal route. Importantly, HR121 can effectively inhibit SARS-CoV-2 and Omicron variant pseudoviruses entering the cells, as well as block authentic SARS-CoV-2 and Omicron BA.2 replications in human pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells. After intranasal administration to Syrian golden hamsters, it can protect hamsters from SARS-CoV-2 and Omicron BA.2 infection. Together, our results suggest that HR121 is a potent drug candidate with broadly neutralizing activities against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants.

I-deals as a Human Resource Initiative: Exciting Innovation or Passing Fad?

As the workplace continuously reinvents itself due to advances in technology, changes in society, and unexpected events like COVID-19, both employers and employees are employing idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) to allow for flexibility for both sides. This chapter addresses i-deals from a human resources (HR) perspective, by focusing on three critical themes. First, we discuss how organizations effectively institutionalize i-deals, and how such i-deals impact human resource philosophy and practices, given that HR departments often lead the effort to institutionalize such deals through individualized and fair HR practices. Next, we explore how supervisors can make sure that i-deals are fair and effective. Following this, we discuss where i-deals fit in the international human resource management (IHRM) context. A total of fourteen future research directions are identified with particular emphasis on practical HR perspectives. Finally, this chapter constructs a bridge between the two disciplines through drawing upon established literatures from i-deals and IHRM, to extending our current knowledge through both theoretical and practical lenses. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Role of Talent Management in Business Continuity

Talent Management plays a crucial role to support the business continuity and empower the most important asset for the company - its people. The role that Talent Management has played was highlighted in different aspects across the organization, starting from developing competent HR team and HR department structure that can influence company culture by taking an active approach in this regard. The journey started by working with the executives and stakeholders across the business to evaluate the current company culture, assess potential gaps or opportunities, and create a strategic plan to align the organization's culture with its values and goals. Moreover, a deliberate building of core and supplementary HR systems serving the business strategy while respecting culture readiness has taken place. This started off with developing leadership development programs, conducting a competency management system for better training and skills development, relying on assessment tools in recruitment and using these tools in the on-boarding, knowledge sharing approach, creating a performance management culture and working on continuous development and improvement. The Leadership Development Program was achieved on 3 phases: Assessment phase, Development phase and re-assessment phase. One of the main objectives that we tried to focus on while implementing the leadership development program was to find employees who are potential leaders and nurture them early enough. In addition, it was crucial to identify a Leadership Competency Profile to have a clear, compelling vision of how the skills we were building in the leadership development program connect to the leadership road map in the company. In addition, and in the light of Covid-19 and the absence of Employee Training in 2020, the HR department came out with an initiative to carry out internal knowledge sharing workshops across the company. These workshops aimed at increasing employees' awareness with the different functions across the company in addition to increasing the level of engagement, communication, and presentation skills for employees. There is always a need to measure where we are and the progress done so far to know where we want to be and adjust the process accordingly. Therefore throughout all of these processes and programs, different feedback surveys were conducted to take necessary action plans. This helped in getting all employees onboard with us. Ultimately the alignment that was made between the Talent Management and the overall company's business strategy resulted in the company's ability to maintain a competitive advantage. A huge progress was made but the process continues to sustain this role. Copyright © 2023, Society of Petroleum Engineers.

A real-time heart rate estimation framework based on a facial video while wearing a mask.

BACKGROUND: The imaging photoplethysmography (iPPG) method is a non-invasive, non-contact measurement method that uses a camera to detect physiological indicators. On the other hand, wearing a mask has become essential today when COVID-19 is rampant, which has become a new challenge for heart rate (HR) estimation from facial videos recorded by a camera. OBJECTIVE: The aim is to propose an iPPG-based method that can accurately estimate HR with or without a mask. METHODS: First, the facial regions of interest (ROI) were divided into two sub-ROIs, and the original signal was obtained through spatial averaging with different weights according to the result of judging whether wearing a mask or not, and the CDF, which emphasizes the main component signal, was combined with the improved POS suitable for real-time HR estimation to obtain the noise-removed BVP signal. RESULTS: For self-collected data while wearing a mask, MAE, RMSE, and ACC were 1.09 bpm, 1.44 bpm, and 99.08%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Experimental results show that the proposed framework can estimate HR stably in real-time in both cases of wearing a mask or not. This study expands the application range of HR estimation based on facial videos and has very practical value in real-time HR estimation in daily life.

Adoption of Human Resource Information Systems by Faculty Members: Qualitative Evidence from Universities in Pakistan

In the digital age of today, a large number of higher education institutions have adopted Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) to improve the overall efficiency of operations. With the exponential growth in education sector of Pakistan and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the role of HRIS has considerably expanded for all stakeholders, particularly faculty members of universities. This study aims to explore the factors that motivate universities to implement HRIS, the role of HRIS in enhancing the productivity of faculty members, and the constraints associated with the use of HRIS. This qualitative study follows the descriptive phenomenology approach to explore the significance of HRIS for faculty members. Non-probability purposeful sampling was used to select 14 faculty members who were interviewed at seven Pakistani universities. The study establishes that HRIS is considered a valuable technology for streamlining HR functions of universities in general and faculty members in particular.

Remote work in Polish companies from the perspective of generations

The COVID19 pandemic has highlighted trends that have been observed on the labour market for many years, such as the popularisation of remote work, the scale, advantages and disadvantages of which are the subject of many studies. However, combining the perspectives of this work model with the preferences of generations is an innovative approach. At the same time, it is also a desirable direction of research, because there is a difference in the approach to the role of technology in professional work between the generation of current managers (often belonging to generation X) and the growing number of employees from generations Y and Z, based not only on the knowledge of tools, but also on values related to the approach to professional work. Therefore, examining the preferences of work models (remote vs. on-site) divided into individual generations, as well as a ranking based on positions, may be utilitarian for both HR departments and leaders facing the necessity to choose a target work model. According to research conducted in July and August 2021 on a group of 338 respondents who had the opportunity to work remotely during the pandemic, it can be concluded that the most expected form of work is hybrid work, which was indicated by approximately 60% of respondents, while a return to fully on-site work as a preference was declared by only around 10% of the respondents. This is a signal that the expectation of a return to pre-pandemic normality, in which the vast majority of employees only worked on-site, may be impossible, an issue that poses new challenges for human resources and management departments.

COVID in Australia: HR managers' challenges and opportunities

Transitions to working from home due to the COVID pandemic led to a proliferation of literature and industry reports on changed work practices. However, this study set out to advance understanding of how human resource professionals managed the crises – adding to the limited literature on this perspective. Data was collected during late 2020/early 2021 through interviews with human resource professionals. Data was analysed using coding techniques enabling findings to be organised into relevant concepts and categories. Contributions to practice include the range of challenges and opportunities associated with working from home, which are outlined here as technical and behavioural recommendations. These include the need for improved IT support and IT literacy across the workforce;issues linked to employee isolation, managing privacy, workload, and the management of remote employees. This paper draws on institutional theory, stressing the importance of context in shaping HRM strategies in times of crises. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

HR Analytics: Serbian Perspective

The explosion of new business models is not only the consequence of the accelerated development of information and communication technologies but also of a global crisis. Disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic have made managers realize faster that change is necessary and has already taken place. Traditional Human Resources (HR) models were not ready to respond to the challenge of digital transformation. The "new normal” implies a new set of necessary skills, capabilities, and a different working environment. Companies face the challenge to innovate HR functions by developing new career paths and creating more flexible models and relationships with different stakeholders. Most business leaders have become aware that it is impossible to carry out a business transformation without quantifying HR functions. HR analytics is on the business agenda, and it is the fastest-growing area of HR Management today, driven significantly by global crises, and it will be more crucial for organizations' decision-making on how to proceed to the "next normal”. The paper defines HR 5.0 as the future of HR, in the framework of Industry 5.0. It attempts to study the state-of-the-art HR in order to explore the current status and perspectives of HR analytics in Serbia and points out the approach that radically transforms the use of human data by policymakers;moreover, it defines one set of conceptual recommendations for successful HR implementation. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Features of the Application of Digital Technologies for Human Resources Management of an Engineering Enterprise

The main purpose of our study is to form a demonstration model of the main processes for introducing digital technologies into the human resources management system for engineering enterprises. Digital transformations are associated with management changes, which are based on the technologies of the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, blockchain, machine learning, Industry 4.0, Big Data in all spheres of public life. Investing in human capital has always been considered a productive investment. The digital economy has increased the urgency of increasing labor productivity through the transformation of human governance mechanisms. The main and key processes of the introduction of digital technologies in the human resources management system of the engineering enterprise were considered. The digitalization of society has radically changed people's lives and opened up new opportunities in the field of human resources management. The digital transformation of the human resources system affects all types of businesses, from large corporations to small micro-firms. As a result, the key stages and processes of implementation of digital technologies in the human resources management system of the enterprise were presented. The research methodology consisted of the application of modeling and graphical display methods.

EMPLOYEE ATTITUDE TO ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES

The crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic affects the daily operation of organisations, which also brings changes in the life of their workforce. Managing organisational change has been a significant challenge for organisations for several decades. The aim of the research is to assess the behaviour of affected employees toward organisational change. It is examined how different groups of employee's experience change in general and what they think about organisational change. Furthermore, it is explored whether employees understand the motivation behind the change and how does the change impact their organisation. To answer the research questions, a comprehensive questionnaire survey of small and medium-sized enterprises in Hungary was conducted in autumn 2021. The suitability of the application of factor analysis evaluating the dependence of selected areas of the questionnaire was supported by Barlett test a Cronbach's alfa coefficient. For individual hypotheses two-sample t-test, contingency table analysis, and Pearson's Chi-squared test, were applied. The evaluation of the 215 questionnaires shows that the behaviour of employees toward organisational changes is different. The difference in attitudes to the benefit of organizational change for employees were identified, but not for enterprise. Furthermore, the difference in attitudes between employees who have undergone organizational change in the enterprise and those who have not undergone organizational change, were identified too. It is interesting that contingency between the extent to which managers play a role in change and the well-executed nature of change were detected. The practical usage of the research can be helpful for SME management, especially in the HR field. The management can consider that employees may be afraid of the changes if they are ahead of them, but if the change is handled well, people will think positively of it. © 2023, Technical University of Liberec. All rights reserved.

Epidemiology of Pemphigus.

Pemphigus is an epidemiologically heterogeneous group of autoimmune bullous diseases comprising pemphigus vulgaris (PV), pemphigus foliaceus, paraneoplastic pemphigus, IgA pemphigus, and pemphigus herpetiformis. Recently, our knowledge about the frequency of pemphigus, which is highly variable between different populations, has considerably expanded, and the first non-HLA genes associated with PV have been identified. In addition, a variety of comorbidities, including other autoimmune diseases, hematological malignancies, and psoriasis, have been described in this variant. Here, initial data about the impact of COVID-19 on this fragile patient population are discussed and perspectives for future epidemiological studies are outlined.

In-silico Discovery of Fungal Metabolites Bergenin, Quercitrin and Dihy-droartemisinin as Potential Inhibitors against Main Protease of SARS-CoV-2

Background: Emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has given rise to COVID-19 pandemic, which has become a wreaking havoc worldwide. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find out novel drugs to combat SARS-CoV-2 in-fection. In this backdrop, the present study aimed to assess potent bioactive compounds from different fungi as potential inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) using an in-silico analysis. Method(s): High-Resolution Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry analysis (HR-LCMS) was used for the bioactive profiling of ethanolic crude extract of Dictyophora indusiata, Geastrum tri-plex and Cyathus stercoreus. Of which, only bergenin (D. indusiata), quercitrin (G. triplex) and di-hydroartemisinin (C. stercoreus) were selected based on their medicinal uses, binding score and the active site covered. The 6LU7, a protein crystallographic structure of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro, was docked with bergenin, quercitrin and dihydroartemisinin using Autodock 4.2. Result(s): A total of 118 bioactive compounds were analyzed from the crude extract of used fungi and identified using HR LC/MS analysis. The binding energies obtained were-7.86,-10.29 and-7.20 kcal/mol, respectively, after docking analysis. Bergenin, quercitrin and dihydroartemisinin formed hydrogen bond, electrostatic interactions and hydrophobic interactions with foremost active site amino acids THR190, GLU166, GLN189, GLY143, HIS163, HIS164, CYS145 and PHE140. Conclusion(s): Present investigation suggests that these three compounds may be used as alternative inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. However, further research is necessary to assess in vitro potential of these compounds. To the best of our knowledge, the present investigation reported these three bioactive compounds of fungal origin for the first time.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.

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

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. © 2023 XLRI Jamshedpur, School of Business Management & Human Resources.