In September, our online course Crisis Management for HR will start. In the meantime, we are happy to share an interview with Ekaterina Demina, the course expert and HR consultant on the methodology of implementing systemic changes in personnel.
Why has crisis management become a critical skill now? What are the top 5 steps to take if you are on the path of transformation, and of course, what to read? 🧐
Why is crisis management important to an HR person right now? What happens if you don't take an interest in it and leave things as they are?
If you leave it as it is, that "as it is" may not be there tomorrow. I think the most difficult thing about this period is the combination of strong factors of suddenness, uncertainty of information, and sharp social distancing. No one was ready for this, except, perhaps, specialists who live for months at a time on research stations in Antarctica. Crisis - management ceased to be an additional hard skill, and in a few days turned into a mandatory soft skill. To accept this change and quickly rearrange has become a major competitive advantage for both HR professionals and companies in general.
The most challenging/unusual case you've encountered lately, related to organizational change or the effects of the crisis?
A large production company, used to sell its products according to a "price list": what we produce, we sell. Even before the crisis and the pandemic, it was faced with the need for sales transformation. The difficulty: you have to make sure that ordinary salespeople start to be proactive, to see opportunities, to offer ideas for business development and to look for new niches. In other words, demonstrate entrepreneurial thinking. And people aren't ready and don't have the potential for such a transformation. What to do? You can't fire everyone at once, you have to know the product. And then comes the crisis, additional difficulties in working with clients. The question is: What should HR do: cut the budget for the initial training, or continue training for the sales transformation, or something third? What to do?
Top 5 steps for an HR person who has to transform and save the company? What's the first thing to keep in mind?
1️⃣ We don't think in steps or even plans. We think in scenarios!
2️⃣ Identify key personnel groups and key competencies - focus on them
3️⃣ Phasing out normal workforce and development activities - moving to a transformational model of workforce management
4️⃣ Invest in supporting yourself: your health, peace of mind, online-offline balance mode
5️⃣ Monitor the dynamics (external circuit, internal business metrics, employee status)
What kind of communities, groups, and publishers would you advise to keep a hand on the pulse of those who are now in an active transformation, or are taking urgent anti-crisis measures?
☑️Любые courses/marathons about somatic movement and mindfulness, like the group https://www.facebook.com/groups/2544051182528931/
☑️Правильные - various, humorously analyzed information and useful links, e.g., Elena Asanova's newsletter ZADNO
☑️Онлайн conferences about trends - I like everything done by Gohar Ananyan, the founder of HR-tv, well, and Bersin read + subscribe to the newsletter.
☑️Еще I read profile newsletters from the "big four" in English
What will you share in your module with participants in the Crisis Management for HR course? What will those who take the course learn?
🔝Develop and reinforce scenario thinking + discuss specific typical HR crisis management scenarios
🔝Transmit unique information about new relevant HR metrics
🔝Focus on ourselves: how HR professionals can evolve and stay wise and awake in a crisis
🔝Discover a step-by-step algorithm for action in the short to medium term
🔝Decide what to do about engagement and corporate culture "while everyone is home
🔝Discuss the participants' cases and, with collective intelligence, find the best solution