DRIVING PRODUCTIVITY AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE COVID-19 STORM : WHY SMALL BUSINESS SHOULD EMBRACE HR SYSTEM IN DRIVING BUSINESS : Paul Nyausaru, Zimbabwe

1. DRIVING PRODUCTIVITY AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN THE
COVID-19 STORM : WHY SMALL BUSINESS SHOULD
EMBRACE HR SYSTEM IN DRIVING BUSINESS : Paul Nyausaru,
Zimbabwe
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2. Paul Nyausaru Cell +263774062756, pnyausaru@gmail.com,
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-nyausaru
• Founder and President HR Rendezvous
• Managing Consultant Centre for Strategic HR Management and ProActive Online
Academy
• Institute of People Management of Zimbabwe (IPMZ) Vice President: Membership
& Education.
• Over 15 years experience in HR Management & HR Development
• Presenter at local and regional conferences.
• Contributor in local paper on HR issues under the HR Talk with Paul Nyausaru.
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3. Presentation Outline
• COVID-19 and how it has disrupted businesses
• How businesses should react
• HR’s response to COVID-19 disruption
• Are you ready for the disruption
• Small Businesses challenge
• Why HR is necessary for small businesses
• Conclusion
• Question & Answer
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4. COVID-19 AND THE DISRUPTION OF
BUSINESSES
• Come 2020 COVID-19 ravages across the entire world, speeds up the
disruption of the businesses.
HOW?
• Lockdowns-Businesses closed to curb the spread of the virus. In some cases
total closures, in some partial.
• Working models disrupted- companies operate with skeleton staff while
others adopt work from home model.
• Continued lockdown forces some employers to scale down operations.
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5. EFFECTS OF BUSINESS DISRUPTION
• Job loses due to company closures
• Businesses become redundant due to work models being affected
• Current human resources become irrelevant.
• Administration of company codes affected with disrupted workplace.
• Measurement of performance a challenge
• The employees traumatized, not sure of the future and not prepared for it.
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6. HOW SHOULD BUSINESSES REACT?
• Workplace disruption has a social and emotional effect on employees-
(Urgent need to reassure the employees through regular communication,
especially from the top office).
• Where there is genuine need to right size.( Be human, engage, support).
• If possible accommodate redundant employees in new work model to ensure
swift change over.
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7. HOW SHOULD BUSSINESSES REACT)
• For those on work from model, support with resources to facilitate
production from new work set up.
• Immediate supervisor- Be in constant touch with subordinates through
platforms such as zoom or any other platforms ( give message of hope)
• Bring remote employees together regularly through online platforms to keep
teams intact.
• Possible to organize tea or lunch for remote employees on zoom or other
platforms.
• Set achievable goals and provide regular feedback to support employee.
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8. HR’S RESPONSE TO WORKPLACE
DISRUPTION
Workplace disruption will require HR practitioners to:
• Acquire high business acumen (Understanding the business), strong
critical thinking skills, good data analysis skills and good judgment
• Be good business partners and able to cover so much more ground and
analyze more data than in the past.
• Given the workforce shift toward more technical positions and capabilities,
HR professionals must increase their involvement in, and understanding of,
how these workers are used and what they need. (Technical competency)
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9. HR’S RESPONSE TO WORKPLACE
DISRUPTION
• Performance monitoring system- introduction of performance dashboard to
monitor output
• Reward system- strengthen performance/productivity based reward system
based on output.
• Employee engagement- regular communication and reassurance using online
platforms to be strengthened and championed by HR
• Company policies- complete overhaul to reflect realities of the new normal.
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10. READY FOR THE DISRUPTION?
• Small Businesses should take stock of their readiness to meet such challenges
dealing with the most valuable resource- the HUMAN RESOURCE.
• How do you fare in this aspect of your business-HUMAN RESOURCES?
• Does it matter for small business to have basic HR systems in place to drive
business?
• What basic systems can your business put in place to be able to navigate
through the COVID Era? Let us take stock.
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11. The Small Businesses Challenge
• In Zimbabwe, SMEs contributed $8.58 billion to the country’s GDP in 2016
and employed more than 5.9 million people (over 75% of the total
workforce of 7.8 million)
• According to a Finscope Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
Survey (2012), in Zimbabwe there are 2,8 million SMEs and over 5,7 million
people depend on the sector, contributing more than 60 percent to the Gross
Domestic Product.
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12. Why Is HR for Small Business Necessary?
• If HR is on top of their game, employee performance, commitment, and loyalty
will increase, which in turn should help your business achieve its objectives and
accomplish its mission.
Research has shown that:
 Organizations that invest in a strong candidate experience increase their quality of
hires by 70%.
 75% of employees would stay longer at an organization that listens to and addresses
their concerns.
 Disengaged employees are almost twice as likely as engaged employees to seek new
jobs.
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13. Human Resources Needs For Small
Businesses.
Documentation
•Human resources are the bookkeepers of your workforce, maintaining all the paperwork that ensures your
business is compliant with labor laws and protected in the event of a dispute.
1.EMPLOYEE FILE: The following should be in the file:
•Personal documents
•Documents for employee family members
2.Records relating to employee e.g leave forms, employment contract, minutes of interviews, any disciplinary
records e.t.c
3.EMPLOYEE HAND BOOK: A handbook lets employees know what is expected of them while employed
by your organization, and establishes protocols for how to deal with issues that may arise in the workplace.
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14. Compliance
If you’re dealing with HR, you should have the following in place to regulate :
1. Employment Contract
2. Company code of conduct
3. Use SI 15 Of 2006 if you do not have a company code.
4. A workers Committee to represent employees in negotiations with Management
5. Registration with an NEC relevant to the company’s industry.
6. Registration with NSSA and other Statutory requirements
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15. Implications
• Small business owners run risk that rudimentary HR practices will put them
at a competitive disadvantage
• A lack of specialized HR expertise may produce legal or other problems
• Small firms are probably not adequately addressing potential workplace
litigation
• Small business owners might not be fully complying with compensation
regulations and laws
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16. Conclusion
• There is no doubt the workplace has changed in dramatic fashion never
expected.
• The normal processes and procedures have been disrupted to some extent
non-functional.
• They however emerge in another form which both the employer and
employee need to embrace and accept that the new normal is here to stay.
• Small businesses need to embrace HR systems more than ever before to
survive in this rough terrain.
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