A long-term fallout of the Covid-19 crisis will be Social Distancing. Couple this will the increase in Millennials in decision making roles in organisations. This will manifest itself in some standard organisational behaviours- and changes in the unwritten rules we live by: 1. Work from Home (WFH) as a viable model for a certain part of the workforce 2. Mandatory and continuous health check 3. The Feeling of loneliness and isolation About us: Pexitics stands for People Excellence Indicator analytics. We are an HR and Analytics organisation and help companies meet KPIs in the space of People management. We do this with a combination of Assessments and Surveys followed by analytics, giving clear insights and roadmaps for organizations and teams. Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pexitics.com/ Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUnuvnnuztAI0MPPEUB-0zw Reach us for a discussion: score@pexitics.com | +91 7349662320 / 21 / 22

1. 1
Work Behaviour in the era of Social Distancing
and Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 is the trend towards automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies and
processes which include cyber-physical systems (CPS), the internet of things (IoT), industrial internet of
things (IIOT), cloud computing, cognitive computing, and artificial intelligence. The differences between
traditional HR and HR 4.0 is that unlike traditional HR – where the main functions of the professionals were
compensation management, work hour management, leave management, organisation structure
management etc (often manual and bureaucratic activities )– HR 4.0 is focused on fronts such as attracting
job-fit talent, improving organizational climate, and employee experience which directly influence the
company’s strategic results.
HR 4.0 is essentially backed by technology and is in line with new Talent market scenarios – with special
influence from the Millennial Generation, which now reaches leading positions in organizations. Thus,
digitisation is the way forward. Intelligence Amplification is the smart way to use the data to generate
insights which feed the policies and strategy in the organisation. HR 4.0 is an enabled for Industry 4.0.

2. 2
A long-term fallout of the Covid-19 crisis will be Social Distancing. Couple this will the increase in
Millennials in decision making roles in organisations. This will manifest itself in some standard
organisational behaviours- and changes in the unwritten rules we live by:
1. Work from Home (WFH) as a viable model for a certain part of the workforce, driven by
a) Cost reduction – fixed costs of workplace maintenance, electricity etc. can be saved without a
reduction of productivity within some segments of jobs and people in the organisation
b) Required change in Infrastructure – the seating in many offices will need to be changed to larger
cubicles – where employees can maintain a distance of 3 feet and above from each other
c) Social necessity – certain people from certain geographic zones or who need to be quarantined etc.
cannot make it to the office on all / every day.
d) Improved , low cost internet – the employee is willing to bear workplace cost for the trade-offs (we
have seen this happen for cell phones, which were once expensive and provided by companies to
select employees to now, when employees prefer to buy their own cell phones)
1) Decreased travel time
2) Flexible work hours
3) Increased family responsibility – because of higher threat perception of infections from
non-resident domestic workers
4) Desire to follow a passion outside work / work on 2 jobs – even if one is non-paying (e.g.
volunteering work with NGO etc)
2. Mandatory and continuous health check : we can expect Sanitisation tunnels, masks , gloves, instant
tests (Yes, Emirates Airline has already started it ) to become a part of interactions where people come
together in large numbers , including malls, group travel modes (airlines, trains, busses, cabs) and
workplaces (offices and manufacturing units)
3. The Feeling of loneliness and isolation: Non-verbal behaviour will undergo a sea change. People will be
trained to avoid physical contact (handshakes, hugs and other gestures of camaraderie). Many interactions
will happen at a safe distance. Communication channels will reduce the impact of gestures and body

3. 3
language. This will build up insecurity, irritability, and a feeling of being unable to decode the right
messages.
For those directly impacted by COVID-19 (themselves, family members), the immediate aftermath of this
experience can be disorienting, marked with displacement, shock, and a strong need to restore order. The
weeks and months following a disaster may be consumed with various tasks related to restoration to a
“new normal”. Thus, for some people, the full impact of a disaster and its impact on their mental health
may not be obvious for weeks or months after the disaster occurs.
Some roles / teams within the organisation that will become important now:
1. Change Management – we will need dedicated and diverse team (with leaders from all major functions)
to help document the change we want to bring about in the organisation – in the next 3 months , 1 year, 5
years. E.g. TCS has declared it wishes to ensure 25% of people come to office by 2025 – the rest should
WFH.
2. Quick testing / medical response personnel
3. Counsellors / Mental health experts
4. Process Re-design consultants / Supply chain re-design professionals
5. Content writers – for Policy and process change documentation and for creating content at a micro level
for remote workers
6. Technology enablement team – who will also decide which apps are to be used in the organisation.
There will be rapid development and launch of various, often free, apps and it will be difficult to keep track
of these without a dedicated team. The apps will often be in areas related to productivity measurement,
job assignment and submission tracking and communications.
7. Learning and Development team with increased focus on
• everyday technology adoption and digitisation as well as
• new communication etiquette and how to effectively communicate and motivate in this rapidly
digitised workspace.
8. Vendor management team
The biggest focus will be People centric teams:
1) People Management team (HR Team) with new skills – and comfort to do employee interactions
online – like Talent Assessments, Surveys etc.
2) Sales and business Development Teams
3) Customer Service Teams
4) Team Managers and Leaders within the organisation – who may have a much larger ratio of remote
/ not physically present employees
5) Design teams which need brainstorming and continuous feedback

4. 4
Some People Centric Practises which will see an increase in importance:
1. Create a Decision Management system for Talent / People Management: Intelligence Amplification
Systems like Talent Assessments which are unbiased, cloud based, and help make talent decisions at
multiple points (Hiring, Competency mapping / skill inventory , L&D, Coaching, Promotions, Succession
Planning , Compensation & Benefits, Internal Job Movements)
It will become important to scientifically judge fitment of people to roles since manager interactions and
handholding may decrease significantly. This practise will run inside the current HRMS or with plug and play
models (Eg. PexiScore.com) which work across any HRMS systems.
The data from Talent Assessments will flow into the post hiring activities – like inductions and L&D for new
joinees, where this data will be used for designing more effective and shorter learning programs.
2. Increase of Gig workers as a part of workforce: Especially, for jobs where full -time employees will also
be working remotely – either in part or in full, it will make better sense to engage free-lancers, consultants
or small firms to do parts of the work which is not related to strategic / business critical processes . This will
reduce the strain on hiring with an eye to potential of growth in the organisation as well as L&D for skills
needed immediately.
Also, since coordination and apprenticeship / learning by observing will reduce (because of social
distancing, remote working, increased technology dependency and increase in millennials in the workforce)
3. Drive Business Goals with People PPE (Performance, Productivity and Engagement): The most
important changes can be expected in SCM and People Management. With different models coming into
play, the complexity of workforce management will increase. Data will become the best friend of smart
People Managers and the other HR Process data will be linked to the People PPE metrics, which will further
be linked to the Business Goals and outcomes. Sounds complicated? This is how decision systems which
are both People and Business centred, will become the norm.

5. 5
In conclusion, the tools that will be used in Business will change, the fundamentals of Business will not. The
way people work will change, the function they perform will not. Hence, the way of life will change but the
Core Values will not. The future is here - let us embrace it with a positive mindset.
Author: Subhashini Sharma Tripathi
subhashini@pexitics.com
About us: Pexitics stands for People Excellence Indicator analytics. We are an HR and Analytics organisation
and help companies meet KPIs in the space of People management We do this with a combination of
Assessments and Surveys followed by analytics, giving clear insights and roadmaps for organizations and
teams. (Please view sample reports at https://pexiscore.com/assessment)
Follow us on LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/pexiscore/
Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUnuvnnuztAI0MPPEUB-0zw
Reach us for a discussion: score@pexitics.com | +91 7349662320 / 21 / 22