#HRDLive COVID-19 and HR: 'the new normal' ~ Strategic Human Capital Management (HCM) Blog

Friday, 8 May 2020

#HRDLive COVID-19 and HR: 'the new normal'

I'm interviewed on the future of HR and 'the new normal' post-pandemic in the very first lockdown edition of the HRD Live Podcast.

You might be thinking both I and my interviewer, Michael Hocking, look far too happy to be discussing coronavirus, furloughing, downsizing and recession, and you'd probably be right.

Even for me, business is harder than it was. My wife generally works with me in my business but is now furloughed, mainly so she can lead on home schooling. And since we pay ourselves dividends on top of a minimal salary she won't get anything like the £2,500 many furoughed staff are getting each month even if her role remains in stasis all year.

But it was the end of the week, a Bank Holiday weekend, with blue skies and birds tweeting. We're still healthy. And hey, I'm enjoying all of these benefits, if not all the other things around them.

We also discussed HR and the 'new normal'. This wasn't planned as a title for our conversation but I dropped the term into one of my own points, so I can't complain. I just wish I knew what it is - are we looking forward to entering into a 'new normal' at some stage, meaning we're in a temporary abnormality at the moment?, or is this the new normal, meaning Michael and I were really discussing preparing for the new new normal that follows?

Whichever it is, I don't agree that the term is ludicrous - both now and future states will be very different from each other, and also different to the past.

The other term people have been using is the 'big reset'. I've also been a little reluctant to use this, as got into it in a big way after 2007 to then find out nothing much changed at all. However, this time around, I really can't see how things are not just going to be different, but really, really different from before.

To find out more, check out the podcast, or I'll also be elaborating here.

Jon Ingham