Yvette Gonzalez, MJ-LEL, Class of 2023
I recently read an online article titled “HR’s Evolving role can demonstrate its value amid layoffs”. The article was published on January 3, 2023, by Emilie Shumway. As I finished reading the article, I thought to myself how lucky and blessed I was that our company did not furlough or terminate any employee because of covid-19 or loss of business. Not many companies can say this as most of the world shut down during the beginning stages of covid-19 in 2020. The article shared that talent analysis was one of the best ways that HR can prove it’s worth within the company.
As I think of my HR journey the last year and a half, I can certainly attest to this. In the early part of 2022, it was shared with me that our company would be going through an acquisition with a well-known partner of ours. I had so many thoughts running through my mind. What did this mean for me? What did this mean for the company and our employees? What about day-to-day operations? All normal thoughts and valid feelings.
As we continued to work through the acquisition, we began to see that our business would not be changing much when it came to our day-to-day processes and that our talent (for the most part) would stay as is (whew!) What a relief! However, retaining talent and hiring was still a business need. We had high turnover for a few months, which also happened to be around the time that we had announced the acquisition. So, what do you do when talent is leaving and there are positions that need to be filled? You "cross-train" and use the talent you have!
The article went on to explain that “talent you’re looking to acquire isn’t always available, but you have great people that are saying yes to you, every single day, that are already a part of your organization”. This resonates with me as I remembered the employee changes that happened in our organization. Those employees that stayed, not only learned new skills but have since grown in role within the company. I saw a large amount of turnover but because of our quick action and recommendation to managers and business leaders, we were able to act quickly, redistribute talent and our employees are so much happier because of this. Many have received promotions, and many have who may never imagined working together are now collaborating on projects and working closely together.
As the article explains, HR can still bring value to the company. Even if layoffs are inevitable. Our expertise and leadership approach can make a difference in the organization and drive positive, business results.
Online article link:
The Value of HR Amid Company Changes © 2023 by Yvette Gonzalez is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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