Dive Brief:
- As CHROs anticipate the post-pandemic work environment, many are concerned about diversity and inclusion and cultural transformation, according to the March 25 results of an HR Policy Association survey.
- Eighty-two percent of respondents said diversity and inclusion would be a top issue of concern at their organizations, while 71% rated cultural transformation as such. Fewer respondents selected executive development, talent management, digitization and employee engagement as areas of concern.
- Some respondents said they are encouraging employees to receive COVID-19 vaccines, with the most popular methods being paid time off (53%) and manager encouragement (50%). Seven percent of respondents said they are requiring workers to be vaccinated.
Dive Insight:
Employers' concerns coming out of the pandemic appear to align with the worries they experienced throughout.
In HR Dive's 2021 Identity of HR Survey, culture drew the most attention from respondents, who were asked to name their biggest COVID-19 challenges. Maximizing budgetary constraints was the next most popular response.
Culture concerns emerged in other research as well. A July 2020 report from Emtrain found that workplace culture eroded during the pandemic. Managers named culture maintenance and relationship building as two barriers to effective virtual work in an August 2020 ExecOnline report.
As HR Policy Association's research suggested, culture concerns may not fade with the pandemic. The concerns may be heightened for employers that plan to incorporate some of the pandemic-borne flexibility into their new normal. A hybrid work model, for instance, may create cultural challenges that require deliberate efforts to address, according to a March 23 recommendation from ExecOnline.
