Analyzing HRM Challenges and Practices at HIGH5 Post COVID-19 Era

This report analyzes the contemporary issues in Human Resource Management (HRM) with a focus on the challenges faced during and post the COVID-19 pandemic, using HIGH5, a sports nutrition drink manufacturer, as a case study. It explores key challenges such as employee productivity, job assurance, employee health, front-line staff management, and succession planning. Post-COVID-19 challenges discussed include compliance with new regulations, employee training, retention, hiring, and changes in company policies. The report evaluates traditional HRM practices against emerging issues, highlighting the importance of employee well-being, flexible workforce arrangements, remote working, and human capital management. It also touches upon the application of HRM practices within HIGH5, including job descriptions, person specifications, and job offer letters, along with approaches to performance management and employee development.

Contemporary issues
in Human Resource
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................4
1.Explore the key challenges or issues faced by HRM during/post COVID-19 pandemic.....4
2.Applies knowledge and evaluate (critically) the traditional HRM practice against
emerging human resource issues during/post covid-19 pandemic..............................................7
3. Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using specific
examples from your chosen organisation. For any job role in your chosen organisation, design
a job description and person specification. Prepare a job offer letter assuming that you are
offering the job to one of the interviewed candidates.................................................................9
4. Based on your contemporary knowledge and understanding about approaches to
performance management and development of people, how you apply new techniques and
processes towards performance recognition. Identify how these might be evaluated as well.. 12
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Contemporary issues in business environment are the new challenges affecting many aspects
of business management. Its crucially affects human resource management. Most of the
challenges are faced by globalisation, economic and legal environment. It's a wide variety of
practical issues that affect human resource practitioners and the issues included in this are related
to people and skills, regulation and public policy, competition and choices, social trends and
development and implementing HR strategies. The changing of day to day operations in Human
resource department change its job role also as changing in markets, regulatory demands and
issues made it work in strategic development of businesses. Management should understand the
contemporary issues that HRM face should know how to make best use of human resource. To
face and solve contemporary issues human resource management needs to prepare themselves in
terms of innovation and automation, compliance themselves with the regulatory issues, having
knowledge of diversity laws and harmony issues because diverse work force working in
harmony will build stronger teams. It refers to that are currently affecting the people of the
organisation or places that remains unsolved. This report is being made on the context of
HIGH5, a company manufacture sports nutrition drinks having its head quartered in Durant,
Oklahoma(Aboramadan and Karatepe, 2021). The aim of this report is to highlight the
challenges that HRM faces during and post covid-19 pandemic, evaluation of HRM traditional
practice and approaches and techniques that performed by HRM and its evaluation.
TASK
1.Explore the key challenges or issues faced by HRM during/post COVID-19 pandemic.
There are many challenges that are faced by human resource management in day to day
operations but during the time of COVID-19 they faced many challenges that are given below:
Challenges faced during COVID-19
 Employee productivity and job assurance- Assuring job security to the employees is
important to get productivity from them and to increase revenue. An employee
productivity is highly dependents on his job security. Insecure workers and uncertain
about their current job make them less productive and it affects the performance of an

employee. Since, all the businesses around the globe are facing tough conditions and are
finding ways to survive because of outbreak of pandemic and this made tougher for
human resource management to ensure job security to employees (Azungah, 2018) . In
the context of HIGH5 , their HRM is also facing same issues because during Covid-19 all
stores are closed and they allowed only selected staff to work in the stores.
 Challenges of employee's health- Covid-19 spreads through contact from one person to
another and its exposure can occur at the workplace because travelling to workplace and
from workplace exposes the chances of local community transmission. Employees who
are working in the organisation are prone to get the infection of the virus(Belotto, 2018) .
Health and safety of all employee is most important for a business to achieve success.
And the challenges for human resource department to ensure healthy performance of each
and every employee to perform the tasks effectively and efficiently(Bîrca, 2022) . In the
context of HIGH5, they provided healthy and sanitized working environment for the
employees who are working from offices.
 Challenges from front-line staff- Retail organisation has the large amount of front-line
staff, who are not capable enough to assist organisation management to handle the spread
of covid-19, unless they are trained on how to curb the pandemic. Many organisations did
not provide adequate training and awareness about the crises. Providing awareness about
the hygienic matters which is important for forefront suppliers while serving the
customers. And it's a challenge for human resource management to plan and provide
extensive training to their staff(Brewster, Mayrhofer and Farndale, 2018) . In the context
of HIGH5, they provides training to the employees in how to deal with the costumers and
surroundings.
 Challenges of succession planning- Retail workers have more exposure to virus because
they are having close contact for long period of time with the customers. Even after
following all the guidelines provided by the government and management ,yet there is a
possibility that an asymptomatic customer can pass the virus. The organisation should
plan accordingly and in a more responsive way for future. They should prepare the list of
employees who are required to be replaced or who are required to be upgraded and
provide developing leadership that needs succession planning.
Challenges that faced after COVID-19

 Rules and regulations- This is one of the top and most important priorities of human
resource management to make appropriate rules and policies in accordance with the
government rules. In business environment changes are constant, therefore a company
needs to be in full preparation with it. Post covid-19 government generates lists of rules
and regulations that an organisation needs to follow and also make sure that a company
follows them (Chieng, Arokiasamy and Kassim, 2019) . Fail to comply with the rules
may result in penalties and fines and later affects in retaining the employees, so
maintaining proper rules and regulations in the and ensure that staff is following them is
a challenge for human resource management post covid-19.
 Training of employees- Training and developmental programs in context of employees
are a important part for grooming of workforce because training is crucial to being new
speciality in business and helps to improve employee motivation. the most common
problem that arises is the lack of resources which required for training of the team
members. And training is important for teaching right workforce a right course, failure
in it cause extra money and no profit at all (Gao and Sun, 2020) . So, training of
employees proves to be a challenge for human resource management. In context of
HIGH5, they are facing problem in training program as it needs much amount in that.
They should provide training which needs less money and creative to learn.
 Employee Retention- This is the problem that faced by all the organisation, after covid-
19 all the organisation keeps only selected workforce to perform. As soon after
pandemic there are limited options of job in the market and retaining employees results
in unemployment and then a person suffers for its survival. It is harmful for for the
working environment and also affects on productivity of the company. In context of
HIGH5, they did not provide retention to their employees instead provide permanent
jobs to many staff members after covid-19.
 Hiring- It is one of the first thing that company face after pandemic because during
covid-19 businesses almost retain their staffs because of less or no profitability but after
covid-19 they need human resource to regain its position in the market. A company
success depends on its employees and having or selecting best workforce is an essential
aspect for the organisation. Therefore, choosing best staff and implements tools is a
great need in the matter and proves to be a challenge for human resource management

team. In context of HIGH5, they hired more trainee employees after pandemic and their
recruitment process manages well by their human resource management.
 Changes in company policies- After the huge covid-19 crisis many company changes
its rules and regulations to able to cope up with the competition and to be prepare for
any upcoming problems. Making new policies are easy but its never easy to implement it
in an effective way. Sometimes these changes bring new hardship at workplace and
disrupt in team balance. To be effective in implementation of these policies human
resource management must be transparent to handle rules and give employees time to
adjust according to the new changes in the rules (Hoon, Hack and Kellermanns, 2019) .
In the context of HIGH5, they have implemented many new rules but implementation is
not easy as they have a staff aged over 50 ,so they should provided training and time to
their employees.
2.Applies knowledge and evaluate (critically) the traditional HRM practice against
emerging human resource issues during/post covid-19 pandemic.
After covid-19 pandemic there are various issues that emerges in human resopurse
department, some of the issues and HRM practices to resolve these issues during/post pandemic
are given below:
 Employee Well being- This issue raised concerns over adjustments by employees and
maintaining well being in the workforce. Post covid-19 it is identified that how new
policies in the organisation and the perception of workload have affected employees
negatively which give them stress and dissatisfaction in job. The increase in insecurity in
the job and the fear of losing job cause emotional exhaustion among the employees. To
resolve these issue organisations have developed many innovative and effective policies
and activities to increase employee engagement in the organisation. Many organisations
provided job securities to the existing employees with many policies that benefited
employees families(Iswanto, 2018). And to improve motivation among employees
Human resource management provides different training sessions for their employees. In
the context of HIGH5, they have provided training with that they have give permanent
jobs to many existing employees in the company.
 Flexible workforce- During and post Covid-19 flexible working arrangements have
been implemented increasingly. The flexibility in the working arrangements have many

significant and unrealised advantages but with that it have hidden negative impacts also.
The pandemic has caused disruption on both employees and organisation. The outbreak
caused most of the job application were for work from home instead of face to face jobs
and with that there has been an increasingly difference in standard employment and non-
standard employment. Organisations used flexible group approach to address this issue
as the work which is important would have to be completed in office and the work which
doesn't need any special attention can be done from home (Kim, Wang and Boon, 2022)
. With respect to HIGH5, most of their work can be done from office only, hence most
of the workforce have completed their work from office only but they provided some
flexibility to the employees such as alternative day working and flexible working hours
and many more.
 Remote working- In this pandemic outbreak, many companies has been forced to adopt
remote working in their business which keeps employees connected with the
organisation. However managing them increases the problem for human resource
management. And remote working also damages labour market as they can't be
connected with company through digital technologies and it is feasible mainly through
computer and internet accessibility. And there has been employment losses during the
pandemic due to remote working. However many organisations have developed new
forms of work advantages for the organisation such as allowing small training sessions
for the employees who are not familiar with the new technologies and remote working.
In the context of HIGH5, they did not practise remote working on mass level but a very
small amount of their workforce practice that. They give proper training in use of
technology to their employees , so that they sis not face any challenges in future.
 Human capital- The covid-19 pandemic has caused huge losses of human capital in the
organisations. Human capital is very important to improve funds in the business and to
cope up with the unexpected changes. The pandemic led to shutdown of many
organisation and caused enormous impacts in the business. To overcome with these
loses company's human resource management systems should hire new employees who
are capable to uplift the business post pandemic. By appropriate hiring and proper
training with the implementation of new rules and regulations helps organisation to
increase their working capital. In the context of HIGH5 , they have regaining their

human capital by providing effective training to the existing employees as well as by
hiring good working employees in the organisation.
 Communication- During covid-19 pandemic communication issues has been emerging
as a major issue because of remote working, flexibility in working and by applying
social distancing policies. Because of this communication problem staff turnover has
increased due to unable to communicate effectively with the skilled staff. This affected
with the quality of communication. To resolve this issue many human resource
management proposed theoretical model to evaluate the role of communication within
the company. This suggest transparent internal communication that would help
businesses by reducing uncertainty and maintaining better relations between employees
and organisations(Pelletier, Higgins and Bourbonnais, 2018) . This also enhances the
safe working environment and drive safty performance behaviour among the
employees. With respect to HIGH5, they moderate effects of communication
transparency and safe environment in the organisation which results in enhancement of
the motivation in the organisation.
 Re-definition of the modern business practices- The covid-19 has substantially
impacted the strategies of doing business. The pandemic impacted on various
opportunity and made organisations to rethink about the varying assumptions of the
products, services and business model. There is a need to integrate training strategies
and arm the employees with required skills that needed in future practices. The
pandemic altered the extent of modern working in different departments in business. To
overcome this issue human resource management have worked on the reskilled
strategies, they have determined the most effective policy and practices which is capable
in reshaping the workplace attitudes, behaviour and skills in team and individuals. By
these strategies some organisation are enabled themselves in best position and minimize
the negative implications (Shah, 2019) . In the context of HIGH5, they have build new
strategies in their company to be able to stand in the competition and redefined their
innovation techniques for modern future workplace practices.

3. Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using specific
examples from your chosen organisation. For any job role in your chosen
organisation, design a job description and person specification. Prepare a job offer
letter assuming that you are offering the job to one of the interviewed candidates.
Application of HRM practices in HIGH5
Human resource practices are the central part in the organisation to restructuring itself.
The aim to develop organisation is to improve business process, increase knowledge and to
innovate organisational parameters. The human resource practices are those which is used by an
organisation to introduce productive changes in the business within the working standards and to
increase profitability (Sousa and Rocha, 2019). With respect to HIGH5 systematic
implementation of riles and regulations are applied by which both short term and long term goals
is accomplished on timely basis. It is essential for the company to manage its standard working
effectively, so that the abilities of employees get enhanced. It is very essential for the
development working with efficiency.
Job Description
Job Details
Post : HR Manager
Company : HIGH5
Job Purpose
The Human Resource Manager has to maintain and develop effective internal procedure and
had to handle employee related issue. HR manager plays certain roles and responsibilities in
supporting recruitment and retention efforts along with this make sure that suitable action is
implemented in order to accomplish certain task and activities. The candidate must have
strong communication skills as well.
Roles & Responsibilities
 Make appropriate scheme and policies.
 Specify consecutive goals and nurturing working environment.

 Manage recruitment and selection process.
Job Specification
 Post: HR Manager
 Department: HR department
 Key: This shows what is required as an evidence:
 (R): Request form, (I): Interview, (R): Role
Attributes Essential Desirable
 Qualification &
Experience
 Post graduate from
constituted university
 Having minimum 4
year experience in
labour relations and
employee relations.
 Bachelor's degree from
constituted university
 Strong interpersonal
skills and
communication skills
 4 year experience in
progressively
responsible human
resource roles.
 Skills or knowledge  Knowledge of
employment law and
Human resource
management.
 Effectual interactive
skills
 Develop strategies on
compensation and wage
structure as per
requirement
Job Offer Letter

Mr./Ms,
Last-Name
Address
City, State Code
Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name,
Greeting from HIGH5!!!
We are pleased to offer you the full time position of HR manager as an employee of HIGH5.
We feel that your skills and background will be valuable assets for this position and look
forward to work with you. Your joining date will be 1 may 2022. As a part of your
compensation package , company will provide you monthly gross salary of $70,000.
If employment letter is accepted by you than provide as a revert and be there at office along
with your documents for further verification.
If you felt any kind of issue feel comfort to contact us.
Sincerely,
First-name,
Last-Name
Director,
Human-Resources
HIGH5
____________
I hereby accept the HR Manager, HR department position.
_____________________________
Signature _____________________________
Date ----------------------------

4. Based on your contemporary knowledge and understanding about approaches to
performance management and development of people, how you apply new techniques
and processes towards performance recognition. Identify how these might be
evaluated as well.
Performance recognition of an employee is an open acknowledgement and appreciation
of employee achievement in goals or their behaviour. This is the process of motivation and
generate desired behaviour from employees and used by organisations. By applying this
performance recognition techniques employees feels valued and are more engaged in work. Its
an fundamental human need because when employees feels motivated and appreciated for their
contributions in an organisation , they will be more engaged in their work and in organisation as
whole. It does not only results in increasing productivity but minimizes employees turnover,
decreased stress and greater employee satisfaction. In context of HIGH5, they have a staff of
500 and the company operates in highly competitive environment which increases stress among
employees as well as management (Stewart and Brown, 2019) . To be in the competition they
have to increase their productivity and motivate employees continuously, for this they need to
apply different performance recognition techniques. Some methods of performance recognition
are given below:
 Provide opportunities- Workers who are performing well should be able to earn
opportunities for career growth and increasing job responsibilities. Some employees
didn't get the chance to grow which reduces their expectation from the job and affect
their productivity. In context of HIGH5 company, their employees needed the
opportunities to builds their career as well as to bring creativity and new ideas and
techniques for the companies to make the business successful in long run.
 Motivate with financial incentives- Providing financial incentives proves to be a
effective way of Performance recognition. These incentives are more open ended as they
motivate employees to perform their best in all times. Businesses that provide monetary
reward for great work performance are more likely to increase positive work
environment and encourages higher outputs (Yuan and Moayedi, 2020). In the context of
HIGH5, they should increase the pay role of the employees, who are performing good in
terms of higher and quality outputs.

 Give holidays as rewards and bonuses- Holiday as bonuses shows that a company
cares for their employees and it is an appreciation for their hard work. Rewards and
bonuses indicates that the work of an employee has not gone unnoticed instead company
appreciate the dedication an employee provided throughout the year in business. It also
shows that a business care about their workers on personal level. The best way to award
is to offering a standard gift packages and reward them for their brilliant performance. In
context of HGIH5, they operates on a centralised basis and their is shortage of staff and
heavy load of work,so a they should give bonuses and holidays on alternative basis to the
teams. As a result the work will not get affected by the rewards.
 Peer-to-peer recognition- It is define as the process of acknowledging other employee's
skills, talent and hard work. It maintains the sense of team spirit, motivates employees to
perform more and better, promotes transparency. This kind of recognition happens in a
collaborative business environment and results in creating lasting cultural moments that
motivates the employees (Zhang, Zhang and Yang, 2021). It benefits in many ways as
improves job satisfaction among employees, enhances morale , builds trust between
employees and boost retention by filling gaps. In context of HIGH5, it proves best
methods for this organisation as it does not include any monetary transaction in this
process and motivates employees in their performance.
 Use of technology and social media for recognition- When a company incorporate
social media in their business and acknowledges employees on social media, it have an
major positive impact on the one who get it. It allows the an organisation to highlight
success that are happening in the everyday working of office and by recognising
employees on social media, a company able to reach more people. In today's
environment of organisations are uses instant communication so it became important for
an organisation to publish accomplishment. With respect to HIGH5 company, it p[roves
to be very much effective and efficient way of employee motivation and benefits in may
ways.
 Magnify recognition- The most effective technique is to publish employee
accomplishment on multiple forums such as company newsletter, team meetings and
dashboards. This does not only results in motivation of one employee but encourages
other employee also to do better. Its an very efficient way of recognition. In the context

of HIGH5 , they are having low profits and this method provides a inbuilt motivation in
employees for long term.
 Embrace gamification- At the workplace the use of gamification is growing which uses
games to encourage employees to perform their best. It involves participations in
different games and competition, so that employees earn rewards and learn new skills to
achieve desired milestones in the company. The tasks which proves to be annoying and
insignificant becomes more meaningful and enjoyable when connected with
gamification. It helps in various ways as it increases motivation, increases productivity,
promotes teamwork and enhances engagement of employees with their recognition
programs. In context of HIGH5, having more employees aged over 50 ,it will certainly
prove less beneficial but for the trainees this strategy improves their performance and
learning ability.
 Recognise people's passions- Employees will get very much affected and love to
recognise from outside activities and passions as it prevents them with a feeling of just
working as a business machine and rewards them for their right. By communicate
regularly about the successes and disappointments and promotes collaboration among
them leads company to understand what an employee wants for working culture and for
themselves. In context of HIGH5, they should encourages employees to follow their
passion also with the working , this will prevents themselves to feel bounded within the
organisation.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that contemporary issues faced by the human
resource management are the new challenges that are faced by the organisation and HRM has to
provide corrective measures to overcome these issues. The key challenges that is faced by HRM
during covid-19 are employee productivity and job assurance, challenges of employee health,
challenges of front line staff, and challenges of succession planning. The challenges that faced by
HRM post covid-19 are changes in rules and regulations, providing training to the employees,
changes in companies policies , employee retention and new hiring. Then there are issues faced
by human resource management during pandemic with the solution of it. These issues include

employee well being, having flexible work force, re-definition of the modern business practices,
communication issue, increasing remote working and less human capital. Then it provides the
job description, person specification and offer letter. At last this report provide new methods
amd technique for performance recognition which includes make the recognition personal,
provide different opportunity in career development of that employee, magnify employee
recognition, motivate them with financial incentives, provide them holidays as rewards and
bonuses of their working, facilitate peer-to-peer recognition, use technology and social media to
publicise accomplishments and embrace gamification.

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