Responding To The Clarion Call Of COVID-19: A study of impact of HR function and employee engagement on post-crisis organisation recoverability

Abstract

This empirical investigation attempts to trace the HR function enablers that contributed to organisational recoverability during the COVID19 crisis. The study adopts a dual approach of gaining the employee perspective as well as HR perspective of ten organisations operating in the national capital region of Delhi, India. A causal survey design was adopted to gain employee perspective through the analysis of quantitative data. The dependent variable of organisational recoverability was studied in relation to the independent variables of HR communication, HR support, HR collaboration, HR agility, HR anticipation of a crisis, and employee engagement.

In the second phase of the study, HR managers of ten organisations were interviewed to gain insights into HR initiatives during COVID19. The quantitative data was subjected to machine learning analysis (Rstudio, Random Forest) & qualitative data was analysed through content analysis. The results indicate that Employee Engagement, HR support, HR agility, & HR anticipation of crisis emerged as predictors for organisational recoverability. The emerging themes of qualitative interviews were - HR initiatives, HR communication, HR empowerment, employee engagement, knowledge management, and organisational learning. The study has implications for HR professionals and academicians.