Background

Organisations are prone to many unforeseen events and their exposure to such uncertainty keep
increasing (Duchek, 2020). One of such unforeseen events is COVID-19 pandemic, which
created many challenges that most organisation are experiencing currently especially the human
resources department (Khudhair et al., 2020). The pandemic forced organisation to take different
measures to ensure the smooth operation of the organisation, for example, new work schedule,
reduction in salary, layoffs, working from home, etc. (Zacher and Rudolph, 2022).

This global event led to an increased interest of academic researchers in the topic of human
resource management, organisational behaviour, and occupational psychology as such event
creates both challenges and opportunities (Zacher and Rudolph, 2022). This give room to
investigate the measures taken by organisation to manage the crises and maintain smooth
operations.
As much as COVID-19 was a great challenge to organisations, it equally created challenges for
employees as they have to adjust to different measures organisations adopted to tackle the issue.
Hence, this research seeks to assess the implication of COVID-19 pandemic for human resources
and the strategies adopted for employee adjustment and management.

Aim and Objectives

The aim of this research work is to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the HRM practices
adopted by a target organisation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The objectives highlighted
below are proposed to be achieved through this study:
1. To examine the impact of COVID-19 on the HRM practices adopted by a target
organisation and how the influenced issues, such as performance, motivation, etc.
2. To investigate the COVID-19's effects on human resource management (HRM), as
organisations assist their staff in adjusting to their newly modified work environment.
Research Questions

Following the research objectives highlighted above, this study will seek to answer the research
questions below.

1. What is the Impact of COVID-19 HRM measures adopted on employee performance?

Literature review

One difficulty that modern organisations have to deal with while functioning is an environment
that is constantly shifting (Berkes, 2009). The authors Rivera-Prieto, Santana, and López-
Cabrales (2022) suggest that the performance of staff ought to be at the centre of every
organisation's interest in order for those organisations to be able to maintain business continuity
and achieve success despite the presence of challenging circumstances. This was especially true
throughout the epidemic caused by COVID-19. As a result of the crisis, which the entire globe
was forced to confront, the functioning of the organisation became more unpredictable, and as a
result, the environment became more turbulent (Al-A’Ali and Masmoudi, 2021). The actions of
workers, as reflected in their performance at work, help businesses and other organisations fight
back against the debilitating effects of the epidemic. However, numerous data suggest that the
COVID-19 outbreak has a detrimental effect on work performance (Carnevale and Hatak, 2020).
Belzunegui-Eraso & Erro-Garces (2020) cite the difficulties in adjusting new and existing
employees as well as adapting to the radically changing work conditions as a significant HRM
problem brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Conditions that entail implementing new
adverse workplace policies and procedures or changing to remote work settings in order to
preserve social distance, which is one way to prevent COVID-19 (Belzunegui-Eraso and Erro-
Garces, 2020).
However, research has shown that the various benefits of a work environment are all affected
when there are changes to the setting that uphold the company's values and beliefs, forcing both
the employer and the employee to seek out alternate means of mending a cordial working

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relationship. A similar experience occurred during COVID-19; COVID-19 has changed most
benefits obtained from a typical working environment (Silva and Bernard, 2020).

Methodology

Research Philosophy

According to Saunders et al. (2019), the business and management field is based on five major
philosophies: positivism, critical realism, interpretivism, pragmatism, and postmodernism.
Positivism will be adopted in this research as it allows quantifiable and objective data to be
collected. It emphasises empirical evidence and seeks to establish relationship between variables.
Crotty (1998) explains that a credible and meaningful data is produced only from an observable
and measurable phenomena. In this research, this philosophy will help establish the relationship
between employee motivation, satisfaction and organisational commitment.

A primary and quantitative research will be adopted for this research. A primary research is
considered because data will be collected directly from the participants.

Sampling
Data will be collected from 100 participants that include HR managers and employees from a
target organisation. A well-designed online questionnaire will be used to collect data from the
participants on their view about the effectiveness of the strategies adopted during COVID-19 in
their organisations.
The data collected will be analysed statistically using SPSS.

Ethical Consideration

Gaining ethical approval before engaging with human participants. This research will adhere to
ethical guidelines, ensuring the protection of participants' confidentiality, obtaining informed
consent, and maintaining data privacy and anonymity. All necessary ethical approvals will be
sought from the relevant institutional bodies.

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Basic time plan for your research and write-up

The proposed timeline for conducting this research is as follows:

Major activities Time

I will further consult with my dissertation faculty guide to discuss the five-month timeframe for
developing and submitting this dissertation manuscript on the topic chosen.

Conclusion

 This study is aimed at investigating the approaches organisations used to manage and assist staff
during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the implications for human resource management.
This study will advance our understanding of HRM practises during times of crisis by analysing
these tactics and their efficacy. The results of this study will give organisations useful
information and suggestions on how to improve their HRM strategy in order to maintain the
wellbeing and productivity of their employees amid uncertain and difficult times.

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References

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Al-A’Ali, E.A. and Masmoudi, M. (2021). Global perspectives on change management and
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Belzunegui-Eraso, A. and Erro-Garcés, A. (2020) “Teleworking in the context of the COVID-19

Carnevale, J.B. and Hatak, I. (2020). Employee Adjustment and Well-Being in the Era of
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Crotty, M. (1998). The Foundations of Social Research. London: Sage.

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Rivera-Prieto, J.C., Santana, M. and López-Cabrales, Á. (2022). Turnaround and human resource
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