Many individuals are terrified and worried due to the international health calamity known as COVID-19. It has significantly impacted how people live, work, and do business for millennia (Akbarpour, 2020). A severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus pandemics broke out in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. (SARS-Co2). The virus spread quickly, and the World Health Organization declared it a worldwide pandemic on March 11, 2020, owing to its fast spread. That's exactly what it says (WHO, 2020)

These countries have used several non-pharmacological methods, such as social isolation, to restrict the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It was agreed to impose travel restrictions, cancel flights for an extended period, quarantine individuals, and close schools, universities, non-essential businesses, and non-governmental organizations. During COVID-19, there was a lot of talk on the future of work, which needed organizations to be more inventive and creative. It has hastened the collapse of human resource management and the implementation of future scenarios. Human resource management practices are being rethought, and thinking about how firms manage their personnel occurs. They consider current information technology a critical component in their long-term survival and success. Several governments have enacted new legislation to support firms due to this quick and unexpected expansion. In Germany, recent new legislation has made it easier for businesses to use video conferencing in two locations when working from home. As a result, working from home has become commonplace in the workplace. Some experts feel that demonstrating that all organizations operating remotely will continue to do so after COVID-19 is more vital (Brooks, 2020).

Although remote work has disadvantages, it allows workers to work more flexible hours, save money on travel, gain more professional autonomy, and master new technologies. Cost reductions and better utilization of scarce resources like office space are also advantages. True, some nations, like Korea's, look to non-contact businesses like telecom, remote support, and online education as potential sources of future economic development.

The COVID-19 pandemic substantially influenced worldwide economic activity, with several nations experiencing considerable increases in unemployment (World Economic Forum, 2020). These were only a few actions (World Economic Forum, 2020). At the World Economic Forum in 2020, this will be the case (GAO, 2020). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 30 million Americans and 1.76 million Japanese are now unemployed. According to Gourinchas, almost half of the workforce may be unable to work for a prolonged time due to COVID-19.

Small businesses have started to reopen, but under unusual circumstances and with a new way of working, no one knows when will come to an end due to the present economic slowdown. For example, there is a lot of physical distance between coworkers in the office. They needed to develop new ways to keep businesses functioning while also assisting their employees in dealing with the unique situation that the epidemic had created for management and human resources (HRM). Because there isn't much study on how COVID-19 affects human resource management and what it may do for businesses, managers and HR professionals need to know how to deal with COVID-19 successfully and efficiently and how to aid their employees and keep their businesses functioning (Akbarpour,  2020). Because they lack the essential experience, many companies cannot deal with issues. As a result, scientists must issue early warnings to businesses and governments to prepare for future pandemics. It's also crucial to figure out how COVID-19 affects human resource management, the difficulties and opportunities that exist, and what the future of HRM will look like. It tries to fill in the gaps created by a lack of management research.

The constant identification, assessment, and improvement of individual and group performance while ensuring that the organization's long-term goals are met are the most critical components of performance management. It's critical to ensure that what employees do is in line with its goals. Even in the face of a calamity like COVID-19, employees are expected to give it their all. The emergence of COVID-19 may have impacted the organization's overall performance management. As a result of the pandemic's complexity and novelty, several organizations lowered or eliminated performance management. Many organizations reduced or discontinued performance management due to COVID-19-related problems, such as monitoring employee performance and altering performance-based pay. It may be challenging to evaluate employee performance during this crisis due to the degradation of working circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic may also have an impact on employee productivity. Researchers discovered that job isolation, a lack of communication with coworkers, family obligations, and an excessive amount of responsibilities substantially impacted workers' performance (as measured by the COVID-19).

For people who work from home, this is especially true. Managing a remote workforce and ensuring that they have access to the tools they need can impact their productivity. According to some authors, supervisors are apprehensive that allowing their workers to work from home may drop productivity in other areas (GAO, 2020). Excessive micromanagement could result from a lack of trust in employees, resulting in repeated clashes between the supervisor and their subordinates. Aguinis and Burgi-Tian urge firms to continue and strengthen their performance management practices during the current health crisis. Businesses that wish to keep good employees while staying out of legal issues should reveal vital information about the company's long-term strategy, collect key business statistics, and solicit employee feedback. Employees are more driven to improve and contribute to the company's success when given frequent feedback on their performance, which can help businesses reclaim market share. During the COVID-19 period, it was proved that worker pay significantly impacts their productivity. According to the authors, employees should be given non-monetary incentives to maintain and improve production during times of crisis when a pandemic is predicted to last long. The organization's ability to stay open maybe the most pressing worry.

In response to the COVID-19 virus outbreak, several countries have introduced legislation to support workers and businesses during this public health emergency and encourage homebound behavior. Employees in the United States can take two weeks of paid sick leave to be isolated, undergo COVID-19 treatment, care for a family member infected with the virus, and provide childcare if schools or daycares are closed due to the sickness. Short-term pay, often known as part-time jobs, has been used to safeguard enterprises and maintain employment levels to keep the economy moving (Brooks, 2020). Businesses experiencing a downturn in business may be able to use this to keep their staff and avoid having to lay them off for a short time. This aspect directly impacts how organizations compensate their employees and the types of jobs they perform.

As a result, managers and human resource professionals may struggle to keep up with the demands of their jobs. Some argue that providing paid sick leave to employees will encourage them to take more time off than they would otherwise. It also makes it more difficult for employees to take sick time off. Incentives for firms to give paid sick leave and other government-enforced requirements encourage enterprises that haven't provided these benefits to their employees. Managers and human resource professionals should keep these benefits in place after the outbreak to keep employees motivated.

Furthermore, dealing with compensation in contexts like hospitals, where there is a great danger of contamination, can be challenging. Because employees face daily dangers, it may be necessary to assess if their remuneration is adequate. Hecker argues that people chose employment based on how hazardous they were ready to take in exchange for higher pay in the past. This, according to Hecker, has changed. Almost every company wants to reduce risk by hiring more individuals to do more dangerous occupations. If they do not earn enough money, a significant proportion of people will leave their work.

References

Akbarpour, M., Cook, C., Marzuoli, A., Mongey, S., Nagaraj, A., Saccarola, M., Yang, H. (2020) Socioeconomic Network Heterogeneity and Pandemic Policy Response. The University of Chicago, Becker Friedman Institute for Economics Working Paper (2020-75).

Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., & Rubin, G. J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: Rapid review of the evidence. 

GAO, J., Zheng, P., Jia, Y., Chen, H., Mao, Y., Chen, S. … Dai, J. (2020). Mental health problems and social media exposure during COVID-19 outbreak. PLoS One, 15(4), e0231924.