Can Upheaval of COVID-19 be Managed by Change in HR Practices? A Study on Indian Working Professionals

Abstract

In present scenario, pandemic has compelled organizations to make changes in their human resource (HR) policies and practices. The ‘new normal’ work culture has been adopted by the organizations, which is definitely ‘new’ but not ‘normal’. New normal is the shift from physical world to digital world. This new normal is one of the weapons of organization to battle with the storm of COVID-19, which has created upheaval and further leads to anxiety and stress among the working professionals. In this research, change in HR practices and policies for reducing stress has examined. Two scales were developed for ‘change in HR practices’ and ‘stress’. These scales were further validated and tested for reliability. Sample was collected from 306 respondents, divided into 194 male and 112 female working professionals. Hierarchical multiple regression method was used to identify the relationship between change in HR practices and stress among Indian working professionals. Further moderation effect of gender on the relationship between change in HR practices and stress was analysed. This research has concluded that change in HR practices has distinct impact on the stress level of male and female working professionals.