In 2020, businesses were forced to abandon many of their strategic plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Soon after the virus made headlines worldwide, the focus became preventing the spread of the virus through the workforce, adjusting product and service distribution and delivery methods, and managing customer needs in a new environment of social distancing.

One of the initiatives that received little, if any, attention was employee development. For many organizations, training and development expenses were reduced and eliminated in some cases. Additionally, the demand on HR significantly increased as attention was directed toward safety protocols, COVID sick leave, furloughs, and layoffs. There was little time for traditional training and development in the immediacy of the tragedy unfolding one year ago.

With the vaccine rollout well underway in 2021, leaders are eyeing recovery with the goal of not only reaching 2019 performance levels but exceeding them. According to a LinkedIn Learning Report, one critical strategy to a successful recovery is to reprioritize employee professional development, which 94% of employees believe to be a reason for staying at a company longer.

Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted many areas of business operations, notably human resources. Between navigating furloughs, keeping up morale, and reconfiguring workflows to accommodate remote work, professionals with HR duties played a pivotal function for organizations. Additionally, COVID-19 magnified pre-existing business challenges with supply chain, competition, and access to capital, forever changing certain industries as a result.

The continuing impacts of the coronavirus pandemic mean HR systems and functions, as well as compliance risk, will continue to be challenging in 2021. Many employers have turned to outside HR resources as a way to alleviate the overload, especially if they’ve reduced staff or are looking to ramp up hiring and onboarding in the coming year.

 The COVID-19 outbreak has caused a domino effect of unprecedented events to disrupt the global economy – massive layoffs, the plummet of the stock market, interruptions to supply chain and demand, and the closing of "non-essential" businesses – all of which have been defining the new normal for today's world.

As COVID-19 cases continue to grow worldwide, employers and employees alike are scrambling to adapt to the restrictive social distancing protocols and stay-at-home orders. The uncertainty of what the workplace stands to lose – and gain – from the changes brought on by COVID-19 has caused immense levels of stress about returning to work post-pandemic.  

While COVID-19 will inevitably leave its mark on the workplace, employers can use the pandemic as an opportunity to transform current challenges into something positive, to come out better on the other side. Through an idea known as post-traumatic growth (PTG), businesses can move beyond merely accepting the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and find the silver linings.

Communication with employees is the foundation of success for any business. It's even more crucial during a crisis.

With so much uncertainty surrounding the present and future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders are forced to address issues they never have before. Some are finding that their current internal crisis communication plan needs tailoring to tackle the unique challenges posed by COVID-19. For others, this will be a crash course in crisis communications.

To effectively communicate with employees during difficult times, it's essential to keep employees' psychological wellness in mind by being transparent, empathetic, and responsive. Here are a few tips you can follow to keep workplace morale from sinking, promote productivity, and position your company to be an employer of choice on the other side of the crisis.

Research from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) shows companies that invest in a detailed, effective onboarding program retain 50% more of their new hires than their competitors. Similarly, employees who have a positive onboarding experience are 69% more likely to stay employed at their current company for at least three years. With the unemployment rate reaching new lows, signaling a decrease in potential new hires, it’s more important than ever to invest time in crafting a good onboarding experience.

Have you ever left a job fair feeling like your top accomplishment was the distribution of your company’s latest promo item (stress ball, anyone?) to people who will likely toss it the minute they get home?

In theory, exhibiting at job fairs provides a boost to the candidate search and hiring process. In reality, job fairs require thorough preparation and out-of-the-box tactics to be an effective recruiting strategy.

If you are planning to attend job fairs in 2019 and come away with more than empty boxes, these tips are for you.

Although your experience and education largely define your career and your professional persona, sometimes a certification tucked into your title goes a long way toward being perceived as a leader or expert in your field. There are a few different certifications HR professionals can earn to increase their understanding of best practices, legal requirements, and ethics. Certifications also provide opportunities for you to engage with a professional community that shares your values and goals.

While earning certifications for educational and professional networking purposes is commendable, you’ll want to combine a meaningful educational experience with a certification that can boost your career and land you in a nice position to negotiate a raise. It’s a good idea to talk to your mentor or manager about what is well-recognized and valued by your peers and company leaders before dedicating the required hours and dollars. This roundup of HR certifications will provide a starting point for your research and your path to HR superstardom.

Too often, the human resource professional is so caught up in putting out daily fires that it can be difficult to take a big picture, 365-degree view of the industry. Taking the time to plan and prepare for the future is essential to a successful HR strategy long-term, and that’s why we sat down with two HR leaders to discuss their thoughts on the industry and the biggest opportunities for success and failure in 2018.

So you’ve got your business up and running and invested countless sleepless nights, skipped vacations, and forgot your own birthday to keep the dream of being a small business owner alive. You’re not alone. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are more than 27.9 million small businesses in the U.S. and more are being added every year.

As you add employees, the complexity of your business grows, and regulations change with more people on the payroll. You soon realize you can’t wear all the hats forever. Now is the time to set a great HR foundation for your business.

Here are some general guidelines to help you think about when to use a consultancy, hire a full-time HR professional, and when you might need both!

What are your HR goals for 2018? Do you want to communicate better with employees? Recruit more talent? Offer more engaging training and content? Whatever size your company, a few more free tools in your toolbox could put you well on your way to reaching your goals this year!

We know that in your role, especially if your team is small, you likely wear many hats, from recruiter and trainer to compliance and governance. Below we’ve rounded up some of the most popular free tools and resources for HR professionals.