IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON HR

PRACTICES AND FUTURE

WORKFORCE OF UBER

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
(MBHRCC106)

SUBMITTED TO: DR URVASHI SHARMA

NAME: RASIKA AGARWAL

ROLL NO: 81
COMPANY OVERVIEW
Uber Technologies Inc., commonly known as Uber, is an American company
that offers vehicles for hire, food delivery, package delivery, couriers, freight
transportation, and, through a partnership with Lime, electric bicycle and
motorized scooter rental. The company is based in San Francisco and has
operations in over 900 metropolitan areas worldwide. It is one of the largest
providers in the gig economy and is also a pioneer in the development of self-
driving cars.
Uber is estimated to have over 78 million monthly active users worldwide. In
the United States, Uber has a 67% market share for ride-sharing and a 24%
market share for food delivery. Uber has been so prominent in the sharing
economy that the changes in industries as a result of it have been referred to as
uberisation.
Uber was originally seen as providing a cost-saving platform that matched car
owners with empty seats to customers going to the same destination—true
ride-sharing. The model then evolved, with dedicated drivers taking customers
wherever they wanted.

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UBER AND HR

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT:

The HR of Uber provides skill development and driver training to the unskilled.
The HR also helps trained drivers receive commercial licenses, vehicle
financing, and leasing solutions as well. Uber had launched a unique
initiative in partnership with Maruti Suzuki and National Skill
Development Corporation, for creating livelihood opportunities for
around one million people by 2018.

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL:
The HR of Uber usually depends on the customer’s feedback to a large extent.
Feedbacks are taken from customers about drivers. If feedback is found to be
positive and productive, it needs to be delivered and recorded in real time.
Customers are generally asked to rate the drivers and the service provided by
the drivers after their ride. Frequently, it has been observed that there are
three main performance metrics, namely: the driver’s rating, how many
rides the driver accepts and how many times a driver cancel a trip. Uber
provides incentives in the form of business grants to the drivers for
accomplishing a particular target.

RECRUITMENT:
Recruitment has two major sections: the recruitment of drivers and
hiring of office employees.
For getting recruited as a driver, the following conditions must be met:
 Car’s documents such as insurance, finance receipt, etc.
 Owner’s documents such as photographs, photo ID, address proof, driving
license, and background check certificate.

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  The vehicle should be free from any dents and patches.
 A savings A/C should be opened in the name of the driver, where the
money will be transferred on a particular day in a week.
 The drivers need to get a mobile phone, which will be registered with
Uber. Customers will contact the driver in this number.
For recruiting an employee, a preliminary Skype interview generally
happens. Uber interviews are usually more extended and complicated. Brain
teasers are usually not asked; instead, the focus is on real-world scenarios. The
focus is mostly on creative and analytical tests.

BENEFITS TO EMPLOYEES:
The Employee benefits include Insurance (health, life, disability, dental and
vision insurance), Retirement Plans and stock options, maternity leave, flexible
working hours, gym membership, free meals, pension plans, retirement plans,
performance bonus, work from home, flexible hours, unpaid extended leave
vacation & time off, paid time off, sick leave, bereavement leave, company car
professional support, diversity program, job training & tuition, apprenticeship
program.

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IMPACT OF COVID-19

The impact of COVID-19 and the unpredictable nature of the recovery left Uber
with no choice but to reduce the size of its workforce. Uber India alone
announced laying-off a fourth of its total headcount of 2,400 in the country
across customer and driver support, business development, legal, finance,
policy and marketing verticals. The retrenched employees would be paid 10 to
12 weeks of salary, besides medical insurance coverage for the next six months
and outplacement support.
Uber cut 3,000 jobs from its global workforce on May 19. In total, the San
Francisco based organization has cut more than a quarter of its workforce
since the year began. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi had said the company
would refocus on its core business, moving people and delivering food and
groceries. The company also closed 45 offices globally, and almost all
departments were affected by layoffs. The company also closed its Incubator
and AI Labs and pursued strategic alternatives for its job recruiting app, Uber
Works.

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CHALLENGES FOR HR AND THE UBER APPROACH

Covid-19 introduced certain unique challenges for HR. Some of the major
challenges are as follows:
 How do we help those that have to be physically present feel safe?
 How do we maintain a culture where everyone feels treated and valued
equally, when some employees can work from home but others can’t?
 How do we support employees’ different needs at different times, while
HR are facing more pressure and juggling larger workloads than usual
ourselves?

Answering these questions isn’t just about short-term COVID-security

measures like installing sanitizer stations, introducing new work pathways,
putting up awareness posters and providing PPE – although robust safety
measures are crucial. The big issue for HR is, there’s a lot of scope for COVID to
become a pandemic of plummeting employee engagement. HR has a
responsibility, not only to help employees feel safe but to help them feel
valued.

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Uber followed the ‘Uber Approach’ for its workforce to stay productive,
motivated and engaged during the biggest HR challenge in memory .

 INTRODUCE BETTER LISTENING AND RESPONSE

MECHANISMS

It’s always been critical for HR to listen, to understand what’s on employees’

minds, but that’s been especially true during the pandemic. Uber did a number
of engagement surveys to understand how people are coping working from
home and then reacted accordingly. For example, they encouraged people to
take more time-off, to recharge and combat the extra pressure and feelings of
burnout over the summer.
They issued regular pulse surveys – globally and locally – to check-in with
their people. They asked open questions that get beyond simple ‘I’m good’ or
‘I’m bad’ statements, like:
How are you feeling at the moment?
What are the biggest challenges you’re facing working from home?
What could we do to better support you right now?
What do you need to work more productively?
How are you feeling about coming back to the office?
What could we do to better support you back to the office?

 UPSKILL MANAGERS WHO BEAR THE BRUNT OF CHANGE

There’s a lot of negativity whirling around during the pandemic, and morale is
taking a hit. Uber found that leaders can help rally the troops by championing a
positive culture in their team. ‘Good News Monday’ is an initiative that’s

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worked really well to increase engagement within Uber, for example, where
leaders share positive news from their teams to start the week.
Saying that, it’s not about creating an overwhelmingly, falsely positive
environment. Leaders shouldn’t shy away from being authentic and vulnerable.
Uber focused on setting up a weekly focus group for managers to share best-
practices and challenges, for example, and scheduled training on ‘hot topics’
like compassionate listening and spotting burnout.

 SCHEDULE MOMENTS OF CONNECTION TO KEEP TEAMS

TOGETHER

One of the biggest ‘soft’ issues Uber faced is around social connection.
Employees missed the watercooler type conversations they would have in
the physical office – walking to work, making a cup of tea, over lunch – because
typically teams only catch-up via Zoom about specific projects or tasks. Long-
term, that poses a big threat to engagement and motivation. People are feeling
more drained and less connected.
One can’t rely on connection to happen organically when people are
distributed, so Uber found it’s important to actively schedule moments for
connection, in a COVID-secure way.
For example, ordering individually delivered food for the team so everyone can
eat together whether they’re working from home or the office. Uber used the
Uber Eats for Business dashboard to deliver a flexible meals program, so
every employee had an Uber Eats allowance they can use for moments like
that. Uber also issued Vouchers as an extra reward or perk, which is fantastic
for team building. Think Friday night drinks individually delivered, or
team pizza when a project is closed off.
Some teams have taken ownership for getting together face-to-face, where
local rules allow and people feel comfortable. It’s important to maintain whole
team connection moments too though so nobody’s excluded.

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  SET AND COMMUNICATE A CLEAR BACK TO WORK PLAN

Everyone’s had different experiences of working from home and has different
perspectives on coming back to the office. Uber felt it was really important to
give their people the freedom to choose what’s best for them, so they let
employees decide for themselves whether to return to the office or keep
working from home until mid-next year, or any combination that works for
them, according to local guidelines.
This model is working really well for Uber. Uncertainty has been a major cause
of anxiety through the pandemic and Uber focused on combatting that by
setting a clear plan and boundaries.
For example, when the time comes to start opening offices again, one shouldn’t
just tell people they’re opening offices. Tell them whether they’re expected to
work from them and how often. If organizations are continuing WFH, tell
employees for how long it is likely to last. What if there’s a vaccine tomorrow?
What if there’s never a vaccine? Be transparent. Everyone appreciates that
the situation might change but showing that Uber has got a considered plan
dissolves employees’ uncertainty and promotes confidence in their leadership.

 INNOVATIVE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

Some methods may vary depending on one’s team, while other strategies may
be employed companywide. Some areas of the organization set up weekly
virtual coffee chats, connecting people on different teams to promote
socialization and networking. Weekly virtual lunches and happy hours are a
nice way for teams to catch up and have the social interaction one would
usually get in the office. Weekly or daily check-ins and skip-levels help to keep
everyone on track and understand how team members are managing through
the transition. Uber is using tools like Slack for quicker, more consistent
communication; Zoom for face-to-face meetings; and email for formal requests.

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FUTURE WORKFORCE

Uber believes that it is important for the employees of the organization to have
the liberty to decide what is best for them. Some might wish to return to
office depending of the conditions and some might wish to continue working
from home. Uber has granted the liberty to its employees to decide for
themselves regarding what combination would best work for them till summer
of 2021. The offices are sanitized on a regular basis and social distancing is
maintained to create a safe working environment for the employees who are
returning to office.
For employees who are working from home, creative WFH policies have been
designed. There are weekly ‘All Hands,’ virtual meetings organized for
leadership to apprise employees of the company’s future plans, along with
guidelines of what is being done to help stakeholders reliant on the Uber
platform. Activities like Desktop Yoga Sessions, live virtual guided yoga
sessions to help employees stay calm, focused and feel connected while they
WFH are organized on a weekly basis to ensure physical and mental wellness.
They are also being encouraged to reach out and ask for professional help if
they need it through Uber’s ‘Employee Assistance Program,’ that provides a
number of services that are confidential and free for employees and their
family members. These include confidential counseling with stress, grief,
anxiety.

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