TOPIC: TAKE A COMPANY AND

EXPLAIN THE IMPACT OF COVID-19

ON HR PRACTICES AND FUTURE
WORKFORCE

COMPANY TAKEN: C.H. ROBINSON

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE,
DELHI SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
(MBHRCC106)
SUBMITTED BY: RISHAV DHIMAN
MBA HRD (2020-22)

SUBMITTED TO: DR. URVASHI

SHARMA
 Company Taken: C. H. Robinson

Company Overview:

C.H. Robinson is an American Fortune 500 provider of multimodal transportation services and
third-party logistics (3PL). The company offers freight transportation, transportation management,
brokerage and warehousing. It offers truckload, less than truckload, air freight, intermodal, and ocean
transportation.

The company is headquartered in Eden Prairie, MN, with more than 300 offices and over
15,000 employees in North America, Europe, Asia, and South America. The company has contractual
relationships with over 66,000 transportation companies, including motor carriers, railroads, air
freight, and ocean carriers. The company also provides services including supply chain analysis,
freight consolidation, core carrier program management, and information reporting.

C.H. Robinson handled 14.3 million shipments and worked with more than 46,000 customers
in 2014. C.H. Robinson's transportation of goods accounts for about 94% of its gross net revenues
with the remainder coming from sourcing and marketing fresh produce.

The company has consistently been recognized for its workplace and employee benefits, and
was named the No. 2 Large Company in the 2014 Best Places to Work ranking by the
Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. C.H. Robinson has been named a Top 10 Large Company in
Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s Best Places to Work rankings every year since 2006. In 2013,
the company earned a spot on Top Workplaces’ Top 150–National Top Workplaces 2013. The Star
Tribune has recognized C.H. Robinson as a Top Workplace in several of the past 10 years, and in 2014
recognized the company as a “workplace achiever.”

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 Impact of Covid-19 on HR practices and Workforce of C. H. Robinson

Every country across the world has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. And the
transport and freight sectors have certainly not gone untouched. The impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on transport and logistics has been significant, largely due to the wide variety and vast
number of players in the sector. The industry faced initial downturns due to the disruption in global
manufacturing and grounding of passenger planes due to border closures. However, at C. H.
Robinson, they also quickly saw a spike in demand for freight services due to stay-home measures
resulting in an e-commerce boom.

One positive impact of the pandemic is the accelerated adoption of supply chain technologies –
such as Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and data analytics. In a COVID-19 world, cargo
visibility/traceability are key tools for companies to gain an advantage in terms of overcoming supply
chain shocks.

• Increasing role of next-gen HR technologies such as AI, new wellness

technologies, VR, cloud-based HCM tools at C.H. Robinson amid this pandemic

The nature of HR work has undergone tremendous changes in recent years, thanks to the mass
adoption of intelligent tools to help HR professionals automate administrative tasks, measure
employee performance, and make recommendations to the business.

At C.H. Robinson, the way they tackle the impact of covid-19 centers around two aspects:
challenging themselves to stay abreast of the latest HR technology and building a work environment
that is fit for the next generation of savvy talent.

Today, AI-powered HCM software offer the HR function a tangible edge in assessing
employees’ experiences, skill sets, and potential movements, while also adding intelligence to
decisions regarding training, promotion, and recruitment. This is invaluable for a people-first
organization like C.H. Robinson, where anticipating what their talents’ need to excel within their work
scope is high on their priority list.

C.H. Robinson has HR systems and processes in place to prepare their organization and people
for the next phase of growth in the industry. Placing a strong emphasis on added intelligence, process
efficiency, and optimal user experience, they have made significant investments in human capital
management software for their employees across the globe. This includes streamlining their talent

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management, payroll solutions and people analytics within one platform. Additionally, they also
leverage digital workflow solutions to enable their employees to access answers to commonly asked
questions about employee policies and benefits. Ultimately, they are looking to provide seamless
integration for their employees – regardless of where they work.

Their digital HR strategy goes hand in hand with C.H. Robinson’s approach to recruiting –
maintaining a healthy pipeline of experienced and digitally adept professionals. Candidates who are
motivated, entrepreneurial, comfortable working with technology, and interested in pursuing a career
in an industry that is undergoing rapid transformation. Ultimately, they want to build a capable team
of experts who are passionate about leveraging technology innovations to solve business challenges
for their customers.

• Resetting Talent Management Strategy

A key offering of C.H. Robinson is their global network of highly qualified and dedicated
logistics experts with broad industry experience and proven track record in supporting their
customers’ every business need. Their people are arguably their largest competitive advantage, and
they are acutely conscious of the role the HR function plays in maintaining that edge, particularly in
today’s context.

They are not embarking on a brand-new path in the post-pandemic economy, given their long-
term focus on recruiting, nurturing, and empowering the right talent from day one. Of course, the
increasing competitive landscape today, with the logistics industry being the key enabler of global
trade amidst disruptive shifts, does present a new set of hiring challenges. This is all the more reason
for C.H. Robinson to double down on their existing efforts to inspire and grow passion for the
industry—through strategic investments in employee engagement, training opportunities, and
benefits.

In the post-COVID-19 world, talent management must evolve to address the need for fluidity in
talent and a seamless flow of knowledge and innovative ideas to enable capability, capacity, and
agility. Given the world’s rapid adoption of remote working culture, organizations and their HR
leaders now know that recruiting top talent can be expanded across cities and states – particularly for
roles that allow for remote work. Recruitment is often location agnostic, and this can result in a whole
new level of opportunities for HR leaders. For C.H. Robinson, they have also leveraged the current
landscape to enable digitalization and higher adoption of technology for the purposes of remote

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employee training. They have put in place programs to help their employees build upon their skills for
the future, while enabling them to stay productive at home.

• HR leaders creating a culture of Innovation

Digital talent is – more than ever before – an asset for logistics companies that are looking to
differentiate and gain a competitive advantage.

At C.H. Robinson, their employees remain their biggest asset – hence they have put in place
HR strategies to recruit, train, and retain top talent across their company by expanding their
definition of critical talent.

Angie Freeman, global talent and corporate responsibility strategies head at C.H. Robinson

Angie Freeman in one of her interviews said: “we’re aiming to ensure we have the people and
expertise necessary to lead our company into the future. For example, aside from opening roles such
as data scientists or software developers, we also have made appropriate investments in skills
training for our existing employees. This allows us to future-proof our organization and enable the
robust talent pipeline needed to adapt to changing business conditions.”

• Creating a Culture of trust and Transparent Communication

While they believe digital talent is imperative in sustaining business momentum in the new
normal, their efforts to recruit and upskill would not succeed without the right organizational culture.
Their culture of trust and transparent communication is key at C.H. Robinson as they aim to provide
as much certainty as possible for employees during this time. Their approach to leveraging human-
centered leadership and empathy has also gone a long way in uplifting employees and reassuring
them of their sense of purpose within the organization. Ultimately, they hope to help their employees
adapt, innovate, and find opportunities to thrive.

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 • HR in a Data-driven world post the pandemic

The pandemic has sparked the adoption of automation on a large scale, and the impact is being
felt across many industries, including logistics.

Within the HR department, data insights give us access to people analytics – a more
comprehensive view of how C.H. Robinson’s human resources are being allocated and utilized. The
ability to act on this knowledge strategically allows HR to offer even more value to the business. Of
course, the advent of transformative technology will also have a significant impact on existing HR
processes, and they will need to proactively improve their HR skill set to adapt and thrive. They see
this as a case of leading by example in continuous learning and adapting to the new nature of work.

The pandemic not only shined light on the importance of supply chain technology, but also the
people who kept supply chains running. They saw an increased appreciation and understanding for
those working long hours to support the global economy and people’s needs – including transporting
vital personal protective equipment (PPE), food and beverage supplies, and more. C.H. Robinson was
grateful to work alongside their 78,000 contract carriers to help make that happen.

They anticipate that the industry will continue to embrace logistics technologies at a faster rate
in order to adapt to the new normal. For example, this will include leveraging data to provide near-
real-time analytics into shipment tracking, hence driving more precise logistics and inventory
management.

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