QUAID E AZAM UNIVERSITY, ISLAMABAD

Human Resources Management

Course Instructor: Dr. Fahad Sultan

Project by Group 2

Members:
Shah Ali
Saqib Ali Mazari
Junaid Hassan
Hasin Nafees
HRM PROJECT

Topic: Human Resource function is under a great deal of stress during the recent COVID-19 Pandemic. What
Social Media policies do you seem “Fit for Purpose” under current circumstances of Post Pandemic situation
faced by Human Resource department?

INTRODUCTION

Effectiveness of an organization over time and the way it creates its value for the employees who work for them
crucially depends on how well the human resources management department of that company or organization is
performing. This department is an essential aspect of every organization because it plays key role in workforce
management through continuous checks and constant improvement in areas where required.

It is a challenging role during “normal” times. However, when a natural disaster or other unexpected event
transpires, HRM professionals are tasked with ensuring the safety and well-being of employees and facilitating
the availability of staff to provide public services during a turbulent and high stress event (French et al., 2008;
Mann & Islam, 2015).

For the past few years, the whole world went through a very drastic situation which impacted every walk of life
from education to health and almost every other aspect of human life. People struggled with a lot of things and
one of the critical conditions faced by most of the people besides their health was their jobs. Massive layoffs
crippled the economic condition of so many people. And, dealing with all these issues at the backend were the
HR department of companies and organizations. The struggle was real and the HR managers faced quite a lot of
challenges during the past few years and they had to adopt new approach of working from home,
though it was tough to formulate plans according to the company needs and keeping up high level of efficiency
but they still managed. Following were the issues faced by HR department of companies during pandemic it was
tough to manage but through effective and efficient management strategies they were able to do so.

Major problem areas face by HRM during Coronavirus pandemic

1.Employee Layoffs
Due to massive setbacks to the company productions and overall functioning, most of them were in a very
weak financial and were just being able to keep their heads afloat. In these tough situations many of them went
into downsizing and it caused massive layoffs during the Covid-19 era. HR managers had to swallow this tough
pill and had to make hard decisions based on the unstable and uncertain situation that they were facing. There was
no quick solution to this problem, most of the companies took the easy route of cutting down salary expenses by
laying off most of its employees in the hope of staying afloat.
2.Decision Making
The HR managers always try to solve problems that the company faces with the workforces and employees
and for that they make certain decisions based on observations and factual data. But during the Covid-19 era the
HR managers were left clueless regarding their decisions as the complete shutdown deprived them of observations
and factual data to support any decision that they were making.

3.Adapting to new work patterns

The working patterns schedules were adversely effected during the Covid-19 era. Adapting to new forms
of work such as working from home was a tough challenge for both managers and HR department. It was a
difficult thing to tackle when you have to deal with workforce which is not present in front of you and they are
virtually trying to work from their homes. Scheduling and time management were the key factors to cope up with
for maximum effectiveness of any project done in remote conditions during the Covid-19 era.

4.Communication and engagement

Covid-19 not only highlighted the significance of risk communication but also pointed out several
unintended and distressing consequences due to information gaps and miscommunications. Remote working also
compromised the effective communication and engagement between the employees and their managers including
the HR. Finding better tools and software to enhance this aspect of work was a challenge. And conveying the user
guide to the employees in a simple and understandable way was important as well.

5.Performance evaluations
Remote working or working from home caused an issue in proper evaluation of the employees work and
then working on improving the concerning points was also compromised. Collective learning was also
compromised as a result of covid-19. In addition to it forming a performance evaluation report of the employees
in order to see their effectiveness also got impacted as a result of pandemic. The HR managers were supposed to
adapt to performance evaluation tools such as Asana and learning it then trying to implement it, was quite hectic
and draining process

6.Hiring and Sourcing

Another problem faced by HR managers during Covid-19 era was hiring new people for work. What are
the skills that are essential in an employee because most certainly it wasn’t about just the work and it was much
more than that? Need of essential skills like adaptability, technical expertise and mental wellbeing were more
focused than ever.

7. Research Budgets
The weak and fragile financial positions of different companies compelled them to cut down research
expenses. It looked as if new and innovative solutions of different problems related to production or employees
were halted because of massive cut downs in the research budgets.
8. Supporting Staff and Spreading awareness

Motivating the employees and letting them know that the company cares about them in these tough times was
also an important job for HRM because it definitely helped a lot of people to remain calm and take rational
decisions during covid era.

Spreading awareness and keeping the employees up to date about the situation at hand and making decisions
accordingly was also crucial. Through social media, webinars and online sessions HR did play a vital role in
keeping employees informed.

OTHER SIDE OF COVID-19

Covid-19 was quite some challenge but on the brighter side, it brought so many issues to light as well from
healthcare to education. Some of the outcomes are as follows.

 Employees adapted to the technological advancement pretty fast which was gradual and slow before
Covid-19.
 Leaders and HR Executives saw that remote working can be a better option giving flexible work solutions
for employees.
 Adaptation to the digital transformations can bring in positive results and increase efficiency as well.
 People are way more efficient when they are given a flexible work environment. Health and safety
concerns regarding employees got more attention than ever.
 Mental health got prioritized more than ever by companies and even employees themselves start taking
care of their mental health.
 Leadership with people centric qualities emerged. It involved focusing on relationship building through
careful listening, to provide care and support to employees and staff so that they can reach their maximum
potential and do their very best.

SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE AND ITS POLICIES

Another important aspect that companies these days need to focus on especially after the Covid-19 pandemic is
social media and its policies for the organization in general and the employees in particular. We have seen an
increase in the usage of social media in the last few years and it has become a market place of its own. Some
important stats showed that 77% of the people at work use social media in America, 68% of the employees are
connected to their colleagues via social media and the engagement with employee posts on social media is 8X
than marketing campaigns and also their posts are shared across social media platforms more than the marketing
campaigns. These stats show that social media is here in our daily lives and it is here to stay.
So, the companies and HR teams has to find a way to use it in a good way and form policies accordingly. The
days of forcing employees or keeping their views in a closed circuit has long gone and the need of the hour is to
get the company orientation correctly and form such policies which benefit the organization as well as the
employees.

Covid-19 shutdown forced us to stay at home and everyone was consuming every kind of content on social media
platforms regarding each and everything that was happening in that period. Not only everyone was consuming
content but so many were also vocal on their social media accounts and were sharing a lots of stuff on the internet.
The two years of Covid-19 has completely changed the mindset of people and their outlook towards the life. We
are in the new times and it demands us to be more conscious about our surroundings. Similarly, companies and
HR departments have to see things with utmost care and consideration. Forming the right policies suitable for
their employees and being considerate of people has become more important than ever.

GENERAL SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES

• Protection and secrecy of confidential data about the company. Employees should be careful about it

and must not share anything secret or confidential about the company.

• Acting sensibly and sharing content responsibly on social media. When an employee shows his/her

presence on social media, the company is also being represented by that person. It puts a responsibility on

that person’s shoulder to maintain the integrity of the company or organization

• Following code of conduct and community guidelines is also a necessary aspect showing presence on

social media. It applies to the company and the employees both, to follow the community guidelines and

being reasonable

• Drawing a line between business life and personal life. There must be some sort of separation between

the two aspects of a person’s life, although this policy might be obsolete in today’s sense

• Be nice, sensible and having the sense that your presence online directly reflects on the company you

work for.

• Be understanding, accommodative and considerate of cultures and diversity.

IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

A social media policy is a set of guidelines that advises how employees should conduct themselves online. It’s
designed to safeguard the brand’s image and encourage employees to use their accounts responsibly. A social
media policy defends against legal trouble, empowers employees, and creates consistency across all channels. A
social media policy has three main parts: regulations, roles, and accountability.

 Regulations: Complying to set of rules and principles.

 Roles: Responsibility of what to do?
 Accountability: Self-assessment and analysis.

We see a lot of examples around the globe where companies face massive backlash from social organizations,
societies and various communities because of their unprofessional conduct on Web 2.0 which is a social media.
Clorox got into trouble for being insensitive towards people color when they shared campaign advertisement of
“New emoji’s are alright but where’s the bleach?” when Apple released new set of emoji’s with all shades of
colors. Similarly, we see social media influencers associated with brands cause the companies to plummet their
reputation and sales when they share something provoking on social media. These all are the causes of a poor
social media policy and having a good one can work in the opposite way, it can help company boost its sales or
create even more value in the eyes of the people. In short, we can say that online presence for companies in these
days is very important but to have a proper guideline for the organization and employees to conduct themselves
on social media is even more important.

UPDATED HRM SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY (AFTER COVID-19)

Use of social media increased quite rapidly all across the globe during Covid-19 era. Due to smart lockdowns
every member in family were confined to stay at home. Even elders who were employed at their respective
companies had to work from home through digital gadgets such as laptops, cellphones and palmtops etc.
According to survey of Hootsuite in 2020, 43% rise in use of social media was observed during pandemic. Due
to social distancing people had less social interaction so they started virtual interaction via social media such as
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Messenger etc.

According to many researchers, working from the home made people feel isolated and increased chances of
physiological stress and anxiety. Socializing is one of the basic and most essential human need according to
Abraham Maslow’s Theory so in order to rejoice oneself most people went on social media to interact with
friends and relatives. They not only shared informative content such as general awareness regarding Covid-19
SOPs and precautions but also shared memes in order to enjoy and relish among one and another. This
excessive use of social media becomes an addiction in some cases which led to problems such as lack of
responsibility and sense of professionalism from the employees working from home. HRM of organizations all
around the globe updated social media policy in order mitigate and manage social media related issues.
1. Social media team
Organizations must utilize services of social media manager that not only plays role in image
building through effective social media marketing but also monitors social media related activities of
employees.
2. Revised trainings procedures
Higher management conveying clear guidelines and instructions to supervisors and supervisors
delivering those instructions to employees regarding use of social media. Spreading general awareness
among employees regarding importance of social media and how to use it. Through training schemes
and seminars highlighting importance of social media and its usage.
3. Motivating employee’s online presence
Managing social media activities of employees doesn’t mean that it inhibits employees from
using social media but instead companies encourage their employees to use social media. As effective
use of social media can increase client meetups, customer base and helps employees in understanding
and to be conscious about society and its values.
4. Dealing with fake news culture
Sensitive issues such as spreading fake news must be handled by officials at company.
Management has a responsibility to educate employees that they should refrain from spreading
unauthentic and fake news on social media.
5. Management Expectations
Management must not only communicate clear instructions but also let employees know that
what they expect from them. That employees should be sensible and responsible while being on social
media as they are representing their organization and how their conduct on social media could be vital
for company’s brand image.
6. Data driven decision making
Human Resource Management unlike in past times changed their policy, they encouraged use of
social media as they felt it is good for satisfaction levels of employees and also helps in gaining vital
insights regarding current affairs. Management was of the view that this will improve employee’s
decision making ability as they will be highly motivated, free from anxiety (by conveying feelings on
social media) and focused enough to implement best possible decision.
7. Hiring and Sourcing
Human Resource Management implied use of social media in order to hire highly talented and
competent individuals. This not only helped them in reaching targeted audience that were willing to
offer their valuable services. Not only it was way more effective in acquiring emerging talents but it was
also cost effective as advertising on newspapers has become an obsolete practice. LinkedIn, Instagram,
Facebook and other social media channels has made hiring of employees much easier and efficient.
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES PRACTICAL EXAMPLES

Example 1: DELL social media policies

Protection of sensitive and highly confidential corporate information such as customer lists,
pricings, financial performance related information and trade secrets etc.
Presence on social media must be transparent, indisputable and unambiguous.
Follow the Law, Follow the Code of Conduct
To be responsible, sensible and sense of professionalism. It is phenomena of being fully aware and to
be sensitive and conscious enough.
Be nice, have fun and connect, to engage oneself in healthy social media related activity such as to
inspire others positively, to socially interact and engage with others.

Example 2: Intel social media rules of engagement

To protect, to take extra care of one own self and be conscious that how their social media activity
could affect reputation of Intel.
To use common sense, be responsible, professional and to communicate appropriately.
To disclose, presence on social media must be transparent, indisputable and unambiguous.

PAKISTANI PERSPECTIVE
Use of social media is one of the fastest growing habit among Pakistani. According to latest reports,
there are around 82.90 million social media users in Pakistan in 2022, social media penetration rate stood at
37% of entire population of Pakistan (which is around 231 million in precise). According to analytical report,
social media users increased by 21% (11 million) during Covid-19 era.

Just considering an example of Pakistan Cables Ltd. which is considered as one of the most experienced and
highly reputable business entity as it has been doing business activity since 1953. It’s latest social media
policies had following postulates.

1. To be respectful, honest and accurate. It also includes not to disclose confidential information.
2. To report objectionable and negative posts, posts that are negatively effecting company’s image
must be reported straightaway as it’s a responsibility of an employee to protect company’s image.
3. Not to use company’s provided emails to register social media accounts.
4. To avoid discriminatory and offensive remarks, also correct or remove any misleading content, be
responsible and have sense of professionalism as employee represents an organization.
CONCLUSION AND OVERVIEW

An employee is considered a valuable asset of an organization not only he has to be responsible towards his job
related tasks at work but also conduct professionally while working from home especially related to social
media activities. One mistake from an employee regarding his unprofessional conduct while using social media
can adversely impact reputation and brand image or positioning of an organization.

Social media policy not only helps in defining employees code of conduct, protects brand image and to inhibit
any serious complication from happening in future. From HRM point of view, effective use of social media can
help in talent acquisition, talent management, employee engagement and enhancing employer value proposition.

Example of British American Tobacco (BAT) company

In most of their job advertisements in their social media accounts they try to attract or gain attention of talented
individuals by increasing their value proposition as an employer. They increase their value proposition in mind
of job seekers by using terminologies like collaboration, diversity and teamwork. They often boast about their
internationally recognized awards which they received by providing top quality environment to their employees
which are as follows:

 Diversity leader in the Financial Times and International Women’s Day Best Practice winner.
 Seal Award Winner, one of 50 most sustainable companies.
 Global Top Employer with 53,000 BAT people working across more than 180 markets.
 Brands sold in over 200 markets, made in 44 factories in 42 countries.

Just having a social media account is not enough proper management and audience engagement has become key
for the HR. Human Resource policymakers should devise social media policy in following way.

 It should be simple, easy and understandable.

 It should be updated and reviewed on timely basis.

 It should be acknowledged and approved by the employees.

 Privacy should remain intact and protected.

 Proper training through workshops, experiential procedures or simulations in order to highlight

importance and use of social media.

REFERENCES

I. Information retrieved on 1st January, 2023 from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-

and-samples/policies/pages/socialmediapolicy.aspx

II. Leon. V (2020), Human Resource Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic, California

State University, Northridge retrieved on 2nd January from

https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/downloads/gt54kr34h

III. Information retrieved on 2nd January, 2023 from https://www.perhumanresources.com/blog/the-

importance-of-social-media-guidelines-for-employees/

IV. Information retrieved on 3rd January, 2023 from https://blog.accuchex.com/hr-management-and-

social-media-policies

V. Information retrieved on 4th January, 2023 from https://www.cnbc.com/2015/04/13/clorox-

apologizes-for-emojis-tweet.html

VI. Information retrieved on 4th January, 2023 from https://www.dell.com/en-us/dt/policies/social-

media-policy.htm

VII. Information retrieved on 6th January, 2023 from https://careers.bat.com/search-jobs

VIII. Information retrieved on 7th January, 2023 from

https://www.pakistancables.com/media/20930/privacy-policy.pdf