The COVID-19 pandemic has affected companies and organizations worldwide in many ways. To mitigate its negative effects, experts suggest various strategies, including those related to human resource management. One of its elements is controlling employees’ competence level, motivating them to upskill or reskill if needed, and providing them with opportunities to learn and develop. The pandemic demonstrated that the knowledge and skills vitally important for specialists in all spheres today are those comprising digital competence. Their lack leads to decelerating working pace and development or a total inability to continue implementing one’s duties. Thus, human resource managers should ensure all the employees are ready to go digital and provide them with learning opportunities if they lack the necessary knowledge and skills.
COVID-19 urged business people and leaders of various organizations worldwide to change or expand their operating models from offline to online. Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) (2020) states that apart from considering specific issues of “the use of e-payment” or “setting up an online presence,” businesses and organizations had to rethink their whole operating models (para. 4). However, it was not easy to make such an abrupt and dramatic shift as many employees, especially in the SME sector, were unprepared for it due to a lack of digital competence. Moreover, COVID-19 led to increased unemployment and a rise in the gig economy for which upskilling and reskilling are vital. MIDA’s experts (2020) noted that Malaysia’s customers show more appreciation to gig work “in the form of increased tipping and tip size” (para. 9). However, the research conducted among Malaysia’s unemployed university graduates demonstrated their reluctance to learn new skills and try freelance options (Abd Rahman et al., 2020). Thus, as organizations and companies started to go digital, employees’ lack of competence and motivation (actual and potential) became evident.
A lack of digital competence and flexibility in acquiring new skills or accepting new procedures in this field can slow down the company’s development or even lead to its shutdown. Sheppard and Burrowes (2021), experts from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), consider Disney+ an example of a company that managed to quickly adapt to COVID-19 restrictions and effectively changed its operating procedures to innovative ones. The Malaysian newspaper the Star (2021) provides stories of entrepreneurs whose small businesses rapidly expanded due to their decision to e-commerce. At the same time, Star’s editors (2021) noted that even big companies, like Zara, were greatly affected when they failed to adapt to the changes in business operations and customers’ demands. Moreover, digital competence would enable employees to develop other valuable skills and undergo helpful training online. Therefore, experts from PwC are certain that upskilling and reskilling are vital for workers or job seekers, and digital competence is a key to it (PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), “Upskilling,” para.1-2). In brief, COVID-19 made it impossible for organizations and businesses to operate offline properly and urged the need to upskill all employees quickly.
Malaysia’s government became one of the fastest in acknowledging and responding to the issue. Ahmed (2021) reports that since 2020, Malaysia has provided “eight stimulus packages worth RM530 billion” to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic (para. 2). The specialist notes that one of the priorities of Malaysia’s government is providing opportunities for the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and accelerating digitalization (Ahmed, 2021). Moreover, the government has expanded Smart Automation Grant to urge organizations toward digitalization (Ahmed, 2021). Ahmed (2021) also highlights the significance of “upskilling employees for the digital transition” and employing talented candidates (para. 9). Malaysia’s example of handling COVID-19 challenges has shown the importance of governmental acknowledgment of digitalization issues and support provided to the citizens, organizations, and businesses.
However, the employers’ flexibility and readiness to develop are also vital. According to Sheppard and Burrowes’s survey (2021) of 120 US employers, more than half of them acknowledge the issue and are ready to support remote employees with the necessary tools (para. 3). They would include flexible work hours, better equipment, security policies, and help in building networks and relationships (Sheppard and Burrowes, 2021, para. 3). These are valuable strategies for human resource managers who want to support the employees and motivate them to upskill in the digital sphere.
However, while motivating employees to upskill and develop their digital competence, employers should not forget cybersecurity. Ferbrache (2021), an expert from the KPMG business advisory company, reports that the shift towards a remote or hybrid working model increased the level of cybercrime. For instance, he predicts the rise in “ransomware groups exploiting supply chain and cloud service weaknesses” (para. 3). Thus, both employers and employees should be aware of the strategies to mitigate the risks of a breach in cybersecurity which is an important part of digital competence.
In conclusion, monitoring and boosting workers’ upskilling is an essential element of human resource management, and the major skill in post-covid circumstances is efficient online work. Malaysia’s response to the COVID-19 technological challenge can serve as an example for others due to its quick acknowledgment of the need for digitalization and providing educational programs for employees’ digital upskilling. One issue managers should consider while implementing digitalization initiatives is cybersecurity.
References
Ahmed Z. (2021). Digitalisation and how important it is post-pandemic. Business Today. Web.
Abd Rahman, N. H., Ismail, S., Ridzuan, A. R., & Abd Samad, K. (2020). The issue of graduate unemployment in Malaysia: Post Covid-19. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(10), 834-841. Web.
Ferbrache, D. (2021). On the cyber horizon. Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG). Web.
Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA). (2020). Innovation and digitalisaton vital in adapting to a post-Covid world. Web.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). (n.d.). Upskilling. Web.
Sheppard, B., & Burrowes, K. (2021). Sustaining COVID-era urgency for the long run. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Web.
The Star. (2021). Digitalisation to help firms stay relevant post-Covid. Web.