"Human Resources wake up to new coronavirus reality "

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on all sectors of the economy, the banking industry has not been spared. Financial Standard spoke to Family Bank Head of Human Resources Elijah Kariuki on how the lender is navigating through the crisis from a HR perspective...

HR departments more than ever before have now become conscious of the need to keep employees informed and motivated to ensure their productivity remains high. HR teams must ensure they provide the necessary tools for employees to work either from home or from zoned areas other than their usual office space...

Managers must ensure the provision of masks, gloves for the team handling money, sanitisers, clean water and soap to enhance personal hygiene in workplaces. They must also sensitise staff on social distancing and constantly keep their them informed for personal planning, and ensure that communication reaching employees is authentic and from the approved sources...For several years now, many organisations have debated in boardrooms on how to implement flexitime. This pandemic has accelerated that discussion and many workplaces will now have to adopt flexitime, as well as work-from-home arrangements.