As part of Human Resource planning, a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is the process of formulating a plan for your business — in the event of a crisis.

Why is Human Resource (HR) Planning Important?

The following is a short list of situations where having a HR Plan is necessary for your business to continue operating without disruption:

• An electrical fire has burned down part of your building
• A broken water main has caused flooding in your building
• Your business has been attacked by hackers
• Your office area has been heavily flooded
• Malware is accidentally downloaded onto your system causing extensive damage

These contingencies would include anything from a fire or flood, to a global pandemic like COVID-19. A good BCP will be general enough to be repurposed for a wide variety of circumstances, while retaining enough room to customise the plan to the specific needs of a situation.

BCPs are essential to businesses of all sizes, and a good plan will help your business face any potential disruptions to your business — including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and resulting consequences to the economy in Malaysia.

Businesses with well-designed BCPs are also usually the companies that survive in the long run — but how do you create an effective BCP? There are a plethora of elements to it, but the three main areas that you should address first: Protect your employees, protect your business, and protect customers & stakeholders.

This plan can then be tailored, as mentioned above, to cater to the needs of different situations. If you're creating a BCP for your company today, we've compiled a checklist of must-haves for your company's new crisis management plan.

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Telecommunications giant Digi — also the creator of altHR — is one of the fortunate companies that had a solid BCP in place when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. From adaptations to human resource management, to a rethought approach to supplier & customer management, Digi has successfully enacted swift changes to work arranges to protect their business, employees, and customers.

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If your business falls under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry's list of essential services, or if you're preparing for a time when more businesses can resume physical operations, you'll need to create a MySejahtera QR code to comply with the government's standard operating procedures (SOPs).

It's a very simple process, with multiple outlets under a single account supported. All you need is a working internet connection, a relatively modern smartphone, and a printer to print out your QR code. Full tutorial below.

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The aim is to achieve herd immunity in Malaysia, and employers play an important role in that drive. Encouraging your employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 will help them to stay safe, and prevent the spread of the virus; to educate your employees on awareness here, a workplace COVID-19 vaccine programme is good to have.

This includes offering staff the flexibility to take paid time off to get vaccinated, while the HR team should also verify the insurance coverage that would be eligible if employees experience any potential side effects from the vaccine. There is also a misinformation issue where it comes to vaccines, so remember to lead by example, and to appoint someone as a designated contact person for all queries on the vaccine.

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If your business is an essential service, then you'll need to prepare the appropriate documentation for your employees to carry on their commutes to (and from) the office. Do note that you'll need to make an application on MITI's COVID-19 Intelligent Management System (CIMS) 3.0 portal, unless you registered on the portal under previous iterations of the movement control order (MCO).

It may seem a tad confusing, which is why we've created a simple, handy guide detailing the steps you need to take to get MITI approval letters for your company.

Pandemic or no pandemic, there are a number of traditional approaches to human resource management that your HR team must avoid in 2021. Even though it may be the path of least resistance, modernising your HR processes is an essential part of business growth — every department needs to be digitalised to stay abreast of the latest advancements in technology out there.

What are the best HR practices?

In order to be ahead of your time, you must first be sure to avoid common HR pitfalls such as mishandling of data from a security point of view, too much focus on traditional HR functions, and even having the wrong mindset to thrive as a business.

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When deciding on benefits and compensation packages for your employees, it can be tempting to think that "cash is king" when it comes to Malaysian employees' demands. While monetary benefits have their clear advantages — especially in the current climate — non-monetary benefits actually help employees through a variety of outlets.

These can include the emotional value of non-monetary rewards, or even the educational value of self-development plans and courses. And of course, non-monetary incentives are certainly easier on the budget from an employer's point of view. Ultimately, a mix between the two is likely offer the best results — find out more about that below.

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What are the responsibilities of HR?

Instead, focus on the basics. It may be a very different, digital world out there — but the basics of good Human Resource Management (HRM) remain the same. Focus on hiring the right people for your company, enabling growth and learning for your employees, and implementing effective succession planning for the future. And of course, you'll need to ensure that the compensation and benefits package you are offering to candidates is attractive in today's job market.

What does the HR Department do?

The HR Department is responsible for planning, coordinating and managing the administrative functions of an organization such as the recruitment and training of employees. The world has changed drastically, but returning to the basics of good HRM can help to realise your business' full potential.

What is human capital management (HCM)?

Human Capital Management is a general set of practices that covers hiring, as well as the management of employees to ensure that they develop, and ultimately, increase business value. This is crucial to ensure that your business hires the right talent, while optimising existing employee productivity.

What are examples of HR functions?

HR functions usually include: 

• Recruiting the right talent for your company
• Performance management
• Industrial relations
• Training & development
• Employee engagement
• Compensation & payroll

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Part of the bread and butter of HR is to ensure that employees have an inclusive workplace environment to best succeed as a company. Despite the transition from physical work places to remote working setups in light of the COVID-19 situation, the core principles here remain the same. With that in mind, we ran a quick internal survey here at altHR, and found that there are still a number of statements that are regularly made in Malaysian workplaces — statements that should never be made in a workplace.

Full story below.

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