A new playbook

World Health Organization (WHO) Health Emergencies Programme Director Michael Ryan, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WHO Technical Lead Maria Van Kerkhove attend attend a daily press briefing on COVID-19 at the WHO headquaters on March 2nd, 2020. Credit: Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images

Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images

Few things have aged HR pros more quickly than Covid-19.

Five years ago this week, the World Health Organization declared the then-emerging virus a pandemic. The world changed in practically the blink of an eye, forcing businesses to scramble to keep up.

“Very few organizations had a pandemic playbook in their strategy planning, where they had a binder they could pull out and be like, ‘Okay, so here’s what we do.’ It had to be made up on the fly. It had to be adapted,” Emily Rose McRae, senior director analyst at Gartner, told HR Brew. “You could have had preparation for supply chain disruptions, you could have had preparation for: ‘We need to shut down this factory,’ and you still wouldn't have been prepared for that scale and the global element of it.”

Stay-at-home mandates ushered in unprecedented spikes in remote work—and unemployment claims, as workers were laid off and furloughed—while healthcare and other essential industries had to navigate working in-person in dangerous environments.. And functions that had previously been overlooked as strategic players were thrust into the spotlight—including HR.

For more on how Covid-19 changed how HR responds to crises, keep reading here.—PM

Presented By Paylocity

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DEI

Checking in on legal

Dny59/Getty Images

In the less than 60 days since President Trump took office, his administration has made multiple threats against companies that continue with DEI initiatives, including an executive order targeting one of the largest law firms in the US. For now, though, it appears that America’s biggest law firms aren’t changing course, and one expert told HR Brew that it’s because they know their practices are lawful.

Catch up. Trump last week issued an executive order against the law firm Perkin Coie, in an attempt to strip its employees of security clearances and work with government contractors. The president cited the firm’s DEI practices, along with its work with Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, as the main reasons for the executive order.

Legal experts warned that Trump is setting a dangerous precedent by going after a private company, and on Mar. 12, a judge temporarily blocked the executive order, NPR reported. The US District Judge overseeing the case said the order “likely violates its [the firm’s] First, Fifth, and Sixth amendment rights.”

How law firms are reacting. While dozens of employers, from retail giant Walmart to tech companies like Meta, have been quick to erase mentions of or rebrand their DEI efforts, the biggest law firms in the country appear to be going in a different direction.

For more on how some of the country’s biggest law firms are moving forward, keep reading here.—KP

HR STRATEGY

It’s all in a day’s work

Schitt’s Creek/CBC via Giphy

Another Gen Z-inspired work trend has entered the chat.

As many employees return to the office, some have started “task masking,” or pretending to be busy, Fortune reported. Some tactics include typing loudly, rushing around the office, or joining a (nonexistent) virtual meeting.

Employees are likely task masking due to RTO mandates, said Jennifer Moss, workplace strategist and author of Why Are We Here?: Creating a Work Culture Everyone Wants.

“[Employers are] putting people back into the office [and] a lot of it has to do with control, and this idea that, if you’re present, that means you’re productive,” Moss told HR Brew. “So, it’s all about just the visibility of people, which is a false metric for us to measure productivity.”

For more on what HR needs to know about task masking, keep reading here.—MC

Together With Paylocity

Engagement isn’t about Ping-Pong tables. It’s about giving employees a reason to stay. Paylocity’s guide breaks down what drives engagement at every stage of the employee lifecycle—and how to build a culture that attracts and retains top talent. Download it now and start making a real impact.

WORK PERKS

A desktop computer plugged into a green couch.

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: Switching jobs no longer guarantees a pay boost: Job switchers only increased their wages by 4.6% in January and February, far lower than the 7.7% bump they could receive in early 2023. (the Wall Street Journal)

Quote: “Watching my manager tear down our DEI materials and just fuckin throw them in the trash. Parinirvana day, Holocaust remembrance, right in the bin where Target feels they belong.” —a self-identified human resources expert at Target, commenting on the company recently tearing down posters on stores’ internal DEI boards (Retail Brew)

Read: Workforce management software company Rippling has sued HR and payroll tech company Deel, alleging the latter engaged in corporate espionage by placing a mole among its ranks. Deel has denied “all legal wrongdoing.” (the New York Times)

Great perks ≠ great engagement: Learn how to create a workplace where employees feel valued, connected, and motivated to stay. Get the guide from Paylocity and start building a more engaged workforce.*

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JOBS

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Director of Recruitment at a Fortune 500 company (in person)
Talent Acquisition Manager at a law firm (hybrid)
HR/Payroll Generalist at FCTG (Forest City Trading Group) (in person)

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