Theme 1: Working Conditions.

Unexpected and drastic organizational changes represent significant challenges for managers and

HRM practitioners. In addition, they might have significant implications on employees mental

health (Hamouche, 2020) as well as the employee experience related to the job design, the

workspace and interactions with their peers and managers (Aitken-Fox et al., 2020a). As for

remote working, it seems that managers and HRM practitioners have faced major challenges.

First, to ensure that employees working from home have the necessary tools to perform their job

(Aitken-Fox et al., 2020b; Hamouche, 2020). Actually, remote working requires the availability

of technological tools which will facilitate communication between employees and managers,

but cannot be afforded by all organizations, considering that the financial capacity varies from

one organization to another.

Theme 2: Staffing

In this context, organizations that were facing financial difficulties due to this pandemic have

adopted downskilling by cutting back on recruitment of high-skill jobs more than low-skill jobs,

to reduce their costs and try to sustain their business (Hamouche, 2021 pp.1-16); they have

frozen or cut back all their recruitment; or they have laid off their employees (Campello,

Kankanhalli, & Muthukrishnan, 2020). Cheng et al. (2020) pointed out that the employment

activities have increased after the companies' reopening in some US states mainly due to the

return to work of employees, after lockdown, to their physical workplace. Nevertheless, the

reemployment probabilities diminish significatively for employees who stayed longer away from

their workplace.
Laying off employees is not an easy decision for organizations, but it might be inevitable in

times of crisis such as COVID-19. The main challenge of HRM practitioners, in this case, is to

support managers and employees during this process and to offer proper information. However,

it might not be easy in the context of uncertainty. On the contrary, organizations that have

expanded their business during the pandemic have faced other types of staffing challenges. Many

of them have opted out for more flexible employment relationships and subcontracted work, such

as temporary agency work, freelancers, and the gig economy (Spurk & Straub, 2020), due to

uncertainty generated by COVID-19.

Theme 3: Performance appraisal

According to some authors, most organizations were overwhelmed by the challenges resulting

from COVID-19, such as measuring employees' performance and the disruption in performance-

based pay, that they have reduced or even abandoned performance management, due to the

complexity and the novelty of this pandemic (Aguinis & Burgi-Tian, 2020). In fact, measuring

employees' performance during this crisis can be challenging, considering the modification of the

working conditions.

Furthermore, there are many factors related to the COVID-19 outbreak that may influence

employees' performance. In this context, the study by Prasad and Vaidya (2020) reported that

workplace isolation, lack of communication, family distractions, role overload, and occupational

stress factors (role ambiguity, role conflict, career, and job-control), which have emerged due to

COVID-19, mainly among employees working from home are significant predictors of

employees' performance. Furthermore, employees' performance during remote working is also

dependent on managers' understanding of how and what is required to manage a remote team
(Aitken-Fox et al., 2020b). Some authors argued that managers might not accept remote working

because they might consider that it affects employees' performance negatively, which can lead to

the adoption of micromanagement that can be perceived by employees as a lack of trust toward

them (Aitken-Fox et al., 2020b), which can create tension between them and their supervisor.

Theme 4: Training and development,

According to Przytuła, Strzelec, and Krysińska-Kościańska (2020), organizations face the

challenge of reskilling and upskilling their workforce to be able to deal with the requirement of

new context of ‘ distance economy.’ In this case, the main challenge for HRM practitioners

might be related to the development of a training program adapted to the new reality of the

organization and the employees and to choose the proper training methods, considering physical

distancing measures coupled with the necessity to have employees quickly operational to sustain

the company business. The success of remote working is also dependent on managers'

understanding of the virtual supervision of employees (Aitken-Fox et al., 2020b). In this context,

the HRM practitioners should play a strategic role by supporting and training these managers on

how to manage a virtual team, to help them to overcome these difficulties and to cope with

remote working challenges in order to be able to support their team members (Hamouche, 2020).

Theme 5: Pay management.

As a reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak, short-time compensation, also known as part-time jobs,

has been adopted to sustain the economy while protecting business and employees' jobs. It

consists of offering employees a temporary reduction in the number of their working hours

which will help organizations that are experiencing a decrease in the level of demand, to retain
their employees and to avoid layoffs (Bell et al 2020). These measures alter compensation

strategies and policies within organizations. Furthermore, they might create a complex and

challenging environment for managers and HRM practitioners. According to some authors, paid

sick leave might lead to an increase in employees' absence in the workplace (Maclean, Pichler, &

Ziebarth, 2020). Additionally, this type of government's policies, such as paid sick leave, help to

increase their implementation in industries where employees have never got such benefits

(Maclean, Pichler, & Ziebarth, 2020), which suggest that managers and HRM practitioners need

to think about the way to sustain them to avoid losing employees' motivation after the pandemic.

In this context, Przytuła, Strzelec, and Krysińska-Kościańska (2020) referred to the importance

of intrinsic motivation to retain employees, e.g., increasing employee autonomy.

Theme 6: Safety and health management

COVID-19 is not only a physical health risk, but it also represents a significant risk for

individuals' mental health (Chen, et al. 2020; Hamouche, 2020; Qiu, et al. 2020). It might be

psychologically demanding for employees who work from home, who can feel isolated and torn

between their work and their private life (Prasad & Vaidya, 2020). The main challenge for

managers and HRM practitioners, is to identify the risk factors and to implement the proper

prevention measures in the workplace, including for employees working from home (Hamouche,

2020).

Theme 7: Employment relationship

employers (Biasi, 2020 pp.306-313; Sagan & Schüller, 2020). Due to the lockdown and

mandatory closure of business both were not able to accomplish their contractual obligations

(Biasi, 2020). In fact, the challenges resulting from COVID-19 have transformed the traditional

relationship between the employee and his employer (Leighton & McKeown, 2020; Spurk &

Straub, 2020). Work from home has been implemented in different countries and companies

(Spurk & Straub, 2020). In this context, COVID-19 has positioned the government as a planner

more than a regulator (Sachs, 2020), which is challenging for organizations that need to adapt

government plans and regulations to their organizational context, “while taking into

consideration the needs of their employees,” pp.289.