Workplaces during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: insights from strategic human resource management in Mainland China

Abstract

We show the relevance of strategic human resource management (SHRM) to addressing the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has posed to the workplace in the context of Mainland China. In particular, we discuss the insights of prevalent areas of SHRM for navigating the pandemic at the organizational and individual levels. We explore the contextual factors that have affected the relationship between human resource (HR) practices and work outcomes in organizations and the development of HR practices during the pandemic. Looking forward to a future with uncertainties and other possible crises, we discuss research directions for SHRM in the post-pandemic reality. These include resilience-oriented high-performance work systems (HPWSs), contextualized SHRM, and the horizontal fit of SHRM in the ‘new normal’.