Mediating role of communication, innovation and reputation in the effect of human resources management on organizational performance during the pandemic

The aim of this research is to answer the question, "What is the mediating effect of crisis management in the pandemic process in the effect of human resources management applied in private schools in Turkey on organizational performance?" 486 private school employees participated in the survey. The Coronavirus (COVID-19), which affected the whole world shortly after its emergence in China, has caused serious disruptions in primary and secondary education all over the world. Education was suspended as of March 16, 2020, just after March 11, 2020, when the first COVID-19 case was seen in Turkey. In recent years, the business world has witnessed many crises, uncertainties and natural disasters. Natural disasters are inevitable aspects of reality; they provoke emergencies and trigger institutional responses to deal with them. Although there are many studies on the negative effects of natural disasters on organizations and employees, there are very few studies examining how HRM practices are applied by organizations in this context. More research is needed to discover that HRM plays an important role in coping with the adverse effects of natural disasters and what pathways and processes HRM strategies should adopt in response to circumstances. More research should focus on emergency management frameworks within HRM. Within the scope of the research, 486 private school employees (teachers, principals, administrative staff) participated in the questionnaire which was prepared online. It was shared with the people working in private kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools and high schools in Turkey, using the convenience sampling method. The research was conducted in June, July and August of 2022. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses. According to the findings, human resources management (HRM) significantly and positively affects crisis management and organizational performance in the pandemic process. Crisis management in the pandemic process also affects organizational performance significantly and positively. HRM has been analyzed under five sub-dimensions: employee resourcing (ER), reward management (RM), human capital development (HCD), employee performance management (EPM), and occupational health and safety (OHS). Dimensions of crisis management during the pandemic are; innovation, reputation and communication dimensions during the pandemic process were examined. Organizational performance has financial (FIN) and non-financial performance (NFIN) dimensions. In addition to the method suggested by Baron and Kenny, the modern Bootstrap method was used to measure the mediation effect. According to the findings, full mediation effects are seen especially in the effect of five sub-dimensions of HRM on FIN. It has been determined that innovation, reputation and communication in the pandemic process have a full mediating role on the effect of employee selection and compensation management on financial organizational performance. When the direct effects are examined, the highest effect was determined in the effects of human capital development, employee resourcing and employee performance management on non-financial performance, respectively. According to the answers given by the participants, the effects of HRM on NFIN are much higher compared to FIN. The sub- dimensions of HRM with the highest effect on NFIN are respectively; HCD, ER, EPM, RM and OHS. The sub-dimensions of HRM with the highest effect on FIN are respectively; HCD, OHS, EPM, ER and RM. According to this result, HCD is the sub-dimension of HRM that most affects organizational performance. HCD is one of the growth strategies of any institution, offering career opportunities and aiming to train the employees. Keywords: Human Resources Management, Crisis Management, Organizational Performance, Professionalization, Private Schools in Turkey, COVID-19, Innovation, Communication, Reputation, Mediating Effect