POST COVID TRANSFORMATION OF HR IN IBADAT INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY ISLAMABAD: A CASE STUDY OF DIGITALIZATION, JOB SECURITY AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed universities around the world to quickly change their Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, but there isn’t much research that looks at how these changes have happened in Pakistani higher education institutions. This study looks at how HR practices at Ibadat International University, Islamabad (IIUI) have changed after the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on three connected areas: making HR processes more digital, ensuring employees feel secure in their jobs, and improving their overall well-being. The study uses a qualitative case study approach, based on Systems Theory, and collects data through interviews with faculty members, HR officers, and administrative staff. The data is then examined using thematic analysis. The study shows that IIUI used several digital HR tools like online systems for tracking attendance, platforms for managing learning, software for virtual meetings, websites for hiring new staff, and digital systems for handling pay and leave. Together, these tools helped

make administrative work more efficient, transparent, and better at communicating. However, employees continued to face issues like not enough technical training, more work than they could handle, and problems with getting used to new technologies too soon. Because of the pandemic, workers became more worried about keeping their jobs and whether their contracts would be renewed. The university tried to ease these worries by being open and honest, and by focusing on keeping employees rather than letting people go. This helped keep people's spirits up. However, the workers still wanted the university to create clearer and more permanent rules about job security. In terms of employee well-being, programs like online counseling, mental health webinars, and flexible work options were found to help reduce stress, but using digital tools a lot

also led to more screen time, unclear lines between work and personal life, and burnout, showing that better structured well-being plans are needed. The study finds that digitizing HR at IIUI has made the institution more efficient and better able to handle challenges. However, it also says that keeping these changes working well over time will require combining new technology with policies that focus on employees' needs, like ensuring job security, managing workloads, and offering support for mental health. This research adds to the increasing number of studies about how universities are changing their human resource management after the pandemic and gives real-world advice to university leaders who want to create more sustainable and employeecentered HR practice.