#FightBackCorona: Business leaders need to become mission-minded: Pawan Jailkhani

These are extraordinary times and we all are in uncharted territory. There is a lot of fear and negativity in all spheres due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. While the Corona Warriors are doing a tremendous job fighting from the frontlines, we at Adgully are embarking on an endeavour to highlight the positive developments during these challenging times.

Adgully is featuring a series of brief interactions with industry leaders in India and find out how they are keeping their spirits up as well as keeping their employees motivated, also how they are joining in the fight against the adverse impact of the global pandemic.

Pawan Jailkhani, Chief Revenue Officer, 9X Media, speaks about the role of music in these troubled times, as well as the vital role of business leaders in maintaining business continuity and financial planning for the coming quarters.

What steps are you and your organisation taking to help out the society at large or those engaged in the war against COVID-19?
COVID-19 has been a huge challenge for everyone around the globe and has severely impacted our day to day lives and our economy in a big way. During this crisis, one of the most important aspects is that each and everyone has to keep strong mental health and maintain a healthy balance of positivity and hope. We, as a music network, have a constant goal to curate music as per the environment, mood and sentiments of the audience in general. Hence, we have a great responsibility towards our society at large.

As a network, we are trying to live up to the expectations of our viewers and are constantly curating our music as per the current situation and are addressing through our music – hope, positivity, calmness and acting as a stress-buster. In the last month or so, we have toned down the overall beat and rhythm of the music (the USP of 9XM has been upbeat music). Apart from this, through our strong platforms, we have been constantly communicating to our viewers on the safety and precautionary measures for COVID-19. We have just released a song – ‘Desh Mera together against Corona’ – to this effect, which has been sung and recorded by 12 lead singers, including Shaan, Javed Ali, Amit Mishra, etc., from their homes, exclusively for 9X Media’s music label, SpotlampE.

In general, we have been inculcating the culture that each and everyone should contribute to the society, and through various measures we have been supporting and encouraging that as a group.

How are you keeping your employees motivated and are encouraging them to give their best, even as they are working from home?
Employee motivation is one of the biggest challenges as it is a task to conduct positive communication with the employees. Holding regular calls with them and setting meaningful and worthwhile goals have pushed the employees to have the vision to work towards their targets. We, as an organisation, have also established daily check-ins through different means and my team has been holding virtual office hours for the employees to have a schedule throughout the day. We have been pushing to set the tone of our virtual meetings with a calm presence and hold non-work interactions as-well, which we feel is equally vital for the development of the organisation to provide steady support for the employees and encourage team building in the organisation as well. Lastly, we were also the first ones to encourage ‘work from home’ for the safety of the most precious employees of our organisation.

What is most needed in challenging times such as these:
(a)  From the general public
(b) From the authorities
(c)  From business leaders
In these challenging times, the authorities and business leaders have to stay instrumental. It is the priority of the authorities and the general public to not let pandemic push the world to limits. Patience is the key during this entire process. Business continuity and financial planning for the next quarter and the following year are vital for the organisation, followed by effective communication, both internally and externally. Business leaders need to adopt a forward-thinking attitude and become mission-minded to stay motivated by focusing on the responsibility to lead people through this crisis. Along with this, one of the key challenges for business leaders is to make sure people’s jobs are secured. Thus, the primary focus should be to protect their people and decide fast. Being a part of the general public, our main duty is to practice social distancing and follow the Government rules. We can fight this virus and we most certainly will fight it together.

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@adgully

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