How the industry is adopting a people-first culture during tough pandemic times

Crisis management and employee welfare have never been more important that the current pandemic times. Since March 2020, our lives have changed forever and we have been adapting to new norms, new behaviour and new work modes ever since.

For corporates, these have been extra tough times – arresting falling business amid lockdowns, managing the workforce working remotely and keeping them motivated and productive, ensuring the safety especially in the far more virulent second wave of COVID-19.

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Recently Cheil India had come under severe flak from the industry after two of its employees died due to COVID-19. Mostly the former employees of Cheil took to social media to cricitise the agency’s work culture. This is not an isolated case. There have been several reports of employees in various organisations working under severe stress, long work hours, facing a threat of exposure to COVID-19 infection.

At the same time, organisations across sectors have also undertaken several measures for their employees’ wellbeing – both physical and mental. These include letting them continue to work from home, shortening the days of work, virtual sessions to let off steam, and more importantly, arranging for getting their employees and their families vaccinated against the virus.

Dentsu India is letting its employees to power off from work this Friday (May 7) to let them spend more time with their families during the longer weekend. The network is also giving dedicated pandemic leave to its employees for 10 days, with the option to extend to a further 10 days if required. It had also upgraded the health insurance policies last year to include COVID-19 coverage. dentsu has arranged for an in-house doctor to provide tele-consultations to the employees and their families. It has partnered with a pharmaceutical chain to provide discounted medicines for its employees.

Independent digital consulting firm ARM Worldwide has gone a step ahead to enhance financial, medical & mental wellness of the team during the current second COVID wave. #ARM is offering an extra 15 days paid leave to recover completely, ensuring financial & mental wellbeing for all in their family as well. #ARM will be acknowledging a Mental Wellness Month starting from 15th May till 15th June where the employees will work (WFH) for 4 days a week.

On such groundbreaking developments, Co-founder & Managing Director of #ARM Worldwide, Ritesh Singh, said, “Times are tough for both, the business and the people running the business, and people any day come first. Our HR team has been relentlessly working and fortunately for us, HR has also been a key part of our business. Therefore, we were able to stay together & do good last year during the first wave of the pandemic. Now with the second wave, it has thrown new challenges and we are determined to come out strong as a team.”

Speaking about the steps taken in her organisation during the pandemic times, Upasana Raina, VP & Head Human Resources, GI Group India, said, “At GI, we constantly strive towards improving psychological safety at work. we always believed that the mental well-being of everyone in the organization is key to each person’s individual success that finally ties up into the success of the collective. This cornerstone in the Organization’s philosophy has built a community that is always available to support each other and in these difficult and unprecedented times, we have gone the extra mile to make sure that every employee feels like they can lean on the organization and their colleagues for support. Apart from ensuring the safety of everyone by planning for 100% of the workforce to work from home, we are also encouraging our employees to take time for themselves to strike a healthy balance between work and family. Many that have fallen sick or are finding themselves caring for their loved ones are advised to take days off before they are fully recovered or available. Considering that each person will have differing circumstances and different recovery periods the company adopted a policy of being versatile and allowing each person as much time as they need, rather than specifying a specific time. Gi Group’s philosophy to nurture mental well-being has been caring for its staff through the EAP affiliate by consistently holding seminars and facilitating personal touch points at individual team members. Considering that more than 50% of our workforce comprises women, we are extremely flexible with respect to working times allowing greater opportunity for each of our staff to manage their additional personal responsibilities in such difficult times.”

While India will come together and get through this, PFT encourages all its stakeholders (Employees, Investors, Customers, Partners, and Society) to get vaccinated and build their defense against the deadly virus. PFT will reimburse COVID vaccination for its employees across all locations in India.

“85% of our employees have been working remotely even before the second lockdown was imposed. They can visit the nearest hospital to them and get vaccinated and, on producing the vaccination certificate, PFT will reimburse them,” said Mangesh Pathak, Chief Strategy Officer, PFT. “In these extremely challenging situations, we have stood together as one team to support each other and our stakeholders at large. This initiative is a continuation of that spirit,” he added.

As the country looks forward to starting its youth vaccination drive from 1st May 2021 onwards, the Indian fast-food chain of restaurants Wow! Momo in the favour of their employee’s safety and welfare has made this announcement.

Sagar Daryani, CEO WOW! Momo added “Vaccination begins at home; it’s our attempt to give our Wow! employees a completely safe working condition and a reassurance that we will stick with them come what may! This is also a reward for their resilience and passion; they have been with us through thick and thin last year and this is the least we would want to do"

In an attempt to extend support to their employees, Sona Machinery Pvt Ltd., a leading manufacturer, exporter and supplier of milling equipment in agro-processing industry, conducted extensive employee engagement program to get a better insight into the concerns amongst the employees and at the same time render a cooperative environment for progressive work.

On the occasion, Vasu Naren, the CEO of Sona Machinery Pvt. Ltd. said, “We at Sona Machinery believe that employee welfare is very important for an evolving working environment. It encourages freedom to work innovatively where employees can learn and hone their skills and be supportive and cooperative with each other.”

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