The Corona Pandemic and the Wake Up Call For India Inc.

Having worked with some of the top Indian and Multinational IT organisations in the last decade or so, what has always baffled me is the treatment meted out to employees in India in comparison to those in developed countries like the US or even countries in Europe.

Some of the more revered concepts like telecommuting, flexible working hours, Work From Home, Vacation leaves, Paid Sabbaticals etc. only remain theoretical concepts for workers in India. Many of these companies have more favoring and relaxed working conditions for employees outside India.

Why is there such a disparity in treating employees in India? I can only surmise the answer in one word; "TRUST" or the lack of it.

Does India Inc. believe that employees in India would be less productive if they are allowed to Work from home? Or will their dedication wither if they are given a longer vacation? Will Indian employees be less productive than their western counterparts if they worked remotely?

Read Here on : The real reasons you are not allowed to work from home

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic brought to light the multitudinous challenges that Indian organisations faced amidst the scramble to move all work to homes. The lack of cultural preparedness (Policies, processes and mind set) ensured that many of these organisations (including the Large and Medium sized businesses) were caught off guard in their response to the evolving pandemic.

It is a damning fact that a significant section of companies in India do not provide any form of Work From Home facility. A report by Gartner, a leading IT service management company, says that 54 per cent of the companies in India do not have enough technology and resources for employees to work to home. The situation is still worse with companies which are outside the IT Services Space. Employees from the non-IT companies and small and medium enterprises (SMBs) are the worst-hit in India as most of them have little or no clue about how these messaging and collaboration tools work. They also seem to be oblivious to the fact that by the end of 2030, there would be a 30% increase in the number of employees preferring remote work.

Indian Managers who are ardent supporters of Command and Control form of functioning, compounded by the strict hierarchical norms of these companies have remained a impediment to flexible and more accommodative work rules. Even organisations in the forefront of technology do not fare significantly better in achieving these.

Time in seat is still viewed as more powerful indicator of productivity than any other metric. It is hence not ironic that a recent study conducted by E&Y  found  that 70% of Indian HR Heads and CHRO's considered "loss of productivity" was the single biggest concern among work from home employees. Thus the issues plaguing flexible working conditions in India are more psychological than technological. This, we could call the great cultural road block.

But things were to take a dramatic change with the Corona Scare. The Pandemic made possible what years of lobbying couldn't - making remote working a norm (not luxury). Lakhs of Indians moved overnight to "Work from Home" model. Laptops, Desktops, Internet Dongles and all other paraphernalia required for remote working were procured in record time. While many of the companies struggled initially, they also managed to recover smartly to transition work from office to Homes. At the time of writing this article, almost  all the Indian IT companies have moved to Work From Home (WFH).

But this transition hasn't been easy for India Inc. or its employees. Barring a few IT organisations, many of them struggled to provide the necessary infrastructure for people to work at home. This sudden shift also put employees at stress as most of them had never "worked at home" in the past. Initially though many of them considered it as a blessing in disguise allowing them to spend more time with Family, it has turned out to be quite stressful as they get frustrated with inadequate internet bandwidth, technical glitches in accessing organisation's resources, multiple scheduled and unscheduled calls (aka meetings) from their supervisors (over zealous bosses trying to check on their teams), multiples sources of distractions and to top it all the conflict of doing household chores along with official work (especially for Women Workers).

But could India Inc have reduced the pain involved in such a transition? Yes, undoubtedly so with more radical preparation. The failure to establish a culture that embraces flexible working was India Inc.'s undoing. All this starts with Reposing Faith and Trust in its employees. Of course there would be outliers (those employees who wouldn't be up to speed), but then which system is 100% perfect? We always had slackers at office too, didn't we?

Hopefully the Corona Pandemic has taught India Inc. valuable lessons in Trusting its employees and backing it up with a "Work Culture" that is less forbearing, more progressive and yet one that keeps an ardent eye on accountability.

Isn't it time for India Inc. to wake up?


Additional Reading here: WHY 100% WORK FROM HOME (WFH) IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR TECH SECTOR IN INDIA CURRENTLY

Are Policies Really Required?

"Its the company Policy" 

How often have you used this phrase as an HR  pro?

When all logic and explanations fail, HR Pros are often found guilty of taking refuge under this clause or so does it seem. Most employees dread this, as it signals the end of a rational argument with their employers. 

Often, too well defined policies prevent employees from contesting its existence and rationale. The myriad maze of policies and the consequent multitude of procedures leave employees dazed. Though implemented with the right intentions, most policies do not end up doing what they were meant to do and consume significant organisational energies, lead to procedural delays in decision making and strengthen bureaucratic practices. 

So, the key question remains...

• Do we really need a policy for everything? Or Should they be considered only for the essentials?

To answer this we would need to understand the very purpose of their existence in the first place.

As organisations grew, so did the complexities related to their activities.

There were multiple things to be done and they needed to be done in a particular way to yield a desired result.

A lack of clarity on how things needed to be done often caused confusion. As a result, organisations began to document the preferred manner in which their activities could be carried out. These documents were referred to as the basic guidelines of employee actions and were tightly linked to their value systems.

Over a period of time, policies became the foundation of every action that an employee could take. They were intended to make employee accountable for their actions and enable clear decision making. Thus almost every conceivable action such as the number of hours to be spent at work, dressing, vacations, wage hikes etc etc were determined by the policies.

And so it did serve a purpose at least for a while.



Now the other side of the story...

With a more inventive, freedom loving and knowledgeable talent entering the workforce, the relevance of organisational policies is in question today. The present day employees want to be treated as responsible adults.

Rather than working in an environment filled with bureaucracy and predetermined procedures, they would love to spend their waking hours experimenting with their intuitions and creatively challenging the status qou.

Though we cannot arrive at a conclusion on this debate, it would be interesting to watch out how this space plays out in the future.


Change in Action

Certain firms have not just gone beyond just removing policies, but also made radical changes in the way they perceive their employees. Take for instance, Netflix which has decided to remove the vacation policy itself, giving employees the freedom to chose their time off.


Read the Harvard Business Review on How Netflix Reinvented HR for more details on their policy makeover.


Also Sir Richard Branson, made a dramatic change in Virgin Atlantic's Leave policies - rather he completely revoked the policy itslef - something called Un Policy.

Read the entire article on Virgin Atlantic's Leave policies here....


You might also like a more light hearted view on weird Employee Policies that rocked the world here...

The Art of Story Telling

Recently attended the NHRD Session on the Art of Story Telling. Interesting to know that some of the greatest leaders have used this art form with great success. Consider Steve Jobs instead who is regarded as the finest corporate story teller ever when he introduced the iPhone to the world

“Today we are introducing three revolutionary products. The first, a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second, is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device.” As the audience applauded, Jobs repeated the three ‘products’ several times. Finally he said, “Are you getting it? These are not three separate devices, they are one device and we are calling it iPhone!”

Is it time for us to move away from the boring PPTs and spread sheets to the more simple, elegant yet powerful means of getting (or selling) an Idea?

Let me know your stories!

Read the entire Forbes article on Steve Jobs Story Telling magic here

NHRDN, Chennai Chapter

One Day Seminar on Wellness @ Work, on October 17 (Friday) 2014 

at 

Hotel Hyatt Regency, Chennai

My View on Life Preethi Srinivasan

Realliging The Workplace - Welcome to the GEN Y

The entry of Gen Y and the gradual exit of Gen X and Baby Boomers from the workspace is spelling the onset of a new league of policy changes across organizations which wants to keep pace with their employee's changing aspirations. Across the world, some significant changes are seen to be happening in this context. With the entry of Gen Y into the workforce, the rules of the game are beginning to change significantly. Most organizations and institutions have begun to realize how "Out of Sync" they are with their Gen Y workforce. With this dramatic change in the landscape comes several key challenges that today's workplaces need to deal with - most importantly bridging the ever thickening line of difference between the earlier generations and Gen Y ; and being able to deliver on the aspirations of both these groups.

Glad to be back Again!

After a prolonged break from Blogging, am glad to be back again!