Author: Arindam Goswami | HRKatha

Information technology (IT) services provider, Birlasoft, has come up with a novel way to tackle the delivery and productivity issue amidst remote work during the COVID lockdown. Focussing on being lean and nimble, the Company has incorporated a governance model across the organisation, where teams are shrunk into microcosms, or smaller agile teams, with clear ownership and accountability of deliverables, balanced with feasible and achievable workloads. So how did Birlasoft ensure agility and nimbleness? Usually, the teams deployed by the organisation to service clients are large, with 100, 150 or even 200 members. In a remote working setup, however, collaboration…

Post World War-II, in the late 1940s, there was a slowdown, characterised by massive layoffs. Companies even let go of their talented employees. A fledgling company back then, Hewlett Packard (HP) grabbed this opportunity. Despite being cash-strapped, it hired many skilled workers who were kicked out from their previous jobs. This worked wonders for the Company. The employees were treated with respect, and they put all their effort into helping the Company grow. It is the trust and respect shown to the workers that made growth possible for the Company during those times. “Companies are going to figure out new…

Businesses across all sectors have had a tough time this year, with only a few of them beginning to get back on their feet. Job loss has been rampant across industries. However, the process of laying off employees could certainly have been handled differently in many cases. Grim news of layoffs had started seeping in way back in December 2019 – January 2020 when OYO Hotels, Walmart India and Ola had begun handing out pink slips to their employees. As if the loss of jobs wasn’t bad enough, the manner of dismissals that have come to light in a few…

Finding a job during or even post COVID may be a tough challenge for all those prospective candidates out there. While recent data indicates the job market is improving, the improvement is neither cheerful nor does it guarantee ease of finding a job. According to the recent data released by the Centre for Monitoring of Indian Economy (CMIE), the country’s urban unemployment rate has seen a positive change from approximately 25 per cent on May 31, to 17 per cent in the week ending on June 7. As for the rural unemployment rate, it improved by .21 percentage points to…

For IT companies, bench was a showcase of strength and capability. The companies found it ideal to maintain a bench strength in anticipation of getting business. It was a way to tell the clients, that it’s ready with the manpower required to handle the project. For the uninitiated, ‘bench’ comprises employees who are without any project but are part of the reserve team and are on the company’s payroll. Employees also go on bench in between projects.  However, this showcase of strength has now become a liability and it’s primarily because it’s a forced one. Since lockdown, the size of…

Organisations have always competed against each other in trying to become the company with the better benefits. We have entered an era where working from home (WFH) is the new normal. Naturally then, the benefits and allowances offered by companies will see a change and employees may even end up demanding a set of altogether new allowances from their employers. Instances have already emerged in the past few weeks. The apex court in Switzerland, in late March this year, ruled that companies must contribute to their employees’ rent if they are to work from home. The ruling applies to only…

You happen to have worked mostly with large organisations. How different is it working for a startup now? When you have worked for big companies for many years, there comes a point when you start questioning yourself— ‘What more do I want to do with my career? Do I want to continue in the big organisation or do I wish to build something of my own?’ For me, I chose the second route. Every day I’d wake up and ask myself, ‘Can I build a great place to work?’ The reason for me to join a startup was the eagerness…

Naresh Kumar Puritipati has joined Lactalis India as the director-HR, taking over the mantle from Bruno Chevallier. Reporting to Rahul Kumar, MD, Lactalis India, Puritipati, in his new role, will be heading HR for the Lactalis India Group, which includes subsidiaries, such as Tirumala Milk Products, Anik industries and Prabhat Dairy. Puritipati brings with him more than 24 years of experience, of which 19 were spent in the food and beverages sector. His expertise lies in talent management, people productivity, business HR, OD, and performance management. He went through his virtual on-boarding session on the May 2, and has effectively…

Visa has brought on board Pawan Setty as the head-HR, for APAC, to oversee the technology side of the business. In his previous position, at AirAsia, Setty was instrumental in leading the people function and building a global technology team. He was also a part of the board of directors for the AirAsia Technology Centre in India and was based out of Malaysia. Setty resigned from his previous role as strategic business partner and group head for digital and product, Air Asia, by the end of March. However, he was unable to officially join until recently, due to the nationwide lockdown. Speaking to…

While the plants of Perfetti Van Melle India are currently operational, the production for a few of its products has been put on hold. The confectionery major got its first break to resume operations on March 30, at its Rudrapur plant, barely a week after a nationwide lockdown was imposed across the country. A month later, around May 7, it got permission to resume work at the other two plants, in Manesar and Chennai as well. However, production for some of the more people-intensive products of the Company, such as the compressed mints and jelly sections, has not begun yet. …

EVP and group chief learning officer at Jindal Steel and Power, Karan Sandhu will be officially resigning from his current position on May 31st, 2020. Speaking to HRKatha, he says that he was recently offered an elevation from his current role and it required him to relocate to another location. “While I was grateful for the expanded role professionally, the relocation it would entail wasn’t possible at a personal level. Difficult choice to make, but rather simple and straightforward as well”, says Sandhu. Sandhu joined JSPL in September of 2019 where he was responsible for developing and shaping a learning…

While work-from-home (WFH) was the sought after option by employees in the past, in the new normal, employees at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) India are seeking the option to work from office, and the Company has obliged. The organisation has mandated that the standing work force capacity inside the office will remain at a steady 15 per cent across all locations. However, employees can apply on an online system, a week beforehand, to work out of office. Except for its Mumbai office, JLL offices have opened in almost all locations, as the states have relaxed restrictions. The Gurgaon office has…

Analytics company, Ugam, a subsidiary of the Merkle Group, has recently onboarded 47 employees as part of its global hiring process. It started its hiring process in mid-March and till last week has managed to hire people across locations — six in Bangalore, five in Coimbatore, 35 at the Mumbai headquarters and one in Australia. In the first week of March itself, the top management at Ugam got down to creating a war room and a COVID- response team to facilitate work from home (WFH) for the entire organisation. The regulated hiring process at Ugam was spread over two weeks,…

Ajanta-Orpat Group, manufacturer of clocks, fans and calculators, has been paying full salaries to its employees with zero layoffs, despite a halt in production for almost two months. Nevil Patel, director, Ajanta-Orpat Group, says, “We have enough reserves to take care of our people for the next six months. We do not believe in imposing salary cuts because we have been out of business for a few days. The last thing we would want to do is cut down on our employee strength.” The Group is aiming to double its turnover by FY25 to around 2,400 crore. Patel says that…

Mumbai-based DCB Bank has organised a slew of activities to keep its employees engaged and motivated. One of the first things that DCB bank did was to extend the medical coverage provided to employees to include COVID. As a precaution, the Bank started preparing for a lockdown scenario quite early, from March 12. This included arranging for transport for the employees, designing work-from-home protocols and securing equipment for the staff to work remotely. “We started preparing early and because of this we were able to respond to the situation much ahead of the announcement of the national lockdown,” claims Venkattesh…

The impact of COVID-19 has been disastrous on the economy, particularly the vulnerable informal and guest workers and their families. Over 67 per cent of workers have lost their jobs across 12 states in the country. More than the rural half, it is the urban half of the labour population that has been affected by the pandemic. About 80 per cent of the workers in the urban areas, that is, 8 in 10 workers, have lost their employment. In contrast, only 6 out of 10 workers in the rural areas, or about 57 per cent of the rural employed, have…

For the management at Naveen Jindal-led Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL), the need to build a business continuity plan and have disaster-response protocols in place, arose in the month of February itself. When Kerala declared COVID a state-wide calamity on February 3, the top leadership at JSPL began working on a plan for the future. Karan Sandhu, chief learning officer (CLO), Jindal Steel and Power, says that the Company undertook measures to cordon off large areas within the factory townships, built quarantine facilities and contraptions for hands-free hand washing and through the CSR arm of the organisation, built and distributed…

Ever since the lockdown that relegated employees to their homes, there has been an overemphasis on learning and upskilling for the workforce. While the intention is directed quite right here, the manner of going about it may need redirection. In the name of learning, employees are subjected to leadership sessions and webinars, which more often than not are monologues. They achieve little, consume time and end up as a futile effort. Webinar fatigue is already a known thing among leaders. Ramesh Mitragotri, CHRO, UltraTech Cement, shares his own experience of facing a deluge of webinar requests every day! Not surprisingly,…

While the economy is struggling to stabilise and workers and organisations are staring at an uncertain future, a few state governments have decided to make some changes to address the issue. In the past week, states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have made some significant changes in their labour laws. Other states, such as Rajasthan, Punjab and Kerala have also made alterations, albeit with a narrower scope. Let us have a look at what these changes are. The boldest move has come from the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh. It has made defunct all laws including…

Employees at the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) are regularly attending in-house learning sessions, through webinars on agricultural economy, product knowledge and other topics. As part of their learning series, they rolled out a session — ‘Know your Product’— which was spread across two weeks. Conducted by in-house subject experts, it focussed on the various product categories offered on the Exchange. “Apart from domain-functional webinars, we have encouraged our people to up their book-reading habits, and also complete online certifications and other learning in line with their development plans and additional interests,” says Aditi Mukherjee, EVP and head-HR, NCDEX.…

Mumbai-based B2B manufacturing company, Aarti Industries, which deals in chemicals such as benzene intermediaries, pharmaceuticals and surfactants, claims to go all out for its employees. The Company has shared with HRKatha that despite the challenges, it has taken good care of its employees – both permanent and casual – during the lockdown period. In its 16 manufacturing units, the Company employs around 13,000 people, including 5000 permanent and 8000 casual workers. Not have the permanent employees received their increments and promotions, the casual labourers have also received their dues, claims the Company. While the casual labourers who can come to…

Cochin-headquartered Federal Bank has found a unique way to reward its employees. For those who are working out of the branch, the Bank has decided to pay 1-day’s extra salary for 5 days of work. And for those employees who have been working from the corporate or administrative offices, the extra 1-day’s salary comes after 10 days of work. At Federal Bank, 80 per cent of its employees work in the branch office, while 20 per cent work out of the administrative offices. This financial reward is to recognise the efforts of the employees, who have been working during the…

It was late at night and I had just got off work. Not in the mood to cook, I chose to order on Swiggy. A confirmation was received from the online food-delivery platform. However, within a few minutes of placing the order, I received a call from the Swiggy delivery person who was assigned my order. He expressed his inability to deliver the order as the delivery personnel had gone on strike. I probed further. Very much like this delivery executive, many of his colleagues had gathered together at some place in North Delhi to protest. I spoke to a…

At a time when the entire aviation sector is inactive, with staff sitting at home, many airlines are using different means to keep their employees engaged, and encourage them to utilise this time to catch up on learning. Air Asia India has been encouraging its employees to learn every day and the response has been good so far. Averaging on four hours for each employee every day, the Company has clocked 2,42,500 hours of learning in the month of April! Anjali Chatterjee, head-people and culture, says, “AirAsia India stands firmly by its core value of ‘People First’ and our focus…

Supply chain constraints are the biggest source of concern for businesses in the manufacturing sector. In these troubling times, employees at Medikabazaar are coming together to help out the business, and the Company, in turn, has rewarded them for their hard work. The operations team at Medikabazaar — the B2B online platform for medical supplies and equipment — which consists of the supply chain and logistics units, is the backbone of the business. At this time, when employees are working from home, operations employees at Medikabazaar are going to office, to central distribution centres (CDCs) and also facility centres to…

To keep pace with the state of the economy in the current times, the leadership at Alliance Tire Group (ATG), subsidiary of the Yokohama Rubber Company (YRC), has taken a few steps to ensure that employees are taken care of, costs are met, and the business stays afloat. Rajeev Singh, CHRO, ATG, feels that the challenge has been to ensure that business navigates through this crisis at a time when the revenue streams are constrained. The market for non-essential items is still not open in India, and therefore, even as the Company has begun operations at a reduced capacity, the…