While most companies have frozen their hiring, here is one, which not only onboarded new joinees during the lockdown, but also considered them eligible for incentives.
IndiGrid, India’s first power-sector infrastructure investment trust, has launched a ‘long-term incentive plan’ that gives out incentives not just to the existing employees, but also to the new joinees.
This plan is a unique cash-based model, which gives out incentives to new and existing employees on a long-term basis.
Kundan Kishore
“We honoured all offers rolled out during or before the lockdown. A total of 40 per cent of the employees have joined in the last four months.”
Speaking to HRKatha, Kundan Kishore, head-HR, IndiGrid, says, “Looks like we may have to continue to work from home for some more months in FY 21. Therefore, we launched a comprehensive policy for assets and connectivity, where employees’ comfort and productivity are our primary concerns.”
IndiGrid also initiated the ‘virtual weekly town halls’ from March 24 onwards. The objective is to connect with all employees, communicate with them, provide business updates, listen to them talk about how they are coping with WFH and give out suggestions.
During the ongoing pandemic, when companies are struggling to continue with their businesses even while devising measures to retain the entire workforce, IndiGrid managed to stick to its hiring schedule, as per budget, even during lockdown!
“We honoured all offers rolled out during or before the lockdown. A total of 40 per cent of the employees have joined in the last four months,”claims Kishore.
The Company wanted to ensure an enhanced virtual onboarding experience for the new joinees. Therefore, the virtual pre-boarding, onboarding and induction processes started as early as possible.
Kishore states, “By altering a few pre-boarding mandatory activities, we wanted to ensure an enriching joining experience just like in a physical setup. We prepared an immersion module for new joinees to help them assimilate well with industry understanding.”
“Since the new joinees were a mixed bag — from the power sector as well as others — they required a better understanding of this sector, and its priorities. Therefore, we created a detailed immersion module, combining presentations, videos and subject matter from the industry perspective,” he adds.
The Company also started with the ‘30 days & 90 days catch-up’ initiative, to ensure a connection with new joinees and identify early warning signals. As the name suggests, the HR initiated catch-ups to help settle down nerves and get inputs to improve the experience.
Kishore reveals that during the onboarding process, a joinee or two have had to drop out, due to mobility issues, owing to the lockdown.
“Despite the pandemic and ensuing lockdown, we managed to conduct the annual appraisals in the month of April, as per plan. We gave out double-digit increments and performance bonuses, without any major changes in the process,” shares Kishore.
However, Kishore also states that the appraisal cycle in the upcoming financial year may undergo certain changes due to the several new work-from-home policies.
To keep up with the new normal, IndiGrid has introduced a ‘work-enablement policy’, where employees have been offered options to choose from buying an office chair, table, laptop stand, study lamp, printer, scanner, extension wire and so on.
Additionally, the Company has provided a high-connectivity router and headphone for all employees and is bearing the Wifi charges for FY 21.
With workplaces going digital, IndiGrid is looking to amend its POSH policy to safeguard and address the concerns of its employees.
“Employees are our foremost priority and with the new POSH policy, we have also planned an awareness session for all employees. This enables them to be vocal about such matters, even outside the workplace culture,” points out Kishore.
Furthermore, the leadership team went through sessions on ‘Leaders as Coach’ for holding meaningful conversations during appraisals to bring out encouraging results. Till date, more than 60 per cent employees have indulged in such meaningful conversations with their managers.
With the entire training taking place online, the Company initiated a ‘Learning Series’, under which technical learning sessions were organised by various teams on subjects, such as Electricity Act amendment, corona effect (on transmission lines), emergency restoration plans, GIS technology and so on, for its employees.
With 600+ site engineers and office staff to be taken care of, IndiGrid has developed a COVID health tracker. This daily tracker helps trace and monitor its employees’ health. Till date, no employee has tested positive.
From being an athlete to an avid writer, she has found a happy space in discovering new places and exploring new cuisines. An English graduate from Delhi University, she is a hungry rover, who has a passion for food and travel, and likes to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
