Five-day long People-Week at MagicBricks

For the first time in the 13-year history of MagicBricks, the online property sale and purchase platform, a five-day event was organised to create awareness through fun.

The event organised by the HR team of the Company, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bennett, Coleman & Co. culminated on December 7, and saw a footfall of about 1200 employees at the Noida head office. Employees at MagicBricks experienced a new dimension of learning and engaging the entire week, through vibrant activities planned for them.

The People-Week comprised five days of events, activities, displays and shows curated by the HR department to involve the employees. From Nukkad Natak to corporate tambola, the office floor was open to all sorts of hungama while simultaneously creating employer–employee awareness. The business managers cooperated and closely interacted and encouraged their people to participate and be a part of the week-long activities planned by HR.

“The idea was to engage the employees in a fun and creative way, making them aware of our best practices and policies and creating a sense of pride,” says Anil Misra, CHRO, MagicBricks.

Two-fold objective  

The HR team wished to create maximum awareness in its people by informing them about policies, practices and procedures relating to the employees. They wished to make sure everyone is aware of the Company’s core strength and was well informed about the new launches.

HR wanted to create a sense of pride among its people by showcasing their best practices. “We may not be great in all parameters, but we have our own moments of greatness so why not pull out those stories and highlight,” says Anil Misra, CHRO, MagicBricks.

Activities galore

Showcase Event

The board-room was converted into a showcase event with multiple posters exhibited on pin-up boards. Each day had a different theme, and the posters were changed to reflect the theme of the day. Misra says, “Day-1, the theme was talent acquisition, and our displays spoke about our hiring policies, the competencies we look for and how we attract talent; our referral policies, internal job postings and recruitment tests. Day-2 was MagicBricks Leadership Academy and then we had employee engagement, performance management, new initiatives and so on.”

Every department was given a two-hour slot, one hour in the morning and another in the evening to visit the exhibition.

Questionnaire

Three different sets of questionnaires with ten questions each were prepared to review the employees’ understanding. This was also to make sure that people understood the content and related it correctly. To incorporate a spirit of fun and competitiveness, prizes were given to those who scored eight and above.

“The idea was to engage the employees in a fun and creative way, making them aware of our best practices and policies and creating a sense of pride.”

Did You Know

The organisers pulled out data, pertaining to gender diversity, average age of employees, promotions in the last appraisal cycle and so on to run a ‘Did You Know’ campaign through multiple display screens in the entire office.

Nukkad Natak

Full of fun and masti, this genre of street theatre by an external agency was a crowd puller. It was 45 minutes of entertainment for the people, and at the same time delivered a strong message. The script spoke of the Company’s five core values, translated into Hindi to appeal to all.

Expert Speak

The ‘Expert Speak’ event was organised to give employees a fresh perspective by inviting imminent HR heads from different industries to speak. Yuvaraj Srivastava of MakeMyTrip, and the HR heads of Samsung and Max New York Life wree amongst the speakers. “Yuvaraj Srivastava spoke about culture and strategy; which one is more important and how organisational culture can be further developed. Our employees were inspired and benefitted immensely from these speakers,” says Misra.

Women in Leadership

Sixty four women professionals were invited to this forum to address the employees and speak about their roles and responsibilities. Their viewpoints, stories and experiences kept the audience engaged and enthralled.

Open House

An HR help desk in the form of a booth was established to clear any doubts regarding HR practices and policies. The employees profited immensely from this as they had a platform to clear any misconceptions or apprehensions on-the-spot.

Misra was certain that the array of activities and programmes left the people energised and the event itself resulted in a sense of positivity which will strengthen the employer brand internally.

Power-Packed Day

This week onwards, the five-day long People-Week will be compressed into a one-day power-packed affair, to take place across locations.