A lockdown can get quite monotonous, especially for people who cannot work from home, such as the employees working for the airlines sector.
That is why, IndiGo has launched a series of activities — some tailored according to their profile— to keep its workforce engaged.
Raj Raghavan, senior VP and head-HR, IndiGo Airlines, shares, “One cannot really engage in any engagement drills, without quite understanding what the employees want. What motivates a pilot isn’t what motivates the Company’s financial analyst.”
“At a meta-level, it is very important to primarily measure the employee experience to be able to create employee engagement. Both are equally important, he adds.”
The Company has categorised its engagement activities into four broad areas – leadership connect, emotional well-being, physical well-being and contests.
Kunal Kamboj
All employees have been provided with a 24/7 mobile and e-mail access to these professionals, so that they can discuss any and every issue without the fear of being judged
Raghavan opines, “Engagement is not about some Rangoli competition. It is about finding out whether the initiatives are impactful for and on the business. Is my boss happy with my work? Am I performing up to my abilities? Are my skills being used to the best? This is how engagement is measured.”
Leadership connect
It’s common for employees to feel alienated or lonely during these times. Therefore, it’s equally important to make the employees feel that both the leadership and the co-workers stand by them during tough times.
“We have been releasing one-minute videos by our leaders on how they are dealing with the lockdown, maintaining their mental and physical health, and focussing on the positives that they see in the current situation,” says Kunal Kamboj, head of employee engagement at IndiGo.
Emotional well-being
The feeling of isolation and loneliness is a serious issue, and IndiGo has launched quite a few activities to deal with this.
iCare: Through this initiative, IndiGo provides online/telephonic support to its employees to deal with any questions on their mind or any apprehension they may have. This is professional counselling, and all interactions are kept strictly confidential.
Kamboj shares, “For this programme, we have a professional agency on board.”
However, this facility was not launched specifically during the lockdown, but has always existed. What has changed is that people are now using it more frequently during the lockdown.
“All employees have been provided with a 24/7 mobile and e-mail access to these professionals, so that they can discuss any and every issue without the fear of being judged. The information of any and every employee remains 100 per cent confidential,” asserts Kamboj.
The airline company is also organising webinars on similar topics, such as ‘How to build
Emotional Resilience’ or ‘Guiding children & teens during the lockdown,’ to overcome the pressures of lockdown.
Physical well-being
Besides the emotional well-being, the physical well-being of employees is equally important. For this, Indigo has launched certain activities as follows:
Live streaming sessions – IndiGo has tied up with service providers who facilitate virtual workout training sessions for their employees. These trainers conduct classes and live stream them to Indigo employees via Webex.
Pre-recorded workout sessions – Curated workout videos from top celebrity trainers and workout coaches are provided to employees. These series of 30-45 min. workout videos cover various formats, such as functional training, yoga, Zumba and Pilates.
Raj Raghavan
Engagement is not about some Rangoli competition. It is about finding out whether the initiatives are impactful for and on the business.
Fun and engaging contests
#MissingThe6ELife – Through this interesting activity, Indigo invited its employees to share throwback photos of their workplace with a note on what they miss the most. These photos were published internally, as well as on the official social-media channels. The response was so overwhelming that the management received more than a 1000 pictures from across the network. Such activities have really helped the company bring cross-functional teams together into a similar space.
#6EPowerofPositivity — Social distancing/isolation has triggered everyone’s creativity. People are discovering or rediscovering their talents and hobbies. Indigo invited employees to send in samples of their best creative expression—poems/quotes/paintings/doodles, and so on— based on how they perceive the current situation positively, along with a note on what their creation means.
#MakeThatVideo – This group activity involved submitting videos based on the theme ‘The Sky Will Be Blue Again’. The selected videos were posted on social media. The Company received more than a hundred powerful and fun videos from across its network.
Kamboj shares that the idea of organising these contests actually came from one of the millennial employees, who is very keen to click pictures and post nostalgic videos. “This gave birth to the idea of making a video of how people are utilising their time at home constructively. By running a contest, we were able to ensure maximum participation and the chosen videos will be embedded on the Company website,” concludes Kamboj.
All she wanted to do since her school days was pursue journalism. She takes keen interest in digging into the unpublished aspects of people's life and profession. Her writing experience has been quite diverse – entrepreneurship, lifestyle, logistics, health, management and now she enjoys writing on HR! She is a foodie by nature and pet lover at heart.
