Transformation of the People Function during Pandemic – Part I

Editor’s Note: Poorna Pushkala, Head, Human Resources shares Samunnati’s journey of transformation during the Pandemic and how the People Function started learning from the various experiences when Samunnati decided to go on “Work from Home” mode. This was even before the lockdown was announced and even before other players in this industry decided to allow their employees to work from home. It was a decision that was driven with the sole objective of employees’ health & safety.

In Part I, Poorna shares her experience around introducing the employees to new ways of work. The most important and critical aspect being Work from Home & going completely online.

While Samunnati has always had a policy of supporting Work from Home for its team members when their personal requirements demand, the entire organisation working from home together from various remote locations was a new scenario.

Given the diverse locations that Samunnati operates across, there was no way we could arrange gadgets and physical devices at such a shorter notice. While the Technology team worked tirelessly to support requirements and ensure IT security, orientation for the team on planning to work from home for a longer duration (uncertain end date) and especially orienting the managers on managing team members remotely was another area to focus on.

We tackled these challenges by

• Orienting our team leads by sharing basic guidelines that ranged from how they can engage with their teams to what they need to be mindful of.
• Given that most of the households are not equipped for a professional working environment, we constantly created awareness around being empathetic and understanding.
• Reimagining Interactions/ Driving Online Channels: Given that about 40% of the employee base was used to personal interactions over virtual interactions, getting everyone online and connecting them on an online platform became a priority for our function. With access to Microsoft Teams, we were able to drive the usage through several online engagement initiatives. We now have approx. 98% of our team members using Microsoft Teams.
• Awareness drives – We started sending out regular mailers to our team on how they can plan their day to sharing articles of significance around Screen time, tips to minimise online exhaustion, how to effectively structure their day etc.,

We also introduced Employee Connect Calls where members of the People Function will reach out to our team members across several locations to understand how they are, what are the challenges they face while working remotely, what kind of additional support Samunnati can offer to make them comfortable. These calls are now part of our day-day routine and go beyond the discussions around Pandemic. We realise that this has helped the team open up and talk about anything that they need a listening ear to.

Most of the initiatives are here to stay as part of our ongoing HR processes / routine and have added a lot of value to not just the function but to the entire organisation.

Saradha A.S, Internal Audit Team: “The pandemic has been a technological equalizer of sorts, where I was previously unaccustomed to using tech tools in the workplace, now I have no choice but to adapt to be more efficient. As a part of Employee communication, we started a more agile way of working and communicating with colleagues: More meetings became emails, and more emails became instant messages through Microsoft Teams.

Employee engagement became livelier. We started reliving long lost moments in Throwback Thursday, became more fit with Cure fit subscription and shared videos and pictures in Health and Fitness Challenge. I started picking long lost hobbies, started reading books and discussing about your preferences and choices in Book Club channel, enhanced my skills in cooking new recipes and enjoyed snippets and recipes in Lockdown recipes channel.

The Workplace became more equitable to me as a Women allowing me to remain in the workforce while balancing home and work life.

Upskilling and Reskilling became more and more convenient as Samunnati has extended LinkedIn learning module to help us sharpen our softer and technical skills. I think those best practices will live on and I think we’re all developing new muscles to work virtually.”

Lakshmipathi Parthiban, Risk Monitoring Team: “A friend in need is a friend indeed! This does suits for company and employee relationship as well.

When other companies making their work force to stay back and work in their respective work place, here is my company with motherly love forcefully made us to stay and work in our Home with family and ensured our safety as priority. We are ensured of our good health each and every day!

Our work is as usual regular and efficient and we dont see any ebb in our energy level. To make our time and energy more effective, our company has paved way for online learning platforms as well. We are enjoying the whole process of working on digital platforms.”

Smylie Angeline Patric, CEO’s Office: “#lifeatsamunnati means not only work but also fun at work. We are being encouraged to build our knowledge and grow with the organisation and given opportunities to voice out our opinions and concerns. All the festivals are being celebrated with the same enthusiasm and the given a chance to bond with each other. Above all we stand by each other.

#pandemicresponse : Our safety and health is always the priority in the minds of our management, the ways and measures taken during these times is an example of how we look up to the well-being of our colleagues.

#workfromhome during these difficult times, while we are doing our best not to get depressed with all that is happening around us, Samunnati has encouraged us in many training and learnings episodes and also given us a chance to know what our other department functions are that has given us a deep dive knowledge on the valuable work we are a part of. The Fun Fridays and the Throwback Thursdays are just wonderful experiences we had with our families also.

#greatplacetowork2020 Though we have spent the major part of this year working from home, the interactions that have been happening among the groups, the team meetings, the group calls and the activities clearly have made us feel that we are part of achieving a very promising meaningful future.”