In July, a digital sales professional, Rohit K. quit his job with a software solutions company because its back-to-office plan did not match perfectly with both professional and personal plans. The management had instructed all the employees to return to the office, but they were not ready to change course and return to the old normal.
Rohit, who has successfully negotiated a hybrid work model with his new employer, a multinational corporation, said, “I value an organization that offers more choice and flexibility about working as a geographer.” He successfully sought assurance that he could work remotely from his hometown in Chandigarh. However, he is ready to visit the head office in Bengaluru when the situation demands it.
Most corporate firms understand that after two years of flexibility, the workforce cannot be rolled back to the old systems, and their back-to-work plans reflect this thinking. According to Xpheno, a specialist staffing firm, the Indian IT sector is likely to lose over 1.15 million people this fiscal.
Hybrid model to curb accidents
In an effort to stem the tide, companies are offering an alternative to the hybrid work model to curb attrition. Bengaluru-based media technology firm Amagi is reportedly conducting surveys and HR-led focus group discussions to ensure that the ‘back-to-office’ policy, implemented early next year, meets the expectations and priorities of employees. reflects. Towards building a blended work culture, Amagi is going through roles to see which employees will require physical presence and which will not.
“Out of over 400 employees on our rolls, over 150 were hired during the pandemic from various cities including Hyderabad and Mumbai. At this point in time, asking all of them to move to Bengaluru could be a potential attrition point for us. We need to retain our core talent, and conduct a comprehensive analysis to see how we can accommodate the needs and requests of our employees, while simultaneously balancing our business priorities.” Ashish Kolwalkar, Global HR Head, Amagi. He said future prospects include flying only a few outside staff once for key meetings.
Many firms, including Amagi, are adapting their office space to the digital work environment. “The HR team at Amagi has suggested the opening of a satellite office in the central business district to enable one-time visits to employees living away from the office,” said Mr. Kolwalkar.
FMCG company Marico Limited titled its new policy ‘Ways of Work’ designed to enable employees to work from office at a “low but defined frequency”. It announced that it will provide all of its employees with grade one position flexibility options based on their roles and individual needs. This will allow them to work from a location outside their ‘base location’ of their role for the next 12 to 18 months.
A ‘hot desking’ area is also being reserved for members who are out of their turn. This is an area of an office where employees have the opportunity to choose where they sit.
Bengaluru-based fintech start-up Slice has launched a three-day work week program that will be extended to its full-time engineers, product managers and designers working on the company’s flagship projects. Edtech company BYJU upgraded its employee leave policy, offering both employees and trainees period leave and seven days of child care leave a year, the latter for children up to 12 years of age.
,