In the post-Covid office, it’s advantage employees

If people were asked to return to work anytime soon our bet is that those whorsquove experienced WorkFromHome fatigue wouldnrsquot mind it but physical and mental health priorities would remain top of their mindAlso the underlying fear of having to travel in crowded trains where social distancing is next to impossible or even interacting with colleagues who do not follow COVIDappropriate behaviour or are hesitant to take the vaccine is discouraging many The pushpull equation has turned this on its head with employers doing all they can to woo staff backShivang Shah founder of Django Digital participating in a virtual meeting on his laptop at their office in Lower Parel The marketing and ad agency has adopted the hybrid work model with half the staff working from office and the rest remotely PicShadab KhanAmerican multinational technology company Google LLC which was one of the first last year to announce that employees could work from home till June 2021 recently shared its hybrid returntowork plan Google and Alphabet Inc CEO Sundar Pichai communicated with the staff via an internal message As per the plan 60 per cent of the staff will be called to office for a few days of the week while 20 per cent would work in new office locations and the remaining 20 per cent would work remotelyThough Googlers have been given a choice to work from home Pichai said that their salaries would be adjusted accordingly Google knows it faces a dilemma People are getting used to the worklife balance they have grown to enjoy while working from home and realise that itrsquos pointless to waste hours commuting to work The firm has therefore been building and repurposing office spaces as cool places to hangoutA lower head count at the workplace means that empty work stations between colleagues help them keep distance PicBipin KokateAs reported by the New York Times Google has been designing Team Pods and has created a new type of meeting room called Campfire where employees can sit in a circle with huge screens for video conferences It is also building outdoor leisure spotsAnother company Hager UK which is a manufacturer of electrical installations has a plan in place to combat employee anxiety surrounding COVID19 They have introduced an optional wristband for staff to wear a different colour to represent the employeersquos state of mind The red band for example states ldquoIrsquom keeping my distancerdquo alerting colleagues to stay away while the yellow band implies ldquookay with talking but not touchingrdquo The green band denotes ldquookay with hugs and highfivesrdquoMahesh Nazare HR head WATConsultDjango Digital in Lower Parel welcomed its employees back after the second Coronavirus wave recently by introducing a hybrid model of operation A hybrid office is a flexible workplace model that is designed to support a distributed workforce both inoffice and remote workers ldquoWhen you opt for the hybrid work model you offer your staff more flexibility in terms of when and where they can work Itrsquos like offering them the best of both worlds structure and sociability on the one hand and independence and flexibility on the other Such a culture will make employees feel less anxious at a time like thisrdquo says Natasha Bhatia PR and influencer manager with the companyWhen Django asked its employees to return to work it set aside a day in the week which was christened Mental Health Day Off It was a time when employees were asked to stay away from work and focus on personal wellbeing if needed ldquoFor me it is little things like these that matterrdquo says BhatiaLike Django digital marketing agency WATConsult which has a staff of 400 asked them to return to work but not without addressing the need for a empathetic environment All staff are offered oneonone therapy sessions to address their queries and worries through expert professionals ldquoThe employee decides if she needs one or ongoing sessionsrdquo says Mahesh Nazare director HR and Learning and DevelopmentStashFin an online lending startup is encouraging employees to work out of smart and convenient work pods at coworking spaces near their homes instead of expecting them to work out of one officeNazare who was attending to an employee vaccination drive when we reached out to him says ldquoWe have noticed how the therapy sessions have helped boost morale Also if an employee falls ill and is unable to cook at home they are free to order in their meals and the company will foot the bill We want our employees to be as comfortable as possiblerdquoMost HR heads agree that to draft a strategy to ensure that employees are happy and safe is possibly the only way forward A recent global survey titled The Way We Work conducted by workplace design consultancy Space Matrix found that 85 per cent people donrsquot mind being at their workplace but for two to three days a week This indicates that a majority of them prefer the hybrid work regime Sixty four per cent of the respondents had never worked from home before the pandemic Southeast Asia had more experience with work from home 43 per cent while India and China had less 29 per cent Given a choice 50 per cent would go back to offices but only for team meetings collaborations and brainstorming while 20 per cent would go for client meetings and 20 per cent would agreeto go for town halls and social interactionsShruti AggarwalWhile speaking about the findings of the survey Space Matrix MD Titir Dey was quoted as saying ldquoBusiness leaders are increasingly focusing on ensuring safe stimulating and comfortable work processes in their organisationsrdquoBut the office space continues to be sacred for employers at least A survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers a multinational professional services network of firms late last year revealed that ldquo68 per cent of employers believed that employees needed to be in the office at least three days a week to maintain corporate culturerdquoAcrylic partitions have been installed between workstations at Fine Jewellery Manufacturing Limitedrsquos Andheri office to avoid face to face contactAnd this is the balance that most offices in Indian metros also seem to be supporting Film production company Eros International has devised something called the Quiet Hour ldquoFrom 1 pm to 2 pm employees are expected to stay away from work duties and encouraged to postpone meeting requests and work calls until laterrdquo says Rohit Bhargawa Vice President and Head Human Resources and Administration ErosWeNaturalists a vertical social networking platform for nature professionals has been organising nature trails every weekend for its employees to destress Founder Amit Banka also said that they have been picking up the cab and auto tab of the employees so that they donrsquot have to take public transport while travelling to and from work Fine Jewellery Manufacturing Limited in Seepz Andheri is providing bus services from multiple locations for employees to reach work without resorting to public transport which could put their health and those of others at the workplace at risk At any given point only 25 employees are permitted on a bus which has a seating capacity of 49 An admin staffer is assigned the duty of going around to not just check body temperature of staffers but oxygen levels too Every desk now has a hot water kettle and a steam vapouriserEvery employeersquos desk is provided a hot water kettle and steam vapouriserldquoOur employees are offered an ayurvedic kadha every day to boost immunity as well as a 30day course of immunity boosting vitamins and supplementsrdquo says Madhuri Prabhulkar senior manager HR To avoid person toperson direct infection they have installed acrylic partitions between work desks Even the layout of the canteen has been restructured in a zigzag pattern to allow for social distancing ldquoIf at any point in time an employee exhibits COVIDlike symptoms they can be taken to an isolation facility that has been set up within the factory premises to quarantine them temporarilyrdquo Prabhulkar saysSome other offices are relying on rewards programmes as a way for the organisation to express gratitude There are a few others who are adding job benefits to make sure employees feel like they are being appreciatedShruti Aggarwal founder of StashFin an online lending startup says they have ensured that all employees have been provided the vaccine shot and a health insurance plan A tech rewards idea involves offering staffers the choice to upgrade to better machines ldquoThey can upgrade their computer system to a cutting edge expensive one like a Mac and buy it at a subsided rate from the company The said amount would be deducted like EMIs from their monthly salary We want them to feel like we care about their standard of living and working regardless of the pandemicrdquo says Aggarwal who adds that the StashFin employees have been working out of work pods created at coworking spaces near their homes rather than having to all troop to the office in Bengaluru Delhi and Mumbai This then simultaneously addresses the problem of some employees not having a home that offers a workconducive environmentRohit Bhargawa Vice President and Head Human Resources and Administration Eros International says the company has devised the Quiet Hour where every day from 1 pm to 2 pm employees are expected to switch off from work duties and encouraged to postpone meeting requestsWhat COVID19 then has inadvertently done is change the employeremployee dynamic Joseph B Fuller professor of management practice at the Harvard Business School described it as the ldquonext normalrdquo on the institutersquos website ldquoIt will be a function of changes in the way many workersmdashespecially those possessed of the skills most in demandmdashview their relationship with employers In responding to COVID employers publicly and unambiguously elevate their employeesrsquo health and wellbeing to be their highest priorityrdquo he wrote adding ldquoEmployees are unlikely to return happily to a workplace driven by the lsquoold dealrsquo in which the employer sets standard rules of employment and the workforce acquiesces They will expect not only the right to determine the adequacy of workplace safety measures but also expect employers to consider their individual circumstances like caregiving obligations when designing their roles and evaluating their performancerdquo This he says will be a major departure from the timehonoured definition of the employeremployee relationship85Percentage of employees who donrsquot mind being back at office but only for 23 days a week according to a global survey by Space Matrix68 per centPercentage of employers who believed that employees need to be in office at least three days a week to maintain corporate culture according to a 2020 survey by PricewaterhouseCooperslsquoAsking for WFH is common todayrsquoJulia Manke founder Fingertips recruitment agencyFifteen months ago very few would consider asking for flexible timings or work from home options But today it is a common query among others such as health benefits compensation etc I read about a large American bank saying lsquoIf you want Manhattan salaries you need to work in Manhattanrsquo So employers will read that and maybe adjust salaries according to what you choose All the tech giants who had said they will make WFH work are now calling people back Companies are keen to have their employees come back to officelsquoStaggered workspaces should be the futurersquoAlan Abraham architectI think we have all realised that we need to meet each other for great ideas to be born And once we do then masks come off So instead of redesigning existing spaces why not go with the concept of staggered workspaces So a firm can rent our multiple small spaces say one in town a western suburb and eastern neighbourhood This way they can tap into talent from everywhere I think the way people will commute will change Whatrsquos happening right now with creating partitions and such is adhoc temporary and reversibleMiss interacting with colleagues EmployeesA survey by Space Matrix threw up these findings on returning to work51 per cent of respondents said being able to work from home when they want to would make them feel safer about returning to the office30 per cent felt overworked working from homeOne million sq ft physical workplace has been redesigned60 per cent of the clients are recalibrating their physical workplace post pandemic85 per cent of respondents mentioned they missed collaborating with colleagues