9 minute read
i nterview
Provide opportunities to hear the large end users out and not be one way: Sunit Sinha, KPMG India
By Shweta Modgil
2020 was a year where organizations had to seriously relook at employee experience. It was a year that redefined their outlook towards EX in a big way, forcing them to tune up and listen empathetically to employees and act fast. While 2021 brought hope with the authorization and dissemination of the first COVID19 vaccines, yet it is safe to say we are not going to the old ways of working anytime soon. This means organizations have a chance to seriously relook at the culture they are building and the experience they are going to deliver in the second year of the pandemic.
So what is next for employee experience? How can we redefine it for our new world of work, a big part of which has transitioned to hybrid work? In an exclusive interaction with us, Sunit Sinha, Partner, and Head, People, Performance and Culture, KPMG in India, shares what does employee expe-
rience in the new hybrid reality looks like.
How do we reboot Employee Experience and tune up for success in our changing world of work?
At KPMG in India we have adopted a 4E model to reboot and adapt to the change – Empathize, Enable, Engage and Enlighten
A lot lies in how we support and adapt to any change that comes up. The world has not only changed for us but also our employees. We need to understand and empathize with them with the concerns that are affecting their lives on a personal front. An employee spends at least 1/3rd of his/her life for work and it's equally important that we impact the balance 2/3rd of the life with positivity, assuring them that we are standing tall and strong behind them. At times when there were many job losses, we honored our commitment to each and every offer, switched to virtual onboarding, sending laptops at home, etc. This was very important for us and I am sure this brings a sense of positivity and loyalty to the minds of our employees.
Next is to enable our employees with tools and resources to continue the work that they are doing. We are providing health insurance support, and also a COVID Specific Insurance cover -COVID Kawach as well as a medical helpline to address the health needs of our employees. We have also put in place a set of employee engagement initiatives that we have carefully curated for our KPMG in India work family. The series pays specific attention to the holistic well-being of our employees. Additionally, we have counseling sessions for work stress, relationships, marital issues, depression, etc. All of this enables our employees to feel safe and secure and to work efficiently.
Engaging them is another challenge in a virtual world. Moving from conventional ways of working to new ones like work from home, virtual client meetings, online delivery of tasks, etc. is not easy. Building a constant connect in absence of a physical environment has its own challenge. Increased employee connects, virtual rewards and recognition, employee pulse
surveys, etc. build a story for us to take actions.
Learning is something that shouldn’t stop, and we have invested heavily in that. Our Stay at home learner series enabled our learning hours to increase by about 80% last year. The Talent development agenda didn’t stop and we created value by enriching the skills of our people when work was lean, so as to catapult them once we are back.
How can we continue to be inclusive and sensitive for everyone? Needs are different and so should our offerings be. Trust and confidence in people and systems is another key defining parameter. Employees would expect a flexible and dynamic approach towards benefits, learning, and engagement. Also, organizations need to focus on work-life balance- need to identify when and where to stop. Lastly, our efforts to re-create a higher purpose would be crucial. Our culture and values need to prevail.
What does employee experience in the new hybrid reality of work look like? What are some of the key defining parameters?
Communications and collaboration is the key – challenging though but we can’t avoid it anymore.
Moreover, people managers are needed more than work managers. Health and well-being will take center stage and become a higher priority than tasks. Recognition would be completely online. The idea is how we can create a similar aspirational value for the awardee without diluting the essence of winning.
Benefits have undergone a major change as work models changed and employees need different benefits in a post-pandemic world of 2020. How will organizations reimagine benefits for a hybrid world and technology’s role in that?
Infrastructure benefits need to be passed on to employees. The aim should be to create a comfortable working space for them. This can be done by implementing some of the below: • Better IT infrastructure and hardware would be crucial here. IT and network support from anywhere instead from the office should be the goal • Internal systems and processes need a serious rethink to map with the new reality. • Technology to support here to avoid manual transactions. • Flexibility at work – Allow everyone to work at their convenient time. There is a need to have greater trust in employees. • Better health cover, support to
families, ability to cover everyone and all ailments would be crucial • Digital applications to provide health services at fingertips, multiple options to choose from and an easy claim process would be important as well • Work breaks could become mandatory- Leaves play a major role, monitoring its usage and encouraging/formulating policies around it to avail it would also be a crucial aspect.
Wellbeing as a focus area for organizations was majorly thrust into prominence for all organizations in 2020. What are the key trends that are emerging in 2021?
Pause and take perspective- what happened in 2020. Are we overdoing our interventions? The economy of scope vs scale will be an important aspect to watch out for. Also, physical wellbeing is likely to see a re-emergence; the mentality of different age groups to reconsider their mindset to check on their health is likely to see an increase.
Well-being would play a decisive factor in employment decisions. How to attract and retain talent basis our non-monetary offerings is also one of the trends that we could see.
Employee experience in 2021 requires continuous hearing and feedback from the organization rather than once in a quarter or once in six months of surveys. How can organizations build a continuous approach to EX?
Organizations need to have a concrete plan – instead of random surveys, we should look at channels at the national level and a functional level. The catch here is not to overdo it. Technology will play a role here. How to revamp the whole hearing approach in a more informal way will be important.
Also, collecting feedbacks instantly for interventions is important by using a system and apps-based approach.
Organizations need to provide opportunities to hear the large end users out and not be one way (as in communication only from the top). This is also an ideal opportunity to initiate millennial councils to feed up/participate in decision making, create ‘people groups/councils’ in each function to help the leaders and the organization understand the needs better. 360-degree feedbacks, upward communications, skip level connects can play a significant role. Organizations should use ‘periodic’ check-ins and ensure this is analyzed, actioned and the large community is made aware of the feedback received and action is taken as it’s very important to communicate back.
As we slowly emerge out of one of the biggest crises the world has faced, organizations are putting their best foot forward to reimagine their employee experience proposition as they chart their path ahead!
By Mastufa Ahmed
The COVID-19 pandemic forced talent leaders globally to rethink one question — are your workers truly satisfied? Or are they just keeping the wolf from the door because of a difficult market? And the result is evident — the new workplace is more human with organizations clearly shifting their focus inward. We have seen a sharp rise of people-first cultures, and humanistic work ethics across organizations globally.
The year 2020 disrupted organizations, their business models, plans, and priorities leading to a never-before crisis, and there is still a whole lot of uncertainty on the road ahead. With business leaders scrambling to navigate the rapidly changing environment it is crucial, as we continue the adventure in 2021, to bet on this moment as an opportunity and reimagine the world of work — with new practices, policies, and technologies and shape the “employee experience” better. As Satya Nadella said, every organization will require a unified employee experience from onboarding and collaboration to continuous learning and growth.
A lot of studies, even before the pandemic, stressed employee experience (EX) as a priority for organizations. The pandemic has made it even more vital and a large number of organizations are pursuing it as a key focus area. However, while most organizations did a decent job of taking care of their workers' needs including wellbeing during the initial days of the pandemic, the needs are shifting as several studies find. Moving forward, HR leaders will need a sophisticated approach in terms of offering tailored responses to employees' challenges and manage workers' overall “experience”. They should address questions such as how are employees performing their tasks, and where and when are they working? What do workers value in a workplace, and how does that translate to performance?
As organizations race to emerge from the chaos and envision an improved human experience at work, many of the ways forward would include new workplace strategies such as flexible work programs, telecommuting, digital transformation, and employee well-being policies. One key trigger is the increasingly competitive job market. To maintain a stable and productive workplace, and to attract top talent, companies need to prove that their organization is a great place to work. Competition for attracting top talent has amplified the inevitability of the EX proposition.
The May 2021 issue of our magazine attempts to find answers to several questions around EX in the current world of work mired with several complexities. How are organizations devising new EX programs and ensuring the engagement of their workers? How do they measure the impact of their EX initiatives? How can EX truly impact business results? What are the short-term and long-term solutions that can support EX and help organizations win both in terms of sustainability goals and employee wellness?
