Remember your first day at work? Were you thrown into the deep end, with no one to take you around and actually show you the things that matter – where to get coffee or where the washroom was? Make My Trip, the largest online retailer of travel ticketing, has a ‘buddy program’ to make its new employees feel at home from day one. Deep Kalra, Founder MakeMyTrip is one of the most well-known entrepreneurs of India. “I always believed that the work place should be a fun place to be in; one should enjoy work and not be bogged down by it. And we are proud to incorporate ‘Fun @Work’ as one of the values of our organization,” says a proud Kalra as MMT is ranked #2 in the Great Place to Work® Institute’s Study and #1 in the Industry Category of the Professional Services sector. Started from a small office in Okhla, New Delhi, today, MakeMyTrip is much more than just a travel portal or a famous pioneering brand – it is a one-stop-travel-shop that offers the broadest selection of travel products and services in India. The organization states that this has been possible because of the passion and talent of a diverse pool of employees across departments and specializations, who have all worked as ‘one’. To them, their internal stakeholders, their employees, are an integral and indispensable part of who they are and what the brand MakeMyTrip signifies. People Matters spoke to Deep Kalra and Rohit Hasteer, Head – HR, about how a fun@work culture can be created and reinforce team spirit.

What makes MakeMyTrip a great workplace?

Deep Kalra: We did an internal survey quizzing few existing employees and new hires from top technology and business management institutes like IIM, ISB, IIT. These associates had offers from various other multi-national organizations but accepted MakeMyTrip offers. Few of the insights that we got from our employees on what makes MakeMyTrip a great place to work, included: their role and the empowerment they get, career growth, compensation, recognition, accessibility and openness of senior team members, pride in being a part of the Online Travel Agency industry leader, having colleagues as friends, aggressive team members with a passion to win and a fun@work culture.

What does it take to create a fun@work culture?

Deep Kalra: I think work culture has got to do with people who work in the organization. So it’s the employees of MMT who have helped us develop the culture we have. This culture gives everyone opportunity to learn and grow together. We empower our employees to explore their ideas and create history while having fun.

How is the importance of team performance reinforced in your organization?

Rohit Hasteer: Our bonus variable plans are designed in a way that it is directly co-related to the unit as well as the company’s performance. Employees who exhibit strong team working spirit are rewarded. Our appraisal mechanism gives equal weightage to values and KRA’s as well as contribution towards the collective goal of the group. Another interesting initiative for a more cohesive work group is ‘The Bumblebee’ group which is a fortnightly meeting of each product or technology unit head. It is a great tool for cross functional communication and sharing of ideas for business development.

How do you encourage suggestions and ideas given by your employees and certify their implementation?

Rohit Hasteer: We have a think tank called The Ideas Portal. This portal welcomes ideas from employees on just about anything. Employees are then encouraged to vote in favor of the said idea and they are implemented depending on its feasibility. We also have a Senate Group, which is a formalized group of all key members and business heads. This group ideates and brainstorms on areas that affect and impact business. This not only helps MMT in making informed decisions and elicit acceptability of those decisions but also empowers its gen-next