Article: The technological generation gap will end post-COVID: Group CPO, Trivitron Healthcare

Strategic HR

The technological generation gap will end post-COVID: Group CPO, Trivitron Healthcare

Newer mechanisms to keep track of productivity, restrictions on personal meetings and a new transport policy-here’s what the new normal at Trivitron Healthcare looks like.
The technological generation gap will end post-COVID: Group CPO, Trivitron Healthcare

COVID-19 is bringing about a radical transformation to the workplace- the way we work, and the way we even think about work. With a huge proportion of the global workforce now operating remotely, organizations are rethinking everything from the physical workplace to the technology to social interaction to the definition of productivity. What does the new normal look like? How will the employee experience of employees be different in the post-COVID workplace compared to before? 

Newer mechanisms to keep track of productivity, restrictions on personal meetings, and a new transport policy-here’s what the new normal at Trivitron Healthcare looks like. In an exclusive interaction with People Matters, Chandra Ganjoo, Executive Director & Group CPO, Trivitron Healthcare, shares more details about this new normal.

What are some of the changes which Trivitron has introduced in the workplace as lockdown comes to an end?

Now as we see that the nationwide lockdown is relaxed, we have introduced several measures to save our employees from the virus for instance:

• We have introduced COVID specific guidelines on safety and hygiene to ensure the safety and well-being of our staff

• We have introduced a robust work from home policy with more flexible provisions 

• About 20% of existing posts are identified where remote working is feasible and WFH policies have been extended to include them as well 

• We have introduced newer mechanisms to keep track of productivity, of teams & individuals, and have integrated newer mechanisms to monitor outputs

• We have reshuffled roles and responsibilities to encourage contributions and active participation of every team member to the maximum potential, which in return helps the organization in minimizing the cost of additional hiring

• A special transport policy has been introduced for employees commuting through local transport.

• We have acquired multiple virtual meeting domains to ensure seamless work continuity 

• Also, we have imposed restrictions on personal meetings and traveling to exigency cases only and introduced the virtual meetings policy.

What percentage of the workforce has been brought back to the office? How was that decided?

About 48% of employees have been brought back into the offices. Additional shifts have been introduced to avoid clustering and keep less attendance in the premises. While 20% of employees are still instructed to work remotely, field staff are instructed to refrain from keeping outside and conduct meetings virtually only. 

How will HR ensure that people working from home do not miss out on the same employee experience as the office?

The working style of a regular 9:30 to 6 workers is quite different than someone who is working remotely. And this sudden transition can massively hamper the internal communication of the organization. The HR team has introduced a flexible WFH policy which has been developed keeping in mind the requisites of business continuity and employee satisfaction as well. Work protocols and individual accountability are clearly defined. Proper communication channels making use of technologies have been established. Also, stringent methods have been introduced to track productivity and daily output of team members thus ensuring employee experience while working from homes. 

What are some of the HR policies that have been tweaked at Trivitron wrt the post-COVID workplace?

Working-from-home comes with its own set of unique challenges—both for the employees and employers. As our part, we have, to ensure seamless functioning of teams and business continuity for which we have made certain changes in existing SOPs, guidelines, and work instructions. We have introduced a flexible work from home policy with a wider scope of inclusion. 

Revisions in the Hygiene and Safety policy have been carried out keeping in mind the existing COVID-19 scenario. The attendance policy and the leave policy have been amended with the inclusion of new shifts and additional COVID 19/Quarantine leaves.

Also, changes have been made in the incentive policy and a new ‘transport policy’ has been implemented for the employees traveling through public transport

What are some of the challenges that Trivitron is facing while the majority workforce operates from home?

By employing technology and existing practices, the majority of challenges faced by Trivitron remain thwarted. However, certain issues like barriers in team collaboration arising due to lack of face to face communication, improper employee culture due to poor employee engagement, and most importantly data confidentiality issues are some concerns that still remain.  

What are some of the trends that will become the norm in the post-COVID workplace in the coming six months?

The lockdown has ensured that most of the companies would consider remote working or work-from-home facilities for their employees. Even companies that are strictly against remote working must have had to consider the practice making it a normal thing. Also post-COVID, technology will gain great importance. 

The technological generation gap will end post-COVID and tech-savvy candidates with greatly evolved communication and writing skills will be preferred in the recruitment process. New recruits will have to make use of technology and spoon-feeding will eventually drop to nil. 

A paradigm shift from traditional to advanced e-learning will start. While organizations will focus more on getting results, certain job roles will be reserved for remote work.

How will the employee experience of employees be different in the post-COVID workplace compared to before?

Unleashing the opportunities that COVID-19 has brought upon on digital work environments, the post-COVID era would be an age of augmented work processes through technological reinvention and organizational evolution. Technology will become the most important factor for business continuity and technical skills will become paramount in determining the selection and promotion of candidates.

Read full story

Topics: Strategic HR, #ResetWork, #TheNewNormal, #COVID-19

Did you find this story helpful?

Author

QUICK POLL

How do you envision AI transforming your work?