Article: A team leader’s connect with the employee has become critical to the (hybrid) workplace experience: Mphasis’ Srikanth

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A team leader’s connect with the employee has become critical to the (hybrid) workplace experience: Mphasis’ Srikanth

The hybrid workplace model is different for different companies. In a conversation with People Matters, as part of the Reboot Week in partnership with Oracle, Mphasis’ Srikanth Karra talks about how the company is planning to rethink the employee journey.
A team leader’s connect with the employee has become critical to the (hybrid) workplace experience: Mphasis’ Srikanth

Srikanth Karra is the Chief Human Resources Officer of Mphasis Ltd. In his past career he was Director-Human Resources for Bharti Airtel Ltd, Head-Human Resources at Hewlett-Packard India Ltd., among others. 

In this conversation, he talks in-depth about the questions in front of most companies on the emerging hybrid workplace, the changing face of employee experience and the need respond to business realities with new approaches – including reskilling and uberization of work.

In this new work environment that’s emerging that’s part remote, part onsite. How should companies think about their return to work strategy?

The hybrid workplace model is informed by an economic need, an employee need and the customer’s need. These three drivers are transforming how business re-open their office spaces. 

The question in front of most companies is how much of work will be done at office and how much will be done remotely? Is the workforce distribution going to be 50-50? 70-30? Or 80-20?  

The next question is – which function is likely to work from office and which ones can be done from home?  

The third aspect is to do with customer needs – are there cyber security concerns that need to be taken into account. Similarly, are there service needs that cannot be delivered in time while working from home?

 The fourth is to do with employee needs and preferences – some employees want flexibility, still others want the option of working from office.

In this context, how are you thinking about employee experience?

Employee experience has changed. A team leader’s connect with the employee is very critical – from setting the right expectations and aligning with the vision to supporting the employee.  Secondly, as we continue to recruit remotely, there is a challenge of giving them the same experience – candidates have to go through online tests, video interviews and data analytics. 

Thirdly, how you monitor employee productivity has changed. Fourth, how do you replicate employee touch points in terms team engagement. A fifth consideration is the ‘fun and engagement’ element that comes with team outings etc., 

All five employee experience touch points are mediated by technology.

There’s a lot of emphasis on personalizing HR practices given the work pressure that employees are in while working from home. 

Technology has enabled companies to personalize at scale. Take training for example, as opposed to an eight hour classroom session, technology helps deliver byte size learning modules. 

 

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This interview is a part of #HRReboot Week– The road map to re-opening the workplace brought to you by Oracle and People Matters, that’s focused on building a resilient workplace. Follow #HRReboot to get access to insights and experience from the exclusive conversations we have with a group of leaders who are leading the future of work. Click here to register.

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Topics: Talent Management, HR Technology

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