RPG Enterprises took remote working to a new level with the announcement of their new ‘RPG Remote Working Policy’. The company has brands such as CEAT, RPG Life Sciences, KEC International, Harrisons Malayalam and a strong workforce of 30000 people. 

This new policy is allowing all its sales people to permanently work remotely, while other employees would WFH 50% of the time. For office-based staff, this can extend to 75% in special cases. In a month, an office-based employee can work two weeks from home, and in special cases, he/she can work remotely for three weeks.

This new policy will be effective from September 1, is the location- and workplace- agnostic. It is applicable to RPG’s global operations as well, and also covers factories and plantations for those workers who don’t work on machines.

Harsh Goenka, Chairman, RPG Enterprises, told TOI: “Our new work from home policy shatters the notion of traditional workspace and productivity and has turned it on its head. Employees who are not operating machines in our manufacturing businesses or do not have a client obligation in our technology services business, can work from ‘anywhere’ even after the pandemic is behind us. It aligns with our vision tenet of ‘touching lives’ and brand promise of ‘happiness’.”

The company’s idea is to encourage employees to adopt new and contemporary methods of working that improve their quality of life, productivity and also optimize the group companies’ operating expenses. 

Commenting on the thought process behind launching this new WFH policy, Supratik Bhattacharyya, Chief Talent Officer, said, “While we’ve had a WFH policy earlier at RPG, the current situation has been a great reset. Not only did it give us the opportunity to successfully test it out, it also convinced us that we could actually take it to the next level. As an organization ethos, we’ve always laid emphasis on output, and not merely on the number of hours, one puts in. 

The company is confident that a larger WFH approach would significantly enhance work-life balance and employee wellness without compromising on productivity in any way. The organization has connected with employees to take their feedback and put together a set of well-thought-through guidelines that will support each employee in this journey, which is what this new policy is all about. The investments that the company has made in its HR systems, processes, and technology will be great enablers to this approach. 

He added, “Our new WFH policy will also help us optimize our operating expenses to a degree, but more importantly it will empower employees and increase efficiency.”

WFH ready

RPG has done their homework before introducing this policy. The company has formed a task force drawn from all our group companies, who took inputs from the larger group of employees to establish their desire and ask. They kept this policy as a choice for the employees, making them eligible to work remotely up to 75% of their time, so there is enough flexibility built-in.

This Policy is meant to apply across locations and geographies, spanning offices, IT campuses, manufacturing locations, project sites, plantations, estates, and any other work locations of all RPG Group companies. The conglomerate has ensured that this takes into account the work requirements of the employees and that it complies with the laws of the lands where they operate. 

“Empowering employees by giving them a choice to work remotely from home or another location for a significant number of days in a month, will enhance employee efficiency and business output,” said a company note. 

Image source- Dare2compete