InsurTech startup Edelweiss General Insurance (EGI), has introduced a policy change for all its employees across India. EGI’s Work from anywhere (WFA) is a Hybrid work model that aims to empower and enable employees with their choice of workspace while ensuring optimum work productivity.

Melvin Gladstone, Chief HR Officer, Edelweiss General Insurance said, “The last one year has presented an opportunity to analyze and understand more creative and productive ways of working and engaging. For EGI, WFA is an investment and commitment to employee happiness and well-being. With this flexible model, we have ensured that safety of our employees is not compromised, while work productivity is also maintained.”

The Covid pandemic has changed the way of working and functioning and has made organizations revaluate their workplace strategies For EGI, although employees were physically distanced, the company’s digital operating model ensured that each one of them was well engaged and connected, with access to all necessary work infrastructure. Not only did this lead to smooth functioning, it also proved to be a happy and welcome workspace for employees leading to high productivity. This realization led to a permanent policy introduction of WFA.

With the introduction of this policy, employees will have the flexibility and convenience to work from anywhere in India and contribute to the organization’s growth. Employees whose physical presence is not required in office, will be able to work from anywhere permanently, even once offices begin to reopen.

In addition, Edelweiss General Insurance has also implemented many other Covid Care initiatives to support its employees. These include 24*7 online teleconsultation with Doctors to address any medical and health related concerns, counselling sessions with Psychologists for employees to talk to experts and unburden themselves, webinars with medical experts who will allay fears and address all questions on Covid and related topics, yoga and meditation sessions focusing on building immunity and reducing stress.  The 3rd Thursday of every month has also been marked as a No meeting day.

Besides these measures, 14 days of COVID leave for any employee testing positive for Covid or any employee who is taking care of their COVID-affected family members in their house has been set aside. In case any employee needs financial support to meet Covid related exigencies, EGI will give them 3 months of their salary in advance.

Being cloud-native, EGI has always had a digital operating model, making its “work-from-home” transition, extremely seamless. The company has established daily governance protocols to keep a check on employee and business health and ensured employee discipline through regular monitoring of business operations, via virtual mediums. It has also provided access to various learning platforms, fitness and wellness solutions, and engagement activities, to boost mood and uplift morale. In order to create and sustain a culture of innovation and agility among employees, EGI, in collaboration with AWS (Amazon Web Services), initiated a series of knowledge-sharing sessions across topics like Big Data Architecture, Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning and Culture of Incremental and Disruptive Innovation.

Given that the year 2021 also seems unlikely that office goers will be back in full strength, the work from anywhere policy is a timely intervention to make sure employees have the flexibility to contribute from wherever they can.