In July, Rohit K., a digital sales professional, quit his job with a software solutions company as its back-to-office plan did not quite mesh with his plans, both professional and personal. The management had instructed all employees to return to the office, but he was not ready to change course and return to the old normal.
“I value an organisation that offers more choice and flexibility about where to work as geography does not matter in certain roles,” said Rohit, who successfully negotiated for a hybrid work model with his new employer, a multinational corporation. He successfully sought an assurance that he could work remotely from his hometown in Chandigarh. He is, however, open to visiting the head office in Bengaluru when the situation demands it.
A majority of corporate firms understand that after two years of flexibility, the workforce cannot be coaxed back to old systems, and their back-to-work plans reflect this thinking. The Indian IT sector is set to witness attrition of more than 1.15 million this fiscal, according to Xpheno, a specialist staffing firm.
Hybrid models to curb attrition
In an attempt to stem the tide, companies are offering a choice of hybrid work models to curb attrition. Amagi, a Bengaluru-based media technology firm, is reportedly conducting surveys and HR-led focus group discussions to ensure its ‘back-to-office’ policy – to be implemented early next year – mirrors employee expectations and preferences. Towards building a hybrid work culture, Amagi is sifting through roles to see which would require an employee’s physical presence and which do not.
“Of the 400 plus employees on our rolls, more than 150 were hired during the pandemic from various cities including Hyderabad and Mumbai. At this point, asking all of them to move to Bengaluru could be a potential attrition point for us. We need to retain our key talent, and do an extensive analysis to see how we can accommodate the needs and requests of our employees to keep them engaged, while at the same time, balancing our business priorities,” says Ashish Kolvalker, Global HR Head, Amagi. He added that future possibilities include only having certain outstation employees fly down once in a while for key meetings.
Many firms, including Amagi, are adapting their office space to suit a digital work environment. “The HR team at Amagi has suggested opening a satellite office at the central business district to enable employees staying away from the office to meet once a while,” said Mr. Kolvalker.
FMCG company Marico Limited titled its new policy ‘Ways of Work’ design, enabling employees to work from office at “reduced but defined frequency”. It announced that it will provide a location flexibility option to all its staff across grades based on their roles and individual needs. This will allow them to work from a location outside the ‘Base Location’ of their role, for the next 12 to 18 months.
A ‘hot desking’ area is also being reserved for members coming out of their turn. This is an area in an office where employees get to choose where they sit.
Bengaluru-based fintech start-up Slice has launched a three-day work week programme that will be extended to its full-time engineers, product managers and designers that work on the company’s major projects. Edtech company BYJU upgraded its employee leave policy, offering both employees and trainees period leaves and seven-days-in-a-year child care leave, the latter for those with children aged up to 12 years.
