2022 and HR: A year when people-centric policies introduced during pandemic took root

As 2022 comes to end, HR leaders say the year would be remembered for its embracement of experiments in people-centric policies. What was learned during the past two years of the ravaging pandemic, in 2022 became the torchbearer of the ‘leading with change’ philosophy.

Moneycontrol interacted with a cross-section of HR leaders across sectors to gauge how 2022 was the year of realisation and experimentation for them which led them to implement some innovative HR practices at their organisation.

Strengthening employee-manager relationship

As part of its TESS (talent engagement and sustained success) program, robotic process automation (RPA) software provider Automation Anywhere collects relevant data from every teammate, focusing on seven currencies of compensation: Cash, Equity, Development, Time, Recognition, Visibility, and Respect.

The company also gets a retention risk assessment from the teammates. Concurrently, HR teams ask each manager a series of questions about each teammate reporting to them. These questions focus on the relevance of the role, the performance of the individual in the role, the individual’s contribution as a good corporate citizen, and how the manager assesses the teammate’s stickiness or retention risk.

Once the HR team has the data, the firm’s automation bots, within a week, produce a workbook for each manager that provides crucial inputs on everyone around their performance, teammate’s experience, necessary recommendations for improvement and upgradation in areas such as salary adjustments, compensation-ratio, vesting health and for additional equity if necessary, and on the retention risk score.

“Additionally, the patterns that we see in this rich data inform our training and development curriculum for managers in the coming year,” said Nancy Hauge, Chief People Experience Officer at Automation Anywhere.

In 2023, she said more efforts in strengthening employee-manager relationship management and areas such as balanced distribution of work, rewards, compensations and recognitions will get a major focus inside organisations.

“Overall, the HR practices of 2023 will see more alignment with a people-first approach that shall have immense room for flexibility, progress, and reward for the employee,” Hauge added.

Focusing on improvement in the daily lives of employees

Security solutions firm Seclore has implemented two HR initiatives, namely menstrual leaves for its female employees and a 90-day nutritional program to help employees live a healthy lifestyle.

The menstruation benefits policy provides women working at Seclore with 10 days of paid menstrual leave per year.

Concerning the nutritional program, employees are taught the fundamentals of nutrition, physiology and a framework of healthy habits as part of the program. It also evaluates their current lifestyle, basic health parameters, past medical history and medical conditions to assist them in developing a customised nutritional lifestyle to promote their overall well-being.

“The HR policies have been well received by our employees, with many of them implementing them in real-time. With our nutritional program, many of our employees have reported positive changes such as increased energy, better emotional health, a more balanced sleep cycle and an overall improvement in their daily lives,” said Shraddha Reghe, Senior Director of People Practices at Seclore.

Reghe feels the days of distant management will be over, and managers will create a more authentic and empathetic working environment for their employees.

Flexibility is not going anywhere

In India, over 76 percent of employees would prefer having control over their working hours and said that they would take a pay cut to guarantee the flexibility of working remotely, or have the opportunity to alternate between home and office, according to a report by ADP, a management services company.

Almost 7 out of 10 employees (73 percent) feel that even while working from home they are being noticed and appropriately valued with 74 percent also reporting that employers are open to having conversations about upskilling and training requirements.

“There is a need for innovative alternative options to the traditional nine-to-five to keep employees satisfied at work. Offering more flexibility and control over employees’ work-life is worth considering,” said Rahul Goyal, MD, South East Asia & India at ADP.

Direct selling firm Amway India not only encourages employees to continue to pursue their hobbies and passions but also gives them a platform —‘Beyond Work’ — unless it conflicts with the company’s interests and affects their performance.

Further, the firm said it has not witnessed any major impact of the disruptive HR trends. “The primary reason being, as a global organisation, we have always been driven by strong founder fundamentals of Freedom, Family, Hope & Reward,” said Shantanu Das, CHRO, Amway India.