Having perfected WFH, India Inc is confident of weathering another possible Covid wave

A well-oiled remote-working routine that enterprises can transition into whenever required without any disruption to business operations or productivity has made India Inc confident of facing an expected surge in Covid cases in mid-January.

A vaccinated workforce, the availability of booster shots, and an overall buoyancy in business sentiment are reasons behind India Inc's confidence of being able to withstand another Covid onslaught.

“After seeing three waves, as a company and industry, we are all geared up to face any eventuality, to put anything into action even on short notice, in case the government issues any guidelines,” said Adhir Mane, Chief Human Resource Officer (Corporate) of Raymond Ltd. The conglomerate, with a workforce of 20,000 people across verticals, has a template ready for a variety of things—which roles are hybrid, which ones are required at the factory, what circulars and communications have to be sent out, etc. The company has already activated its network of doctors.

The government has warned that the next 40 days will be crucial. However, the new wave, the fourth since March 2020, is likely to be less severe, with fewer deaths and hospitalisations expected this time around. “It’s more wait-and-watch on the WFH guidance and travel policy as of now,” says Rajul Mathur, Consulting Leader, India (Work and Rewards); Strategic Sales Growth Leader, International (Work and Rewards) at Willis Towers Watson, a professional services firm.

Viswanath P S, MD and CEO of staffing firm Randstad India, said companies in the hospitality, transport and real estate sectors are also exploring work-from-home options in case the fourth Covid wave hits. For Larsen & Toubro, which has interests across engineering, construction, manufacturing, IT and financial services, remote working is not a feasible solution as a majority of its workforce is in the infrastructure/construction and EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) business. “However, we have ensured that our employees receive proactive medical care by setting up our own quarantine centres, hospital tie-ups, doctors on call, availability of nursing and care, supply of healthy and nutritious food, etc., across locations,” said C Jayakumar, Executive VP and Head, Corporate HR at Larsen & Toubro.

The investments that enterprises have been making into tech such as Cloud, AI, automation and data analytics as part of their digital transformation journeys, have also prepared them to deal better with any employee concerns and disruptions. “Our focus has been to ensure that employees have instant access to information—such as mediclaim policy and insurance guidelines—that was much needed during Covid-19. So, our chatbot platform came to the forefront,” said Jayakumar. “Many HR heads are seeing demos of new-age HCM [human capital management] platforms. The main focus is on keeping productivity intact while working remotely,” said Sumit Sabharwal, CEO of TeamLease HRtech, the HCM vertical of TeamLease Services.

Also Read: Business as usual: Here's why Covid-19's reemergence will not harm business continuity