New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI/Mediawire): History is replete with testimonies of Humankind demonstrating its spirit, ingenuity and grit during times of crisis. For the first time since 2003, when the Great Place to Work survey began in India with a mission to ‘Make India a Great Place to Work FORALL’, the average Trust score for all participating organizations has crossed 80.
During the largest humanitarian crisis of modern times, Corporate India has gone out of its way to offer remarkable support and care to its people. This has resulted in a significant rise in employee trust, as the Great Place to Work study 2021 shows. In 2021, at 6.5 percent, we witness the highest ever year on year increase in India Inc’s history.
‘Rest’ is fast catching up – but the ‘Best’ Maintains its Edge where it Matters the Most.
The gap between the Best and the Rest of the workplaces has become narrowest ever, at 10 percent.
About a third of the survey items show the gap to be less than 10 percent. However, the Best maintains its edge where it matters the most – Fairness, Care, Recognition, Career Development, and Management Reliability. These aspects of Employee Trust, on average, show more than a 13 percent difference.
What Worked Well: Agility, Communication and Care
Agility and adaptability are essential to manoeuvre through a time of change. It takes a great deal of flexibility, openness and willingness to be able to respond to such unpredictable situations. On average, 85 percent of employees believe that organizations in India have shown the ability to be flexible and adaptable during this change. However, the Best organizations have been far more agile, as 91% of the employees from these organisations believe people have been quick to adapt to changes that are needed for the organization’s success.
Apart from being agile, having clear and consistent communication is vital to successfully navigate through change. It provides clarity and direction in uncertain and ambiguous times. Management of participating organizations have communicated well and kept their teams up to date; they have also delivered on promises. This has heightened a sense of trust amongst the employees. Perception around Communication and Management Reliability have improved by 6 percent and 10 percent respectively over the last year.
Employee Benefits is one aspect where we observe a significant improvement – with feedback on “We have special and unique benefits.” increasing by 9 percent. Most, if not all, organizations have revamped their benefit programs to take care of the unique needs of their people. Even the Rest has seen a remarkable jump of 10 percent in this area. The Best, however, continues to outperform the Rest by 22 percent.
Lastly, Management has gone out of their way to provide support and care to their employees. On average, 81 percent of employees believe that management has fostered a caring environment.
Employees Value Career and Collaboration Opportunities
Our analysis of employee comments brings out career and collaboration as the most crucial factors. Organizations in India have done a commendable job in enhancing employee experience by 5 – 9 percent, as opposed to the Global view regarding the difficulty of managing these aspects.
We also see a clear lead of Best Companies by 16 percent in involving employees in decision making that affects their job and work environment. This stays true even when ‘Rest’ scores have improved by 8 percent over last year.
What Next?
Is there a Burnout Risk?
Employees that belong to a younger age group show high sign of stress and possible burnout risk. Using a nine-item composite analysis of Burnout Index, we find that 15 percent of employees aged less than 35 years, among the ‘Rest’, face Burnout risk (against an impressive 7% among the ‘Best’.) Therefore, employee Well-being will need to be among the critical action areas for most organizations.
Modify People Practices for a Hybrid Workplace:
More than 80 percent of respondents to our recent poll (May 2021 Social Media Poll by Great Place to Work®) have said that the organizations will need to invest in significant culture change to remain effective in the new normal of Hybrid Workplaces.
This will need a combination of modified People Practices – particularly in Collaboration, Career Growth, Care and Fairness – supported by appropriate changes in Leadership Style.
Corporate India in 2021 has shown great promise – Making India a Great Place to Work FORALL is no more an unattainable dream. It is all about sustaining the spirit beyond times of crisis.
Watch India’s Best Companies to Work For 2021 – TOP 10 Awards & Leadership Message
Check out – The Economic Times India’s Best Companies to Work For 2021 Flipbook
Author: Anantadeb Bandyopadhyay, Senior Associate, Great Place to Work® Institute, India
Supported by: Gurab Virk, Rohit Radhakrishnan, Suraj Jadhav
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