Making WFH switch a happy affair
The IT firms are reaching out to their employees in various ways to make work from home interesting and productive.
From providing ergonomic chairs, holding yoga sessions to gifting vouchers, companies in the Capital city are walking that extra mile to ensure their employees work from home comfortably, writes Sudarsan Maharana
As work from home (WFH) has set a new culture during this ongoing pandemic, tech firms in Odisha are coming up with out of the box ideas and initiatives to ensure their employees adapt to the altered environment comfortably.
The IT firms are reaching out to their employees in various ways to make work from home interesting and productive.While many are providing laptops and internet connection to make remote work convenient for their staff, city-based CSM Technologies has gone a step ahead by launching a campaign called ‘Chair-up’ to ensure a comfortable WFH environment. Under the innovative campaign, the leading Gov-tech firm is hand-delivering ergonomic office chairs to its employees. The initiative gained huge appreciation from the staff.
“For many weeks, I had to make do with my dining chair which was extremely uncomfortable as I was working for long hours. Things, however, changed after the management hand-delivered me the ergonomic swivel chair I used to sit on in the office. It not only ensured comfort, but also helped me focus more on work,” said Priyaranjan Panda, a graphic designer of the company.
Neha Arora, delivery manager of the firm, said, “The office chair is like a personal belonging. Having spent long hours on it, you are completely attached to it. As soon as you take your seat, you enter the office frame-of-mind. This small initiative has helped the staff to switch to the new work culture smoothly and also increased productivity in these tough times.”
CSM CEO Priyadarshi Nanu Pany said out of 850 staff, only five per cent are coming to the office while the rest are being encouraged to work from home. “As people usually don’t keep such chairs at their homes, we thought delivering them to the employees. Physical comfort and mental well-being are the key parameters of improving WFH productivity. We have tried to create an emotional bonding with the employees during this crisis situation,” he said.
Apart from gifting the chairs, the corporate firm is also holding chat sessions and virtual sessions on yoga and mental health for its hired-hands working remotely across the globe. Apart from CSM, other IT firms have also taken a slew of measures to make their employees work from home with comfort. Tech Mahindra is using its digital platform ‘TechmighTea’ to encourage collaboration and improve innovation among employees over virtual coffee meetings. The company has another digital platform ‘Josh’ that allows the employees to connect virtually and bring in the fun aspect during remote working.
“Regular sessions are also being conducted for expert intervention in management of stress, anxiety, depression and other emotional issues of employees working from home. This also includes parenting,” said a company spokesperson. Ayaskanta Mohanty, managing director of Tatwa Technologies Limited, said they have been holding special sessions to encourage employees to be physically and mentally fit to improve WFH productivity. “Sometimes, we are reaching out to our employees with a gift voucher as a token of appreciation to encourage them and make them feel comfortable,” Mohanty said.
