It been few years after the pandemic struck and shut the world down, however, companies are still having hard time in calling their employees back to office especially because even the extended period of flexible remote work necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has now consummated.
With some resorting to force, some are resorting to finding innovative ways to bring their workforce back to the office. In this story we cover how the likes of big IT companies like Cognizant, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Dell Technologies, Wipro, and Infosys are implementing innovative strategies to incentivise employees to return to the office.
Below are few of the policies implemented by companies:
- Cognizant’s roster management app and FlexiSeat app: A new app has been introduced by the CEO, Ravi Kumar, which is designed to help managers create rosters based on operational needs. This roster app is supplemented with existing FlexiSeat app, allowing employees to book seats within company premises. The goal is to monitor and enforce in-office work policies, ensuring enhanced oversight of employee presence.
The CEO stressed on the importance of having a purposeful office attendance, suggesting a minimum of three days in the office per week, as determined by supervisors.
Aligning with the post-pandemic operational structures, Cognizant’s NextGen program aims to optimise office spaces for hybrid work setups.
- TCS’s variable pay linked to office attendance: A new policy linking employees’ quarterly variable pay to their office attendance has been implemented by India’s largest IT company TCS.
Those who shall be attending the office less than 60% of their time, shall receive no variable pay, whereas the ones who attend the office between 60-75%, shall receive 50% of it.
Underscoring the importance as well as emphasis of company, this policy promotes in-office presence and incentivizes employees to prioritise workplace attendance.
- Dell Technologies’ attendance monitoring system: With the plans to implement an electronic badge swipe system, VPN monitoring, and a colour-coded attendance system to track employee presence, Dell is riding high on the success of this monitoring system to ensure that the employees are working from office.
There are four colours in the attendance levels:
- blue (consistent on-site)
- green (regular on-site)
- yellow (partial on-site)
- red (limited on-site).
- Wipro’s focus on employee engagement: Unlike stern measures like others, Wipro is fostering a rather inclusive positioning in the workplace culture thing.
The CHRO of Wipro, Saurabh Govil announced the establishment of local councils to boost associate involvement, teamwork, and connectivity. Wipro plans to increase on-campus activities to encourage employees to work from company facilities.
- Infosys’s flexible work-from-home options: Infosys’s employee experience platform, InfyMe, allows specific business units to request work-from-home for up to 11 days per month.
Starting November 2020, the company had directed junior and mid-level employees to return to the office for 10 days monthly, departing from competitors enforcing a five-day work week.
By these above implementations and the expectations around them, one thing is clear, which is the involvement of these companies in the evolving workplace dynamics in the technology sector, balancing the benefits of remote work with the value of in-person collaboration and engagement.
As companies navigate the transition to hybrid work models, the focus remains on fostering a productive and inclusive workplace environment.
