Deloitte India’s recent report titled Future of Work accelerated: Learnings from Covid-19 Pandemic reveals key learnings from the current crisis, which could potentially accelerate the future of work in India.
This study had been drafted after surveying CXOs of 42 Indian companies.
The report says that there has been a sharp increase in the adoption of virtual tools like Zoom, MS Teams, and WebEx. Around 60 per cent of CXOs said that this type of collaboration has significantly increased individual productivity even though business productivity has decreased for 99 per cent of all companies surveyed while ten per cent of the companies reporting productivity drops.
The crisis has also pushed employee wellness and engagement to the forefront. Approximately 85 per cent of the organisations have put in new mechanisms to track employee wellness. A dedicated helpline number, virtual games, and digital ‘parties’ have been introduced to break the monotony.
The study says that the workforce has come together in a crisis. Around 90 per cent of CXOs say that workforce is putting in more hours and there has been significantly less absenteeism.
The report points out ‘organisations will increasingly focus on quick wins as they rethink their future of work strategy and future preparedness’. For instance, organisations may design workflows that would minimise human involvement through cognitive technologies.
New employment models may come into effect. For example, organisations heavily reliant on full-time workers are expected to continue to do so while others are earmarking roles to leverage gig workers.
In terms of the workplace, ‘low touch, high engagement’ will be the new norm. There will be efforts on the part of leaders and managers to enhance employee experience while they work remotely.
The full report can be viewed here.
