Our key takeaway from recent virtual group discussions was to embrace the work from home model and keep it partially active post COVID-19 pandemic. Why? Because of its immense cost saving potential and it's surprising effect on employee productivity. Read to the end to find out why you need to continue working from home.

Each week, we are joined by global HR leaders to brainstorm, share learnings, and collect insights on how organizations can come out on top of this crisis. You can also be a part of one of our upcoming virtual group discussions. Check out our upcoming events here!

Here's what we've learnt from our most recent sessions:

#1  Fight Misinformation and Upgrade Your Employee Wellness Strategy 

Misinformation is everywhere from WhatsApp and Facebook to speeches from some global leaders. As a company, you have the responsibility to help keep your employees informed about the newest developments about the pandemic and ensure you’re disseminating true information. Employee wellness encompasses ensuring your employees are getting the news and facts they need to stay safe and productive.

#2 Continue Hiring with an Eye to the Future and Improve Employee Confidence 

One of our attendees actually posited an interesting point that flew in the face of many of our prior conversations, that continuing to hire now if financially feasible indicates a level of confidence that will inspire your employees. And the applicant pool is particularly large and strong at the moment due to mass layoffs, so you may be able to acquire some key resources while everyone else freezes hiring.

#3 Automate Everything Possible but Keep the Human Touch

One attendee discussed how the disruptive nature of technology and the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic can go hand in hand, with now proving a key time to automate every process possible. As businesses work to do more with less using tech tools to help streamline processes will reduce overhead. But our thought leader stressed that HR should keep the human touch, lest automation prove detrimental to employee engagement.

#4 Stay at Least Partially WFH and Your Employees Will Thank You

At one of our attendee’s companies data collected from surveys indicated that employees were actually happier with our new normal than previous working arrangements. So if WFH is working for a lot of employees and the cost saving measures are huge, it’s both ethical and the fiscally sensible option.

These sessions have so far been a treasure trove in terms of learnings and we will ensure the word gets out for every organization to implement and navigate this stressful, changing period together.

We would love to thank the HR leaders who make time to do their bit for their people and business as we cope with COVID-19 together.

• Yashi Paliwal, Manager HR at Grofers
• Sambaran Dutta, HR Program Lead at Roche Diabetes Care
• Sanil Ali, Manager- HRBP at Hexaware
• Sadia Anis, HR Manager at Sabre
• Deepti Moolya, Senior Manager HR at Happiest Minds Technologies
• Falguni Shah, Head HR and HRBP at Aveva
• Kaushik Chakraborty, Head HR at Savills
• Jabez Selwyn, CHRO at Redington
• Gagan Mehra, HR Manager at Bausch + Lomb
• Kanchan Madnani, VP HRBP at Centrum Retail
• Tim Solly, Head of People and Culture - PNG at Coca-Cola Amatil
• Dupe Akinsiun, Head, Leadership & Capabilities Center of Expertise at Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company
• Sandeep Sinha, Head - HR at Landmark Group- Lifestyle
• Nicholas Kasidhi, Head of Talent Management at Diageo Kenya
• Vaclav Koranda, Vice President Human Resources / Member of the Board of Directors T-Systems Malaysia
• Raghavender Yadgirkar, AGM HR at Orient Cement
• Rajiv Arora, SVP Group HR at Adani Group
• Isha Pandit, AVP HR at Rebel Foods
• Praveen Voona, Manager HR at Airbus
• Atul Mohan, HR Leader at Syngene
• Devi Maheshwari, HR Lead at Flexi Loans
• Yeshwinder Patial, MG Motors at HR Director
• Aditya Chakravarty, HR Leader at TravelTriangle
• Shalu Priya, Director People Experience at Opteamix
• Deepali Kaul, Talent Management and HR Operations Lead at Egis India Consulting Engineers Ltd.
• Deeptia Arora, Head HR at Evosys Global
• Khevna Shah, VP- HR at InCred Financial Services
• Sulbha Rai, Chief People Officer at Renew Buy
• Sheethal Sharma, HR- Global Hiring at Affine Analytics
• Vikrant Kapur, Senior Director- Global HR Operations at Conduent

Participate and share your insights and learnings in our Virtual Group Discussions. We would LOVE to hear and learn from you. Check out our upcoming events here!