Corporates Set Up Task Force To Guide Employees Through Pandemic Measures

As the country braces for change amid the pandemic, the corporates have taken up the charge to set up crisis management teams as special task forces for employees and gig workers.

An ET report said that these taskforces will monitor both white and blue-collar workers amid the pandemic. The company CEOs are holding video townhalls and sending mails to motivate and guide employees to ensure productivity and well being.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Siemens, Nissan India, RPG Group and others have set up the cross-functional task forces. At multinational organisations, local crisis management teams are in touch with the global crisis teams to monitor and provide valuable inputs.

These teams also deal with the work from home policy, IT availability, health and well-being of employees across locations including project sites, maintenance of factories, offices, provision of personal protection equipment including masks and sanitizers, internal communication and collaboration between employees.

At present, several task forces are offering a multitude of support activities. For instance, taskforce at Siemens doubles as the emergency response team reporting directly to the CEO Further, the Tata group has also created a task force and support groups to help employees work from home effectively. The group has also offered dial-in counselling and psychiatric help to employees overwhelmed with the changes in the workplace and home that’s affecting or demotivating.

The companies have been forced to go remote amid the lockdown and continued spread of coronavirus in the country. Over the month of March, even before lockdown was announced, the government had advised all the private businesses to enable employees to work from home.

After initial glitches in the IT Sector, due to restrictions on the data and cloud limitations, the remote work policy has been in place across several sectors. Startups on their part have been trying to create conducive environments for teams to function, while enabling transparency of office presence as well.

The companies have opted for online tools like Zoom, Hangouts, etc to manage work productivity while also keeping employees secure and safe within the confines of their homes. The biggest fear in transitioning from a physical office space to the digital is losing out on interacting and bonding with your teammates.

Other startups are trying activities to keep employees engaged. For example, Coutloot has planned remote team quizzes and flash prizes. The biggest upside of working from home for many is that they save on commuting time and costs. Many claim to be using these extra hours to finally achieve work-life balance, learn new skills and others said this has even reduced stress levels in employees.