BEING CONNECTED

Microsoft has focused on communication and wellbeing to keep employee morale up

- MANU KAUSHIK

SCORES HIGHLY ON

• Clarity of goals both at company and individual level

• Culture of growth and innovation

• Workload and flexibility at work

The challenge of an employee with ageing parents versus one with young children or another who lives alone can be very different, especially in an unprecedented year like 2020. A series of initiatives by Microsoft India over the past year made it much easier for employees to address such challenges. Microsoft’s efforts were primarily centred on two things — frequent communication and wellbeing. Communication was essential because there’s a dynamic shift in the way employees are working today.

“Frequent communication was and continues to be a critical part of keeping our teams together in a remote-working environment, ensuring everyone feels connected, heard and empowered to share experiences. We created platforms and surveys for employees to share feedback and voice their thoughts,” says Ira Gupta, Head of Human Resources, Microsoft India.

Wellbeing, both physical and mental, is another area where special emphasis has been given. The reason: According to Microsoft’s October 2020 Work Trend Index report, about one-third of workers in India mentioned increased rates of burnout during the lockdown.