To keep social interactions to a minimum, workplaces and offices have shifted to a work-from-home model that seems to have blurred the boundaries of personal life and professional life. The deadly contagion has caused havoc in people’s health and lives, leaving the employee morale to reach an all-time low. Now, that it is the virtual workspace, companies should empathize with employees and develop newer employee retention strategies to help them perfectly balance their personal and professional lives. Facing employee attrition, at this point will be challenging for a business because if a company loses an experienced employee it also loses his/her knowledge or skillset permanently if the knowledge is not transferred thoroughly to others. For new hiring, a significant amount of time goes into recruitment, induction, money, resources, and whatnot. The new joiner will also take time to acclimatize with the new company culture, which affects productivity.

We will here talk about few organizations that have taken employee retention to the next level.

Hello, employees, we love you and care for you 

Myntra, the e-commerce platform for fashion and apparel has introduced new leave policies for the employees in the pandemic. We work for our families in the end, it is their happiness and well-being that matters the most, keeping this in mind Myntra has offered 14 days of care leaves where employees can take care of the younger children and older parents. It is offering five days of wedding leaves even for same-gender couples and those who are getting married outside the country. It is also giving 24 days of vacation and unlimited wellness or sick leaves.

Sale or discount days in Myntra are hectic, thus leaving the staff working at the fulfillment centers fully exhausted. For them, Myntra has created ‘recharge leaves’ where the staffers get two days off after wrapping the sales to refresh and rejuvenate themselves.

Mental wellness is highly neglected in India and there are only a few companies that recognize mental wellness as essential for the overall well-being of an individual. Urban Company, previously known as Urban Clap has introduced no meeting Fridays and has announced an unlimited mental health leave policy. To provide mental health consultation from leading Indian psychologists to its employees, Urban Company has partnered with iWill -a mental wellness platform. For those living away from their families and alone in the city, the company has introduced a ‘buddy system’ where the company follows silent hours and encourages employees to take personal time off from work.

‘I am having my periods.’ An awkward silence follows when a conversation makes way to this point. Speaking about menstrual cycles has been a stigma yet prevalent in our country. However, in the pandemic, Zomato decided to remove the taboo surrounding the menstrual cycle. The company is now permitting its female employees to take upto ten days of period leave in a year. Zomato has also encouraged them to use the term ‘period leave’ in official emails and WhatsApp chat conversations while requesting for the leaves.

Constantly churning out creative ideas for a brand requires a lot of mind work. With recreation activities on halt and employees working remotely the brain needs relaxation to deliver creativity.

For the well-being of employees Schbang, a creative marketing agency has collaborated with MindHouse, an online gym app for mind to give employees unlimited access to Yoga and meditation. It allows the employees to relax, rejuvenate and stay mentally fit. The agency considers mental health as the need of the hour.

Publicis Groupe India has launched a 24×7 employee assistance programme that will provide counselling and wellness solutions to its employees dealing with various work-life challenges. They have also taken up several initiatives for remote learning and engagement programmes to keep employees connected and not feel alone and isolated. The engagement programmes include fun and play, meditation, fitness, music sessions, knowledge sharing, and interactive webinars.

Employees feel workplaces to be like home when the mind is calm and that helps them to excel professionally. The companies must ensure that employees do not feel stressed at work. Instead, they should give freedom to employees as it will help them to look for innovative and creative ways to solve problems, thus increasing productivity and employee retention.