Cos offer extra holidays to keep staff happy

Companies have started extending additional holidays and ‘rest days’ to their employees to offer them some respite from mounting stress and anxiety amid rising Covid-19 caseloads and death count. Hindustan Unilever, Deloitte, Swiggy, PwC, and Godrej, among several others, are offering weekly and monthly offs for employees to recuperate and tackle the mental fatigue amidst the pandemic.While some companies have created a pool where employees can contribute their share of holidays, others are sending employees on compulsory short breaks or vacations. Companies are also taking feedback from team heads and company psychiatrists to see if an employee is overworking, or if she is tackling depression and hence putting in the extra hours.Deloitte India, for instance, has created a “holiday pool” that any employee can use to take leave over and above their entitlement. “The shared leave bank continues to help out with non-Covid medical emergencies and has expanded into an employee contributed pool of more than 2,600 days of leave — proof that people want to take care of each other,” said SV Nathan, partner and chief talent officer at Deloitte India.82416725Food delivery company Swiggy recently moved to a four-day week.“Please decide the four days that each of you would work and utilise the extra day to take rest, take care of yourself, take care of your family and friends,” Girish Menon, HR head at Swiggy, wrote in an internal mail to employees.Some employees must be caregivers till complete recovery of their dependents, Menon said. “We have enabled organisation-wide self-care leaves, especially in the months where there haven't been any public holidays,” he told ET.Most companies have realised that additional holidays may just be one of the ways to keep the employees rested even as the second wave of Covid-19 has hit India Inc hard. In April, several employees in top companies were down with Covid-19 or were facing some sort of personal emergency.“We are continuously looking at ways to support our people in these trying times and help them focus not only on their physical health but also mental wellbeing,” said Padmaja Alaganandan, chief people officer at PwC India.The firm recently announced extended personal time off wherein employees can take three paid offs during May. This is over and above ‘special leave’ of 14 days that can be taken in case anyone contracts Covid or three days in case they are taking care of someone in their family who has contracted the virus. Like Deloitte, PwC, too, has created a holiday pool.An HUL spokesperson said, “We have built in safe spaces for leaders called ‘Leaders Check in Circles’ where with world class coaches they come together in small groups to share their realities, find the right tools for selfcare, and get equipped to be able to lead with impact and empathy.” Insiders said many companies have acted fast after some of the team leaders raised red flags regarding certain employees.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3vJ8Aq1