It takes more than hefty salaries and perks to retain talent now.
Increasingly realising this hard truth,
companies are going the extra mile in many ways to keep their flock from looking to other pastures - corporates are focusing on improving the office atmosphere besides offering personalised services, such as baby day-care centres, concierge services and flexible working hours, among others.
Telecom major
Bharti Airtel has set up a day-care centre that takes care of the babies of its young employees so that they can concentrate on their office work.
The day-care centre, which is managed by The Banyan, takes care of children aged six months to four years, so that young parents do not have to quit their jobs but instead can concentrate on their career. The centre charges Rs 6,000 per month.
"The facility is a great relief for us. Leaving my baby in the hands of the maid or with my parents was a great pain. Now I can be relaxed in my office that my baby is in safe hands," Suman Kumar, an executive at Bharti Airtel told Mail Today . That's not all. Taking a cue from its global counterparts, Indian companies have begun offering flexible work hours for its staff, besides providing them with facilities, such as pharmacy, grocery stores and dedicated concierge services that handle the daily chores of their staff.
For instance, EXL, a leading provider of transformation and outsourcing services, has set up a pharmacy store and a grocery store for the convenience of its staff.
International players like Intel and Accenture are providing their employees with a dedicated concierge desk which undertakes jobs such as calling an electrician or plumber to renewing driving licenses, paying utility bills, depositing cheques at the local bank to booking movie tickets for their staff.
According to Ritu Grover, founder, Global Help Desk, a concierge helpdesk provider, "Most of the companies are now looking to make the office a better place for their employees.
So, these small things not only relieve the burden of the staff but also make them focus better on their work." The Global Help Desk provides concierge helpdesk services to over 200 leading MNCs and corporate houses, including Airtel, Vodafone, Frito Lay, EXL and Moser Baer, spread across the NCR. "No company can grow without the right talent. Organisations are facing a talent war as finding the right people at the right place at the right time is become increasingly challenging.
In this case employers can make employees stick to offices by providing better working conditions," E. Balaji, chief executive officer (CEO), Ma Foi Management Consultants, said.
IT companies, which face the worst talent crunch, have been the first ones to adopt the concept of flexible working hours to keep their staff strength intact.
And the results are encouraging.
"Flexible working hours are working better than perks and marginal salary hikes. Moreover, it keeps employees motivated to perform better," a senior HR executive at Accenture said.
"In my last office our boss would make us sit unnecessarily even when there was no work. It was so frustrating that in six months I lost the zeal to work and changed my job. My current working hours are flexible and the work culture is great. Now I'm enjoying my work," Ravi Malhotra, an employee with Accenture said.
Courtesy: Mail Today
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