6 out of 10 organisations have adopted ‘work from home’ policy post COVID-19 relaxations

Through this survey, Grant Thornton Bharat aims to understand the changing landscape of employee engagements amidst a dynamic business environment, along with the challenges faced by industries to design best possible practices to navigate people solutions

Key highlights

• More than 60% of the respondents say they use multiple apps and portals for employee engagement
• About 70% of the employers have not made any changes in the compensation structure post pandemic
• About 50% employers prefer hybrid model of HR operations (in-house and outsourced)
• 56% respondents said their organisations have introduced ‘work from home’ policy
• 52% repondents believe new labour codes will have high impact on HR policies and processes
• 47% repondents said that impact of change in definition of wages on employee cost has not yet been evaluated

As the pandemic pushed employers to explore and adapt news ways to stay in the business; the Grant Thornton Bharat’s GPS team has carried out a survey to gain insights on the challenges being faced and areas for re-aligning employee engagements.

Akhil Chandna, Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat says, “It is imperative that organisations review and evaluate the impact areas under new working arrangements, evolving regulatory landscape, and changing employee expectations. This would help ensure that the HR systems and processes are designed and integrated to support the requirements of both internal and external stakeholders.”

An increasingly virtual work environment brings challenges related to employee engagement, governance, compliances, etc., and therefore, it is essential for organisations to gear up their internal systems to meet these challenges. The report highlighted over 60% of the respondents believe that payroll/compliances can be outsourced or managed in a hybrid manner.

According to this Grant Thornton Bharat survey, 65% respondents believe that delayed approval is one of the biggest challenges they face with HR systems today. Emotional connect amongst employees, quick approvals, less miscommunication etc., have become as important as ever and it is paramount for HRs to cater to these issues through solutions like AI for faster approvals, facial recognition for attendance, mood bots and happiness index evaluator, rewards and recognitions etc. Additionally, 62% of the respondents prefer using multiple apps and portals for employee engagement. The rest of the respondents hinted on the need for a single tool which acts as a gateway to connect organisation and employees for formal and informal connects, physical and mental wellbeing, etc.

Two of the most cited issues with regards to payroll processing were meeting statutory compliances and threat to data security. Devesh Uniyal, Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat says, “Data confidentiality, especially in an inhouse payroll, can be compromised due to multiple people receiving information about an individual’s paycheck. With the proposed new law on Personal Data Protection (PDP) in India and Indian organisations expanding into developed markets with stronger data security requirements, managing data security and meeting statutory compliances are important aspects to consider while deciding applications and processes for payroll.”

Furthermore, the survey found out that many employers are concerned about the impact of new labour codes. Apart from impact on employee cost, the new labour codes would also impact HR policies, processes and all related compliances. The industry at large has also acknowledged the same and over 50% of respondents believe that the new labour codes would have a high impact on the existing HR policies and processes.