At what point in your life did you decide to take up HR as your career? What were the guiding / motivating factors?

To be very honest, I always intended to be an HR since when I was in 10th standard as I was very clear to pursue master’s in psychology and then MBA in Human Resources to be an HR because I realised that human beings are the most complex and interesting subject to study.

HR is one practice that touches human lives directly. Do you think employers and specially HR Professional can play role in reducing stress levels of employees through various employee engagement initiatives?

Of course, HR plays a very crucial role. Right from interviewing to inviting a person onboard, the whole process is like deciding a career path of an employee as every aspect such as hiring, on boarding, appraising, giving them increments & promotions, etc is looked after by the HR. An HR knows the pulse of an employee and that’s why s/he can understand what that person is feeling, what is bothering him/her and how to motivate and encourage him/her. This will lead an employee to work effectively and contribute more for the organisation without leaving and sustaining for years. Hence an HR plays as a connecting factor between an employee and the organisation. Employee Engagement activities definitely strengthens the employees’ belongingness to the company. We make our employees get indulged in events and sports activities rather than just organising for them.

What are some of the most important employee engagement initiatives related to Music, Art, Dance or Sports that you have taken in your career?

We have created groups of people in our company who have formed committees who think about employee engagement activities. We have made houses like how used to have in school (red, blue, green and yellow) Here we have referred to the five elements of nature and formed five groups- Agni, Vayu, Akash & Prithvi and all employees are randomly put into these houses. We organise football tournaments, Rangoli contests, Antakshari, etc events are ran by these houses. The participants of these houses earn points and a house with maximum points is been awarded with a trophy at the annual events. People get to choose their captains and vice captions of a particular house. Apart from this we have also organised an initiative called as ‘The Great Loser’ where the one losing 5 to 15% of their weight in three months would be rewarded a Fitbit watch or bicycle. This activity is indeed a need of the hour because due to sitting continuously at one place in a desk job, one must stay active and fit or else this may lead to increase in obesity. There was a doctor and nutritional advisor to suggest proper diets. Recently we had our annual event, before that we had a t-shirt painting competition it was basically to enhance and inspire the child hidden in all of us.  We gave a theme of based on the purpose of our organisation. The winning painting was printed in T Shirts and distributed to everyone. We do have talent shows, a platform for our employees to showcase talents with respect to music, dance and acting. Lot of employees are engineers and they do a tremendous job when it comes to showcase activities like mono acing, stand-up comedy and etc.

Do you think time and cost for employee engagements are an investment for the organisation and can help in multi-fold returns?

I think giving time and its thought to employee engagement activities is the only thing which would we remember, and the rest all are redundant as there is a lot of intervention of technology in the domain of HR practise is been taking place. Employee Engagement initiatives are the only way to connect with the employees and is one of the most crucial thing one should understand in an organisation that it is very much important to have a connection with the employees, no matter how much AI and automation you introduce to the work force, at the end of the day, human interaction is required.

Do you feel there is a need even to reach out to the family of employees so that they get better connected to the company? Have you undertaken any such initiative in your past or current organization?

We celebrate a Family Day in our office mostly during the Christmas. Employees along with their children, spouse and parents attend a lavish party and it is especially very much enjoyed by the children because that is the day when they get to see where their Mummas and Papas go to work. We even acknowledge those who have completed more than 10 years in the organisation by inviting their families in a townhall. Building a connection is very important I must say.

What is the one change that you would like to bring in HR practice that has potential to boost employees work-life balance?

The managers play an important role in ensuring the employees’ work life balance because if their expectations are not realistic then obviously the work life balance goes for the toss. So, if you train your managers to be a great human being and empathize with their reportees, then the work life balance will become sorted. Make such kind of work environment that a person feels to working rather than feeling forced to work.

What are your personal interests in Music, Art, Dance or Sports and how do you continue to pursue it?

My personal interest is in Music and I love to play the piano. I did not learn it but it’s god gifted in me to play it well. All thanks to my 7-year-old kid whom I have gifted a keyboard and I make sure I play it every day for 15 minutes as I return home. It gives me so much relaxation that it just unwinds me from a long day of work. Music I feel the soul of life keeping me calm.

Any other thoughts you may want to share.

I feel that if a person likes something then s/he must pursue it. It doesn’t matter if one has to spend 9 hours working in the office. If you’re happy with your work, then nothing is going to stress you or make you feel like “What am I doing?” For me, I always wanted to be an HR as I have seen myself becoming one since when I was in 10th standard. You must do what you love to do rather than being forced to do.