Lakshmana Venkat Kuchi
As we as a Nation prepare for a possible third wave of Covid, it is important to approach the situation with positivity and hope.
Like in the developed west, India too had its health infrastructure under severe pressure, but now with Covid cases as well as deaths coming down drastically, we are on the path of relative normalcy. Besides we have gotten sufficient advance notice for making full preparations, and draw necessary lessons from our experiences during the second wave.
Both negative, and positive
This time let us focus on the few positive aspects that one discovered in the few months that have gone by. Though the pandemic disrupted the work environment as one knew, its transformation into work from home situation has brought in relief to the workers. The new normal, with most of the workplaces opting out for work from home, has eliminated the travails related to commute and traffic woes. To that extent, the stress on the workers is that much less, though this new work mode has meant that the management has been able to saddle the workers with more money than the pre-pandemic times.
From the company perspective, the work from home wherever possible, has led to increase in productivity in cases where the company has developed a trust in its employees.
What it has also done for the workers is that it has given them a greater chance at working out work-life balance, by giving more time for the employees to spend time with family as commuting time is totally done away with. It is the growing sense of trust of the employer in the employee that is the single most important gain from the perspective of industrial relations as the recent experience of some of the top professionals shows.
From the workers perspective, they can also dispense with the needless hours they used to spend in office just to convey an impression to the boss that they were working hard.
In fact, this new normal is showing that workers are having to work longer hours from home and work from anywhere situation, and some employees are longing for offices to start.
Some complain that a professional environment is missing at home, and as such it impaired their working. But, with the pandemic forcing a shutdown, they had no chance but to comply and work it out to the extent possible. So, while a section of the work force is awaiting the reopening of offices most who have gotten used to the pleasures of work from home would wish the model continues.
Besides, this work from anywhere model has encouraged staycations–going off to secluded hilly regions and remote villages and work from there–if they could manage stable wireless internet connections. Many professionals did use this WFH to mix business and pleasure.
And there is no reason to assume that the situation would be back to pre-pandemic normal anytime soon. Few public health experts estimate that the prevailing situation could last for a couple of more years till the world would be rid of the pandemic in its current form.
And, even if normalcy returns, on the work front, the prevailing WFH model could become the new normal in the post pandemic world too. Once the companies have discovered means to cut establishment costs and operational costs, it is reasonable to assume that they would prefer to continue with it.
Or rather prefer a hybrid model, so that a smaller office would suffice.
But for certain professions and services that can be done remotely via the internet, work from home would continue as both employers and employees discover the positives from the situation.
It would lead to reduction in traffic and that much lesser pressure on infrastructure. But the downside is that the pandemic has also exposed the limitations of the internet penetration and quality of infrastructure, which needs strengthening. As digitisation remains key for the future, the authorities will have to address the issue of a weaker digital infrastructure on a war footing. Especially so, as the pandemic has proven the efficacy of work from home mode and it will be in the overall interests of the country in erecting superfast digital expressways.
Just imagine, now it is technically feasible for say a content writer in a tiny village of Manipur to work for an American company, which caters to a European client, and the designer sitting in Australia and they all collaborate with each other to deliver high quality products, all working remotely from different locations with one single purpose.
The elimination of physical travel and the need for being physically present on location for a worker is the biggest bonus for the working class emerging out of this pandemic. To my mind, trust is the most important aspect in any organisation or any team that makes its functioning smooth and efficient.
The best thing the pandemic has done for the working class is the myth it destroyed that physical presence of workers on the spot–in few industries–was a must for its smooth functioning. The electronic trail of workflow ensures easy tabulation and assessment of work done, giving the management a clear cut picture of the efficiency of the worker. Since the time spent on the computer and the quality of work done is punched into the computer, there is little chance a worker can game the system.
Elimination of human bias to some extent in this form of work from home or work from anywhere mode is another laudable by-product of the new normal work environment.
If I can recall from my own experience when associated with a big brand media organization, I must admit that the amount of trust of my supervisor sitting two thousand miles away in Delhi, I enjoyed was always reflected in my performance in a positive way.
An operational freedom, also granted by the technology of the times, has been highlighted by the pandemic. The trust factor the management is developing in its workforce is to be welcomed.
Sure, there is always the danger that the employees could misuse the trust reposed on them by the management, but then such a possibility always existed. Besides, the management can still browbeat the workers with other tools. Our limited point here is that remote working has been found efficient, under given conditions. As always, it is the individual and the entity in question and the chemistry between them that is the key.
So, let us rebuild our resolve to strengthen this trust factor for smoother labour and industrial relations.
Lakshmana Venkat Kuchi is a senior journalist tracking social, economic, and political changes across the country. He was associated with the Press Trust of India, The Hindu, Sunday Observer, and Hindustan Times. He can be reached on
[email protected] and Twitter handle @kvlakshman