For most corporate employees, the occasional work-from-home option was a relief from having to brave Bengaluru’s infamous traffic. Back then, they had the luxury of household help, and could focus on the official tasks at hand. The coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, though, turned things around. Not only did work-from-home get a more permanent status, but it also meant that they had to work for home as well. And if maintaining a work-life balance was tough earlier, imagine now, when you are doing everything yourself.
Realising that the morale of employees needs some serious upliftment in these gloomy times, most companies have begun conducting fun online activities and exercises.
Fitness classes, music concerts and more to motivate employees
From online mediation, yoga and zumba sessions to virtual music concerts, organisations are doing their bit to ensure their employees’ well being. Shraddhanjali Rao, vice president – HR, SAP Labs India, says that they have been conducting online fitness sessions to give employees a well-deserved fun break from work from home. Their next initiave was also well received. “We conducted a virtual music concert that was attended by 800 employees. Some even joined the session with their families and it was nice to see people bond over music overcoming language and distance barriers,” she says.
Walmart Labs’ employee engagement programme involved some special family members – pets. “On April 11, which was the National Pet Day, associates were asked to share pictures of themselves with their pets. Not only did this help them have some fun, but it also made them feel connected with each other while being socially distant. The initiative had great participation and created a lot of buzz on our internal platforms,” says Sunita Venugopal from Walmart Labs.