Opportunity for every industrial sector to re-evaluate digital transformation journey: NASSCOM

NASSCOM is the apex body for the Indian IT BPM industrythat has made a phenomenal contribution to India's GDP, exports, employment, infrastructure and global visibility. In India, this industry provides the highest employment in the private sector. NASSCOM is focused on building the architecture integral to the development of the IT BPM sector through policy advocacy, and help in setting up the strategic direction for the sector to unleash its potential and dominate newer frontiers.

Here, Ms. Sangeeta Gupta, Senior VP and Chief Strategy Officer, NASSCOM, tells us more about how the future of work is going to look like. Excerpts from an interview:

DQ: How are you dealing with the Covid-19 situation? What plans have you put in place?

Ms. Sangeeta Gupta: We are living through a period of great turbulence. However, extraordinary situations call for extraordinary measures. This is an opportunity for the industry to evaluate new ways of responding to the ongoing situation and preparing for the future. To successfully navigate the new normal of the workplace, organizations need to approach working from home very differently in the present context.

The pandemic may exist for a while. In this new normal, we need to get into a model wherein businesses can switch between WFH and WFO. It is critical that only employees working on key processes like data centres or employees that were unable to work from home as they were handling sensitive client data, visit their places of work physically while the others continue to stay at home. This is testament to fact that lives and livelihood are both extremely essential for any nation to survive this global crisis

Business continuity strategies must be reframed to shift focus from business-first to people-first, i.e., be employee-focused and client-centric in operations. Some of the key drivers that have enabled this transition include high-speed, low-cost Internet connectivity; increased usage of data-sharing and communication apps; the use of PCs in enabling productivity; and digital professional learning.

The MHA has laid out the directive on opening up the economy in a phased manner with 33% of IT sector workforce can go back to work with adequate safety measures in place. NASSCOM’s back to work guidance to the industry would be a phased approach (10-15% workforce in Phase 1) with stringent safety measures in place.

NASSCOM is also conducting series of sensitization workshops, webinars and virtual communications with the SME members to ensure they understand the importance and adhere the safety protocols and a staggered approach, while maintaining business continuity. We have also released a standard operating protocol (SOP) for all the IT companies,which lays out measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at workplace.

DQ: Are you giving employees more control over their schedules?

Ms. Sangeeta Gupta: There is a need to create an enabling ecosystem around the workforce to facilitate collaboration. An empathetic leadership and strong communication can go a long way in building resilience during extraordinary situations. For instance, employees are bound to struggle with challenges of unfamiliar technology tools; dealing with stress, isolation and anxiety; or even trying to juggle personal and professional workload during these tough times.

Technology can be our greatest ally in modelling solutions for boosting morale and engagement levels and fostering better productivity. Besides offering Learning and Development (L&D) initiatives, companies can consider different formats and technologies for providing assistance with healthcare support (doctor on call, fitness sessions), stress management (counselling and meditation) and social connections (virtual coffee meets).

DQ: How are you assessing on learnings from enforced experiments around WFH?

Ms. Sangeeta Gupta: This is a very different scenario that the world and the industry has ever faced. As we start adapting to these new business conditions, we must consider that the ‘Survival of the Smartest’ is the name of the game. Digital transformation is demonstrating its value and its impact on the very ecology of business in these tough times.

The rapid adoption of remote collaboration by companies has opened a new window of opportunity for accelerating workplace transformation and digitally enabled environments. Many businesses are indeed taking this opportunity to use physical and virtual collaboration tools to test the blended work environment.

Most of the companies have even 100% of its employees working from home. The need of the hour is to speed up this transformation as fast as it can be and share best practices to minimise the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the businesses and the supply chain. We are confident that when we finally emerge from all of this. Wehave leveraged technology in thousands of ways that may not have been conceivable earlier.

DQ: This is a challenging time for managers. What advice would you give them?

Ms. Sangeeta Gupta: The current state of affairs allows companies to display their leadership and decision-making skills in new ways. Employees who feel appreciated are more satisfied and diligent and businesses that recognise the contribution of their employees have a more motivated and loyal workforce. Virtual recognitions by sharing success stories can be great way in motivating employees during such time.

In addition, the businesses must encourage a flexible approach among employees to adapt to environmental, societal and organizational changes. Such measures are bound to keep their employees motivated and engaged, despite working in a remote working environment.

Accomplishments can be shared publicly on group emails and Slack channels so that everyone can celebrate wins. Moreover, personal messages and calls acknowledging the difficulties that each employee may be going through go a long way in improving their sense of self-worth as valued team members.

DQ: How does work/life balance work in a crisis like this?

Ms. Sangeeta Gupta: The future is more about work-life integration than work-life balance. However, it is important for employees to plan their day – schedule time for meetings and discussions with their team, self-learning and current work priorities. Companies are also encouraging employees to take time off if needed to focus on physical and mental wellbeing.

DQ: What are the policy responses you would give to the MSMEs and SMEs?

Ms. Sangeeta Gupta: Post COVID19, recovery is likely to happen with increased automation, safe manufacturing, social distancing – all of which would require the transformational technology to execute. We need to equip our MSME sector with the same digital advantages – so they can step out of this difficult time on an even footing. We have highlighted the problems faced by the start-ups and the MSME sector and have submitted our recommendations to the government. Some of the issues start-ups are currently facing and our recommendations below:

Rental subsidy for government-owned workspaces: Startups are facing time loss and project delays due to the prevailing circumstances; this has contributed to financial pressure on them.

Regulatory compliance: Blanket suspension of all deadlines,including tax payment deadlines and filing deadlines, until at least four weeks post lifting of lockdown in all cities. Also, waiver of interest and penalties for delayed payments of TDS and GST.

Financing options: To tide over the liquidity crunch created by the pandemic and ensure the timely payment of salaries to employees, banks may voluntarily provide for an overdraft facility/interest free and equity convertible funding to startups, subject to requisite due diligence on credit history and cash flow constraints.

Cash flow and working capital issues: All outstanding tax refunds (both direct and indirect tax) should be refunded within the next 15 days. The Government should consider paying the GST tax collected from start-ups back to them as a capital funding/loan.

Norms relaxation with respect to loans: Postponement of interest payment by a quarter and regularisation of loan in 12 months, thereby reducing the cash flow load for this financial year.

DQ: How are the latest technologies going to redefine workplace?

Ms. Sangeeta Gupta: Today, technology has given exposure to companies of all sizes across the industries. The world is witnessing a great transition, with legacy sectors and organisations being compelled to digitally transform overnight; schools are going online, meetings are taking place online. Thanks to human spirit, work continues under lockdown.

In contrast to the challenges like parts shortage and unpredictability of supply chains dragging down the industry due to global lockdowns, software has emerged as a growth catalyst. The online collaboration tools like Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Office365, and others are already seeing increased demand as companies increase their remote-working capabilities.

It is forecasted to see a continuous growth in demand for cloud infrastructure services and potential increases in spending on specialized software. We are seeing a rise in digital epidemiology tools, chatbot helpers, EHR guidance tools and rapid response test kits.

Voice-powered health tech companies are going extra mile in providing telemedicine and conversational applications in assisting patients globally. The banking sector has also urged citizens to stay safe and bank from home using iMobile/Internet banking for all essential banking services. Now, with various types of communication software, it has become easy to work remotely from any corner of the world.

While the coronavirus pandemic is disrupting globally, there is no reason India should not continue its journey towards a trillion-dollar digital economy. As we start adapting to these new business conditions, digital transformation is demonstrating its value and its impact on the very ecology of business in these tough times. Now, with various types of communication software, it has become easy to work remotely from any corner of the world.

The challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic will leave a long-lasting impact on the economy and society. Businesses will need to give up the textbook approach as the situation currently is very dynamic and things that were relevant before may not be going forward. We need to adopt newer models wherein we can continue business processes smoothly whether working from office or from home.

We need to equip our MSME sector with the same digital advantages – so they can step out of this difficult time on an even footing. With emerging technologies at the centre of business operations, we will also need to adapt and reskill to keep pace with this dynamic environment. At present, there is an opportunity for every industrial sector to re-evaluate its digital transformation journey, and take the necessary steps to accelerate the pace of digital adoption. We are confident that when we finally emerge from all of this, we would have leveraged technology in thousands of ways that may not have been conceivable earlier.

Ms. Sangeeta Gupta, Senior VP and Chief Strategy Officer, NASSCOM