The coronavirus pandemic has provided us all with a challenging and unprecedented situation, which no one was prepared for. These are testing times, that I believe, require immense self-control and determination. Being a distance runner, I have learnt that no matter how difficult the going gets, discipline and adaptability will be the key to tide over any situation. You just need to stay calm, confident, and open to changes. Here are my lessons from the current crisis.
Necessities never cost much
Our paradigms are shifting. If I look at it from a personal lens, the world is shifting to my paradigm. When I started working, I had by far the most savings – in fact, they were shockingly high compared to my salary. I lived in Hyderabad, Rajkot, Chennai, and Mumbai, but wherever I went, I was always saving more than 50% of what I earned.
When I look back, I was enjoying running, swimming and lived well, while there were things I simply did not do. No going out, no alcohol, no smoking, no travel, just office, home, friends, swimming, running, and occasionally trekking, etc. I always cooked my own food.
Our lives are now returning to how I live my life. No parties, no restaurants, no going out, no movie halls, no random travel, just stay at home, make your food, exercise, and enjoy. If you will carefully analyse, a lot of what we spend is actually unnecessary.
The necessities do not cost much. I think slowly this realisation will dawn on a lot of people, and a lot of unnecessary expenses will come down for everyone. This period is providing a great detox to our society.
Another paradigm shift is to work from home. It’s holding up so far. In fact, some of our business units are rocking. This is clearly here to stay.
Customer is king and business responsibility
Ever since the outbreak came to light, we started taking steps towards the safety of our employees as well as service for our customers. Being ‘customer first’ has always been at the core of our business ethics. The first step we took towards extending support amid the ongoing crisis and lockdown, was to start a dedicated helpline to ensure our customers get the best advice, services, and resolution to their queries in a swift and convenient manner, all seven days of the week. I believe we have a responsibility towards our customers, and we want to tell them that we are there with them whenever they need us.
While the whole country is under lockdown, we are working together with insurance companies to make sure that medical check-ups are available to prospective customers via a phone call – a telemedical. The process cuts down the risk of a physical meeting between customers and doctors, which is practically not possible at present but also makes insurance accessible to more people.
It is to be noted that medicals are more required for older people or people with pre-existing diseases who are more susceptible, thus this initiative was critical.
Crisis makes you do it
We have 13,000 customer-facing employees and it was hard to imagine how all of them would be able to work from home. The challenge is not just of technology working, but also coordination, motivation, and discipline. Like when a sale happens in office, the peers celebrate it.
We needed to replicate that excitement of the office. I have always believed that we can manage work from home smoothly, but somehow, we never got to implement it. However, with the current lockdown in place, we got an opportunity to implement it, and at present all our 13,000 employees are working from home.
On our very first day away from office, we recorded a 20% spike in sales. Our technology team played a big role by preparing all the infrastructure needed, with quick turnaround time, to make this a success. We are still in the midst of learning and improving the model but work from home is here to stay. It saves commuting and is very scalable across the country. Like if I want to operate in Chennai, I do not need an office any more.
Being a family is everything
These are tough times for everyone, and we want to take care of our loyal and committed staff. The simple thought is: we are one family. Hence, we have decided against any salary cuts for our employees for the next three months. Thanks to their hard work, many of our business lines are booming and setting records in sales every day.
We are also struggling in some business units like travel insurance and loans, where business is almost at a standstill or is an absolute zero. We continue to support thousands of employees through this period. The principle that is guiding us is that we will make no people decisions which are short-term in nature, and only act where we are permanently shutting down some part of the business or operation for strategic reasons. Normal performance management principles continue to apply, so it is business as usual from that perspective.
Over the years, we have been at the forefront of creating awareness around the need and importance of pure term life insurance, and health insurance plans in India. We have increased this communication to let our customers know we are here to serve them in this perhaps the harshest of times.
Communicating daily
Communication on a daily basis within teams and the entire workforce is the key for work from home. I have started communicating a lot more, not just with my teams but also partners and regulators. This is through e-mails and videos. I’m keeping people updated on what I am thinking at a strategic level and being extremely honest, which is how I usually am. I have increased that.
We have put in place an office-like work schedule for most of our employees. All our teams start the day with a daily round-up over a conference call and the managers constantly stay in touch with team members throughout the day. And, the day ends with a team call. We keep a tab of all the metrics and watch the performance on a regular basis. We review teams and appreciate them for their good work.
All in all, very confident we now know how to operate in this situation and will come out much stronger. In every such crisis, a small fraction of companies come out stronger and grow very rapidly post the crisis, we are determined to be one of them!
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