The telecom industry is witnessing an unprecedented growth in India. Some of the key trends that are impacting employee engagement in the business have to do with industry-wide trends. Recently, the sector has been fraught with turbulence. This has been a source of concern for employees who are keen to understand what a career in the sector holds for them. The sector has been dynamic due to constant technological change and customer dexterity, requiring employees to keep up with the market trends. Lastly, the learning agenda is an area that needs more focus, as it pales amid the humdrum of pursuing KRAs.

Tools to engage

At Airtel, our aim is to be perceptive and sensitive to employee needs and follow employee engagement, not as an annual activity but as an ongoing process. In keeping with a digitally savvy world, our offerings have gone digital and employees are fully are making the best use of the mobile apps.

Employees mirror popular social trends. The workplace has to reflect the same technological agility

The company’s employee engagement survey is called “Airpulse”, which is an employee engagement survey which is linked to three dimensions of employee feedback, “Say”, “Stay”, and “Strive”. The survey questions are designed to check organizational progress on these parameters among different demographics. In order to gauge the popular mood any time of the year, we have internally developed and deployed “Airtel Mood-O-Meter”, a mobile app to take employee dipstick on the go and in real-time. Additionally, “Airtel Buzz”, an integrated app for our employees hosts several apps for internal communication. The key terms that define engagement are “real-time, personalized and accessible”.

In order to provide an engaging learning experience, gamification and simulation have proved to be an effective technique to engage and motivate employees. Gamification appeals to digital natives and is a fun way of learning. Furthermore, we have our Learning Management System (LMS), iLearn that is available on both desktop and mobile to make learning on the go.

Strategy and Alignment

In order to ensure alignment with the business goals, we take advantage of our annual GPS that outlines our vision, objectives, and values. These are the organization’s commandments that orient employees to pursue a unified goal. The GPS ensures there are no gaps in expectations with regard to the larger organizational agenda. At the beginning of each fiscal year, there are hundreds of ‘cascade sessions’ which are held to socialize the strategic priorities and actionable items.

Rather than focusing only on employee engagement, it is essential to integrate the focus on employee experience. Employees mirror popular social trends. The workplace has to reflect the same technological agility. Digitization dominates the narrative and therefore, with this fourth industrial revolution, employees do expect their workplace experience to be no different. As we have been trendsetters in the marketplace, employees expect the technological landscape in the company to be state of the art.