Reward Management For ‘The Now of Work’ Days | Sanjeeb Lahiri | Chief Human Resources Officer | GRP Ltd.

‘Now of Work’ – the term is not mine. During these days of lockdown due to COVID-19, this term got repeated in discussions and webinars from multiple sources.

We have all heard the term ‘Future of Work’. RPA, IoT, AI, IR4.0, Gigs and effects
thereof on workplaces have been opined from all quarters. Going Digital in most of business processes seemed the way forward. COVID-19 hit us hard then! The only lifeline available was to ensure business continuity but by staying at home! Business processes and deliveries thereof suddenly became remote and organizations were not ready for this, barring select few. Going Digital was no longer something of the future but the lifesaver for businesses as of today. This no longer is future; it is here; now – thus the term ‘Now of Work’.

So, how does Reward Management look in this context?

While digitization is indeed the key to sustain & continue in business, it’s impact on people cannot be ignored. Suddenly, people need to be productive by working from home in a situation without any person to person connect. This has its own challenges and will affect performance. With the economic crisis looming, salary cuts and job losses being openly discussed (may be for the first time in India), jobs will certainly not look the same the way it was even a month ago. More of flexi staffing delivery based assignments are likely to come in, the Gig economy is likely to grow and organizations will suddenly have people with very different needs and aspirations.

Reward Management therefore has a big role to play. Aligning the organizations capacity to pay with the individual aspirations will need a lot of innovative practices. Reward strategies now need to be like the commercial purchase pricing for the organization with the fine balance to ensure adherence to values, regulations and most importantly cater to needs and aspirations of the individual. The ‘one scheme fits most’ approach, which is followed in most organizations will surely not work anymore.

It is a huge opportunity and an amazing responsibility.