Work from home has blurred the line between board room and drawing room

It has long been said that there should be work from home wherever possible. An outbreak of the corona virus has made that possible. Within a fortnight of the lockdown in the country, the Indian head of an international FMCG company said, "I used to go abroad several times a month, but now that the board meeting is taking place at home in Mumbai, my routine is about to change."

With more than 90 days to go before the lockdown, work from home is also entering the government machinery. The Ministry of Personnel has also issued guidelines for work from home. As per the guidelines of the Central Government, the officers and employees of the Personnel and Training Department will be given the option to work from home for 15 days in a year.

The central government has 2.5 lakh employees. The Ministry of Personnel has told all the central departments that it has become necessary to work from home in many ministries to maintain social distance. During the lockdown period, people in many ministries and departments have done excellent work from home using the e-office and video conferencing facilities provided by the government agency - National Informatics Center. This is the first experience of the Government of India that it wants to implement forever.

In the near future, working hours in central secretariats will be kept separate and employees will be called to work on different days so that social distance can be observed. As per the information received, about 7 Ministries / Departments are using e-office software to date. Out of which more than 90% work is being done in 7 Ministries / Accounts through e-office.

It may be recalled that Nasscom, India's leading IT company, had recently submitted to government officials that some changes would have to be made in the tax and labor laws as work from home is now going to be a permanent thing.

About 90 per cent of India's ૪૩ 151 billion IT workers now work from home. Currently, the country's top IT company has announced that by the year 203, 4% of its employees will be working from home. Similarly, some other companies have announced that they will allow 8 to 20 per cent of their employees to work from home.

The general manager of a leading security solutions company in the country says that the only way to get to the office is to work from home instead of facing the problem of daily traffic. The chairman of a GP, which works in infrastructure, tires, tea, etc., said that by the time the lockdown opens, his GP would have issued work-from-home guidelines.

The epidemic of corona virus is gaining momentum as the world's largest work-from-home experiment. The whole concept of human resource management has changed and the distinction between board room and drawing room is now being erased.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is already talking about Digital India so work from home will definitely grow during his tenure. Notably, work-from-home can be a boon for female employees who become new mothers. This method is also useful for disabled employees.

According to a study, work-from-home has led to an 18 per cent increase in employee performance. The number of employees leaving their jobs was reduced by 20 per cent and the rate of sick leave was also reduced.

The company saved about ૨ 5,000 in rent per employee. Pollution is reduced due to work from home as opposed to people taking their cars out and spreading pollution. According to a study by Boston Consulting Gap, traffic jams in India's four largest cities cost 3 billion a year.

Work from home is useful not only because of Corona's fear, but in many other ways. Instead of buying office space, companies are using technology to reduce the cost of electricity, water, security, pantry, cleaning, etc. In addition, their productivity increases as employees avoid the hassle of commuting to and from the office. Loyalty to the company is also likely to increase as the facility is provided by the company.

However, the most important thing in this system is technology and broadband network. In many parts of the country, broadband networks are not yet as fast as they should be. Under Digital India, India has taken up the innovation challenge of providing video conferencing facilities even in slow networks.

An expert in the field of information technology says that if the work from home is managed properly, both the company and the employees can benefit greatly.