India Inc catches World Cup fever to support employees' enthusiasm

Why did five English cricketers go on strike in 1896? In which year was the ‘Stumpcam’ introduced? Which Indian batsman made his ODI debut with Kapil Dev? How many runs did Sourav Ganguly score in his first innings of Test debut in 1996?

These questions are not from any quiz show run by cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle.

These are some of the googlies that online travel firm MakeMyTrip.com recently bowled at its employees in a quiz, which had World Cup merchandise among the prizes up for grabs.

That’s not all. “If Team India makes it to the Final Four, we would book a sports lounge for our employees and jointly cheer for India,” says MakeMyTrip.com HR head Rohit Hasteer.

The travel portal is not alone in making a merry World Cup trip for its employees.

A slew of companies across sectors are playing cheerleaders to their employees in following the World Cup as they believe it is the best way to tackle absenteeism and loss of productivity due to cricket’s biggest event.

Myntra, Zuri, Sify, Fashion and You, Haier India, Ozone Group, Intelenet Global Services and Sap Labs India...companies from all walks of life, size and sectors have padded up for the ICC World Cup as cricket fever begins to grip the subcontinent.

From quiz shows to special screening of matches to flexi working hours and wearing Team India’s Blue jersey on days when India takes on its opponents, India Inc is playing all unconventional shots to ensure that its employees are in best frame of mind.

“Productivity is best enhanced when employees are given a flexible work environment, which in turn leverages their potential,” says Mexus Education co-founder and director Saurabh Saxena.

The Mumbai-based education innovations company, which co-sponsored IPL team Deccan Chargers last season, has bookmarked cricket websites such as Cricinfo and Cricbuzz, allowed employees to watch matches during breaks and intervals, and designed a game format where employees submit their favourite XI players and compete against each other. The performance of players in the World Cup determines the points that each employee gets, and the one who scores the highest is the winner.

“We encourage a friendly work culture and do not inhibit the employees when it comes to encouraging play at work as it fosters team spirit and boosts their morale,” said Saxena.

While they talk about work and fun and building camaraderie, the idea is to resist a drop in productivity. One in every five employees working for India Inc plans to take time off or reduce working hours to watch the ICC World Cup, according to a recent study by industry body Assocham.

For businesses, this could translate into about 800 million man hours of lost productivity, it said.

That’s the big challenge. And many corporates believe keeping their employees playfully engaged is the best way to tackle the challenge posed by the world cup.

FEVER PITCH

Excitement at Myntra.com, an e-commerce portal that provides personalised gifts and merchandise, is running fever pitch. The Bangalore-based company, which has tied up with Nike to offer personalised Team India jersey, has started Sports@Myntra, under which the entire organisation has been divided into four teams, each having its own uniform. Cricket matches among these teams are planned during the World Cup. Myntra.com senior vice-president (marketing) Sanjay Ramakrishnan, said: “Sports@Myntra is expected to build the team spirit and encourage constructive competition.”

Business software maker SAP Labs India is also in a festive mood. As part of its ‘cricket festivities’ for the World Cup, the research and development (R&D) arm of the German global business management solutions firm, SAP, is organising a Leadership Talk with former captain of England cricket team Nasser Hussain on February 28. Besides this talk, there will be a brainstorming session where CEO of the Kolkata Knight Riders, Joy Bhattacharya, will put the quizzers to test.

Intelenet Global Services, a leading global third-party BPO service provider, is leaving no stone unturned to make the most of cricket buzz. While its employee engagement team is organising cricket jam sessions, the cafeteria will arrange a giant screen for viewing of matches. The call centre will also adjust its break timings so that cricket fans can take a peek at the score. And for those who will miss out, there will be regular updates on the floor by team leaders/managers on days when India plays the matches.

But what’s most unique about the cricket euphoria is that the company has linked celebrations with charity. There will be a tattoo/face-painting counter for all cricket enthusiasts, and all those who take part in it will have to pay a certain sum that would go towards charity.

Sandeep Aggarwal, executive VP (sales, solutions & transitions), Intelenet Global Services said: “The company has always been sensitive to social issues, and tries to thus inculcate a sense of responsibility among its employees for such issues.”

Fashion and You, an online fashion retail portal, is also not immune to the World Cup fever, and has lined up gully cricket in the office compound. “The dress code for the days when India plays is going be blue (Team India colour). And we also plan to enjoy gully cricket in the office compound,” says Fashion and You co-founder and CEO Pearl Uppal.

While some are busy celebrating the biggest festival in the subcontinent with their staff in the office, there are some like Zuri Group Global, a multinational conglomerate with interests in hospitality, floriculture, real estate and green energy, who have planned to catch the excitement on the field. Zuri Group Global, assistant VP (public relations and corporate communication), Priti Chand said: “Our corporate team in Bangalore has booked tickets for India matches. So, we would watch matches with our employees as it’s a great team-building exercise.”

For companies like Talisma, a leading CRM software solution firm, cricket World Cup is not only an opportunity to strengthen the bonding and de-stress its employees, it’s also a chance to think out of box in terms of hiring. Last week, the Bangalore-based company launched the Referral 20-20 event—every shortlisted resume was considered to be an equivalent to a run. And there were prizes for the winning team, captain of the team and man of the match for maximum number of CVs referred for open positions.

Talisma director (sales) Sai Narayan said: “Events such as cricket World Cup when watched together invoke passion and camaraderie, which creates bonding among the employees.”

ORTHODOX PLAYERS

Not everybody is convinced about this play-to-the-gallery strategy.

The Assocham study on productivity loss has made several CEOs press the panic button. The report said that at least 10-12 million people will watch the match and result in a productivity loss of 768 million man hours (12 million x 8 hours x 8 matches). The actual level of absenteeism is likely to be even higher, due to post-match celebrations or lack of sleep, as fans stay up late to watch the games, it added.

This very thought has made some bosses behave like Hari Sadu — remember the arrogant boss in the TV commercial of a job portal? — by denying their employees access to cricket websites.

This is exactly what a New Delhi-based IT company did. “There’s no other way out. People come to office to work and this is what they are paid for. We are not giving salary to our employees to watch cricket and waste productivity,” said an HR manager of the company who did not wish to be identified.

And there are some staffing firms who also advocate such extreme step. Executive search firm GlobalHunt director Sunil Goel said: “Companies should go blocking those websites that disturb the working environment or distract the people while they are doing their job on the desk.” Opening websites frequently on each work station hampers the productivity consistently and if all videos are run at one go on each system, the internal network of an organisation can also be clogged, says Goel.

However, there are not many takers for such desperate measures and believe that having faith in the staff will do the trick.

Banning cricket websites would create more negative vibes than allowing employees to take breaks or watch cricket during their breaks without impacting work, said Talisma’s Narayan.

Agrees Zuri’s Chand, who says having trust in employees would take care of the matter. “India is a country where cricket is a religion and, therefore, it is just not fair to block any cricket website. And we are certain that our staff won’t abuse this facility.”

Chennai-based ICT services provider CSS Corp too believes in mutual trust between employer and staff. Chief People Officer Kumar Ekambaram says: “We know that our employees are responsible with their time, and we don’t believe in blocking cricket update sites. Our employees are dedicated and in the midst of fun, they also make sure that work does not suffer.”

The concept that work and fun should go hand-in-hand is something that Ozone Group, the makers of NoMarks cream, swears by. Group Head (HR) Nirmal Rana says: “There is no profit that you can derive from a slogging soul. So, we make sure that all our employees are happy. We understand the need of rejuvenation & relaxation for higher productivity.”

But if you don’t have access to cricket portals, don’t worry, there’s still a way out. Sify has tied up with Microsoft to provide access to real-time updates for scores, match schedules, pictures and live commentary, all from the convenience of its homepage.

Sify Technologies president (consumer infrastructure business) Natesh Mani says: “Security policies in many firms prevent staff from accessing cricket portals. Since the Sify scorecard sits on the Sify homepage, it helps addressing this issue.”

So, all you poor cubicle souls, de ghuma ke.