Management: Spacing it Out

WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING NORMS IN PLACE, OPEN OFFICE DESIGNS ARE BEING TURNED UPSIDE DOWN

- SONAL KHETARPAL

At 9.00 am every day, Pranav Primlani, Talent Management Specialist at Dr Reddy’s Laboratories gets out of his car in the parking lot of the company’s office in Hyderabad's Banjara Hills, wearing a mask. He then stops at the screening point, sanitises his hand, takes out his phone, and fills in the e-self declaration form about his health and travel history. A security official checks his body temperature, scans the barcode on Keep Safe, Dr Reddy’s in-house app, and updates his temperature on the app. Employees who fail to download the app are denied entry. Primlani says his heart skips a beat every time his temperature is checked, “but it is for our safety only.”

“With Unlock 1.0 kicking in and more people are allowed inside offices, we have come up with several measures that are preventive, reactive and proactive around three key pillars — Infrastructure, Process and People — to ensure business continuity,” says Thakur Pherwwani, Head of Safety, Health, Environment and Corporate Sustainability, Dr Reddy’s.

As health and hygiene becomes priority, companies are going the extra mile to ensure employee safety at work. While earlier, walls were brought down to create open office spaces to foster collaboration and camaraderie among staff, the layout has now been turned on its head. Employees are now sitting 1-2 metres away from their colleagues. Crowding around water coolers and passageways are strict no-nos. Meeting rooms are locked, and eating alone is the new normal.

The First Steps