Innovative Employee Management Trends That Make Workplace Exciting Paid leaves for both parents, transferable leaves among employees, dog-friendly offices, and lots more! Keeping up with the demand of their young workforce, start-ups have come up with innovative and exciting HR policies that empower all employees. Glance through our pick of young businesses where innovation and experimentation are an integral part of their work culture.

1. Flipkart

Choose What You Want

Flipkart's "Industry First Flex Benefits' allows employees to pick and choose the services they want from their employer. For instance, an employee can ask for assistance in adoption or surrogacy while another can opt for old parents care policy. Smriti Krishna Singh, Chief Human Resources Officer, Flipkart shares, "Recognizing the fact that today's workforce is diverse and can have varied personal and professional needs, we have recently introduced FlexBen, specifically crafted based on feedback from our employees. The programme will offer greater flexibility and choice in selecting and funding employee benefits."
These programmes enable employees to customize their package according to their distinct requirements.

2. Zomato

Need you both

A child needs both parents and Zomato completely gets it. The company has introduced paid parental leaves for all employees across the globe for 26 weeks. The leave applies in cases of surrogacy, adoption and same-sex partners. Additionally, the new parents will also be given an endowment of $1,000 per child.
Deepinder Goyal, Founder, Zomato says, "A lot of imbalance at the top stems from an unequal leave policy for men and women when they welcome their children to the world." Goyal is a true follower of the Gandhian principle of "Be the change you wish to see in the world' and aims to create a positive work culture by taking forward such initiatives at his organization.

3. InMobi

Shared work, shared leaves

Employees at InMobi can donate their leaves to colleagues who need them during an emergency. The company also provides salary advance benefits with zero interest. Sahil Mathur, Global Head of Human Resources and Culture, InMobi Group, shares, "Employee-first culture has enabled us to retain its top talent where 40% of InMobians consists of tenured employees who have been with us between five to seven years."

4. Ola

Dogs' Day Out

Offices with childcare facilities are not a rare sight but very few organizations care to bother about pet parents. Realizing how important you are to your furry babies, Ola allows employees to walk in with their dogs. Talking about the work culture, Srinivas Chunduru, CEO & Board Member—Skilling & Group CHRO, Ola shares, "Our commitment to ensuring employee satisfaction, constant workforce engagement, benefits and compensation, and diversity plays a key role in increasing employee productivity and fostering a supportive work environment."

4. MakeMyTrip

No "Caps' Attached

Apart from providing numerous travel packages, MakeMyTrip has completely done away with the concept of fixed leaves by introducing an uncapped leave policy. Employees can avail as many leaves as they want, within the given framework subject to approval by their manager. "We want our employees to think like owners and consider what's best for themselves as well as the company. Letting employees figure out their own vacation time shows that we trust and respect them, which in turn strengthens their commitment to the company by building an ownership culture," says Nikita Zutshi, Director, Human Resource, MakeMyTrip.

5. BYJU'S

You Matter

Work-life often gets hectic and there are times when we struggle to keep up our worth. To save employees from such crisis, BYJU'S has dedicated an entire week in a year to pamper its employees. Every day of the week is dedicated to learning a new skill - from origami to public speaking and salsa dancing. Pravin Prakash, Chief People Officer, BYJU'S, claims, "The objective has always been to create a collaborative and inclusive workplace where employees can interact frequently to invoke the feeling of being one big family. At work, we also organize multiple employee engagement events that pep up the work atmosphere." The company also designs appreciation cards in which employees write personal messages and shares them with colleagues.

6. Gozoop

Rejoice, women!

Periods can make or break a woman's health and productivity. Digital agency start-up Gozoop has taken a leap by introducing a menstrual leave policy. The organization has self-approved menstrual leave option for its female employees. Bansi Raja, Chief Happiness Officer, Gozoop shares, "We are very open and welcoming towards suggestions coming from employees. After conducting a voting procedure, we started implementing the policy. This has been a great success and in no way has hampered the organization's productivity."

(This article was first published in the September 2019 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here)