Ketto: Adapting To Changing Work Trends

Dealing with cultural, economic and organisational shifts

Writer- Vindy Dias

Author- Kartik Kulshrestha

In progressive work culture, organisational change is inevitable. With the incipience of rapid and turbulent changes, any organisation is likely to feel the pressure to adapt. Under such circumstances, it is essential to study definite shifts and bring in structural changes. Adaptability is central to an evolving workspace, and failing to recognise this may cause structural damage and unpredictable employee behaviour.

Ketto has seen a dramatic change in the work trend over the past year. We have not merely adapted but progressively embraced these changes and built around the evolving work trend. We cannot deny that face-to-face communication is the most effective way to generate trust. Even with all the tools available today, there is a high chance of depreciating bonds in the absence of non-verbal cues.

Today, establishing a face-to-face connection with colleagues is impossible. Last year, to retain the kind of organisational culture and values we have had for a long time, we adopted the following measures -

• Staying Inclusive

Even though women make up 39% of global employment, they account for 59% of aggregate job losses. A recent study by McKinsey and Company states that women were 1.8 times more likely to lose jobs when the pandemic hit. It could affect the gender ratio in any organisation. We are happy to inform you that Ketto has been working closely on its inclusivity and gender diversity beyond sex, race and sexuality. With a 10% rise in the first year to 33%-44% as of April 2021, efforts are still on to bridge this gap in gender ratio.

The past year has been troublesome for all of us. But by reigniting our brand philosophy- “Helping make good things happen” we have grown as an organisation. Our CEOs have supplied us with constant motivation while appealing to us to help everyone in need. We have raised more than 1100 crores for 2.8 lakh+ fundraisers with more than 5.5 lakh donors. As a business, we have jumped from 65 employees in March 2020 to close to 250 employees in May 2021.

• Modernising Traditional Work Arrangements

Inability to meet new age challenges is an indicator of an outdated and traditional working system. To keep up with the ongoing changes, Ketto has taken strides to modernise its work culture. Our employees work remotely now. They get to create their work environment according to their working style. They can increase their productivity by creating a workspace that aligns with their needs perfectly. One of our main focuses is to have a boundary between work and home. It is not only necessary for better performance, but also to focus on mental well being. In the past year, mental health awareness has seen an increase in the company. We have conducted Burnout Surveys, counselling sessions by mental health professionals, and one-on-one sessions to release any prolonged exhaustion/stress.

• Focusing on Intrinsic Values

Creating and upholding the value for the work put in by employees is a great motivator and performance enhancer. We have noticed that when employees work remotely, they might miss the organisational culture that they once witnessed while they were still working at the office.

We understand that people can get stressed and feel lonely during these difficult times. Hence, we have started organising engagement activities to provide our employees with an escape from work and a chance to interact with their colleagues. We conduct biweekly engagements like games, stand-up comedy and mentalist performances to help blow off steam. We encourage everyone to video engage with everyone during meetings while also taking the chance to recognise company and employee milestones.

We have encouraged our employees to discover their interests in books, podcasts, movies and share them with the Ketto team. We also have started a learning club for podcast/movie suggestions and encourage cross-departmental learning through access to different team meetings.

• Building A System of Effective Interaction

Since the very beginning, Ketto has been an organisation that has valued interaction and effective communication highly. We have always encouraged a sense of appreciation among employees for their hard work and achievements (personal/professional). We have seen more peer-to-peer recognition since people started working remotely. We have also strategically made other recognition programs more democratic to include every opinion in the decision-making process.

We have redesigned our onboarding process in a way that no recruit feels unwelcome. We have focused on conducting informal chats between our old and new employees to bolster interactions beyond work, which is massively needed while working remotely.

We encourage managers to guide their subordinates at every step while regularly checking in on their performance. Employees have ownership of conducting the tasks in their desired way, making them more responsible. We have also introduced productivity trackers to help all our employees track their growth and enhance their performance in the organisation.

Organisational culture cannot remain stationary when everything is changing around us. Economic uncertainties and cultural shifts require fast and effective remedies. Operations and activities done in person now require new technologies and platforms for execution. We need to respond to change with adaptability and creativity. Ketto has done precisely that! It has set up a thriving WFH culture, introduced innovations for easy operations and continues to adapt its response to employee and customer needs.