Our employees are our heroes- this is how the Paytm Family is supporting each other during the pandemic
At Paytm, our employees are at the heart of everything we do. During the COVID-19 pandemic, as we all adjust to the new normal and work out of our homes, there is fear, worry and despair all around us. So in times like these, it is now more important than ever to prioritize the best interests of our colleagues and their well-being, both physical and mental.
With the second and more gruesome wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, revisiting our policies and offerings to our Paytm family became even more important. Here’s a look at how all of us left no stone unturned in doing our part during these unprecedented times.
While it was our human resources and administration departments that initiated the efforts, they were soon joined by hundreds of other colleagues, from across teams, who acted as volunteers to support each other.
A Special Task Force with employees stepping up across the country
Our founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma had once said, “We can all be heroes, just for one day”.
And it’s that spirit that’s instilled in all of us. The HR and administration departments established a special task force to oversee all relief and aid work. The idea behind the task force wasn’t just to help our team members, but also their family members in times of need.
When we began looking for volunteers to coordinate COVID-19 assistance in different cities, we wanted a team of 30 people. Through an internal communications portal, we requested people to step up to be volunteers. But we didn’t just get 30 people, instead, we got over thousands of entries, out of which 120 were selected to be volunteers, so as to ensure we don’t burden many employees.
And that’s how a nationwide volunteer network was established. The work was divided as per region, with each region getting its own SPOC, ensuring that our team members in every nook and corner of the country knew that they could reach out to us for anything.
Immediate Medical Assistance
In the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw that the need for medical assistance was more than ever before.
Within hours, a 24X7 helpline was established and as soon as it was up and running, it became the go-to resource for many of us. Calls started pouring in, with cries for help with oxygen, hospital beds increasing day by day. It became an emotional moment for many, but we stayed strong and on a war footing, the team sourced oxygen concentrators that were delivered to the homes of those in need.
One of our HR team members recalls getting a call from an unknown number in the middle of the night. It was an employee, who needed urgent oxygen support for his mother, whose saturation levels were dipping below 85. After calming down the employee and promising aid, the HR team member flung into immediate action and oxygen was arranged within the next few hours.
In another case, one of our colleagues in Bengaluru fainted in his home. He lived alone with his wife, who was in shock and didn’t know what to do next. She picked up the phone and dialled the Paytm helpline number that her husband had once mentioned. Without wasting seconds, the team that received the call reached out to a volunteer from the city. The volunteer, who had taken all precautions, then rushed the sick employee to the hospital.
While these are just a few instances, our team handled over 150 requests per day, during the peak. Even today, they continue to support everyone by figuring out hospital beds, oxygen supply, ambulances, doctor appointments, RT-PCR tests and also medicine procurement and delivery.
The team is also constantly monitoring the situation and ensuring that there was no delay in any sort of assistance. Whether it was during the day or in the middle of the night, the team had no hiccups in answering calls and ensuring emergency help to those in need.
Food delivered for COVID-19 patients and those in isolation
For our colleagues who have tested positive or are in isolation, we have been running food delivery services in coordination with cloud kitchens across the country. Since the beginning of the pandemic last year, we have been distributing food from these cloud kitchens among migrant workers and people with limited access to food and groceries.
Vaccination for All
We have started a company-wide vaccination drive in tie-up with leading hospitals across the country. Already, thousands of our Paytm family members have been vaccinated since May 1 as we are organising vaccination camps in all major centres across the country.
At Paytm, we have also started vaccinating our 8,000+ field service executives.
Our aim is to vaccinate 45,000 individuals that consists of our employees, their immediate family members and other dependents.
Focus is on Mental health
We understand that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the way we lead our lives for over a year now. We have all had to deal with loss, pain and loneliness in one way or the other.
So, at Paytm, the first thing we did was become even more understanding about the work pressure, and challenges of work from home. This began with a flexible work culture, extended deadlines and no questions asked leaves, whether it is for physical or mental health reasons.
We have facilitated talks with top psychologists in the country, so that all of us have access to the best in mental healthcare.
Town hall to clear all doubts about COVID-19 pandemic
Understanding the times we live in and the doubts and fears in our mind, we also conducted a town hall with Dr Ritesh Malik of Radix Healthcare along with our CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma. With Sharma as the moderator, Dr Malik took questions from Paytm employees and their family members about everything related to COVID-19 — from the first symptoms, to how to measure the SPO2 level, when to raise the alarm to the doctor and also about vaccination. The town hall really helped all of us understand the do’s and don’ts during COVID-19.
COVID-19 insurance to financial support for bereaved families
With so many of us being impacted by the pandemic, we have introduced several initiatives to help each other.
We have launched a special COVID Mediclaim option for employees which is over and above our existing mediclaim policy. It gives an option to have COVID-specific cover for family members and save general Mediclaim for the entire year. We have also introduced COVID Specific Term Life Insurance, again this is in addition to our existing Group Term Life Insurance policy. This is available for all at Paytm.
We have also given an option to take a year’s salary in advance so that our colleagues can meet any urgent financial requirements. Being understanding of these times, we have given the choice of flexible return of the said advance.
COVID-19 has taken away many of our near and dear ones. In the unfortunate case of the death of any of our colleagues, we want to stand by the bereaved family in their time of grief. As a helping hand for the family, we have announced financial support for an entire year by giving the employee’s salary to his/her nominee. Our HR team will also evaluate the possibility of offering employment opportunities to a family member of the deceased.
Our timely help made sure that we were able to save many of our Paytm family members. But none of it would have been possible without our volunteers from across teams, and we will forever be grateful and thankful for their undeterred support.
Thank you Paytm team for helping people and saving lives. Your contribution in this crisis, highlights the strength and power of a real team. We are proud to have each one of you and thankful for each of your contributions.
We have also led a large-scale COVID-19 relief effort for the nation, bringing in thousands of oxygen concentrators and donating it to hospitals, setting up oxygen plants across the country, and much more.
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