Diminishing The Stereotype Around Disabilities! By D George - Captain \"I only studied till Class X otherwise I would have had more options before me”. His disability would not allow him to walk long or take up tough jobs, though George is ready to try his hand at other jobs. “The main obstacle I face is convincing people that I can work and asking them to give me a chance,” says the 37- year-old who has worked as an electrician, a painter and a plumber to eke a living. Driving has been a childhood desire and he learnt to operate a two-wheeler on his own. He had seen his neighbours drive vehicles, which in his mind represented independence. “More than 10 year ago, I learnt to ride a two-wheeler. I bought a second-hand bike and asked a friend to sit behind me to help me and that is how I learnt to drive. It was not easy as my legs are weak and I cannot put much stress on my back. It also took a lot more effort for me to get comfortable while driving. I have been using my modified bike to attend to any household-related work. The freedom and independence of not depending on anyone else is special\". George has been shifting jobs to beat the monotony, and to earn better. He found out about Rapido through an advertisement and applied for a job with the company. “On an average, I earn ₹20,000 a month which is more than what I earned in any of my previous jobs. Besides, there is the satisfaction that comes from being on my own. I decide which ride to take and can also choose when to take a ride\". 50
We believe in celebrating all the festivals together and wishing each other health and happiness! Thanks to our Rapido family, we were able to indulge in some fun engagement activities in the past quarter: International Women's Day The day we celebrated the inspiring women in our lives through women of substance event, martial art session and a soulful musical performance to end the evening. Hobby Classes with Habbit: The weekly classes with the intention of inculcating new hobbies within our employees'. These month long classes included photography basics, full body yoga, zumba and mind coaching, Rapido's Got Talent: The platform where we brag about the many talents our Rapido family possesses with amazing audio/video clips and their journey behind these talents. Holi Celebration: Our Holi celebration at Bangalore office with chaat and dessert counters, colors and a mini live concert with Bollywood retro music. International Earth Day: The week where employees' shared their sustainable lifestyle with us and the little habits they follow to make the earth a healthier place to love. 51
Our Initiatives for the Rapido family to help them beat the second wave of Covid-19! Covid-19 Incident Management Committee: During the high surge of Covid-19 cases in March and April, we formed an internal Covid-19 Incident Management Committee. At present the committee consists of 35 members including the Founders, BU Heads and a few other team members from different departments. These members will always be available for you to reach out to in case you are looking for any support or assistance in terms of a medical emergency. The list can be referred to here: Committee Members List Holistic 14 Day Quarantine Package: To help our covid-19 affected employees' in coping up with this phase and dealing with the anxiousness and stress that comes along with the isolation, Rapido introduced the 14 day Quarantine Program to ensure the employees' emotional, physical, and mind well-being. This program includes 60 minutes one on one sessions: Yoga & Meditation to calm the mind and heart. Food Expert/Nutritionist for diet guidance to recover and regain strength. Mind expert/counsellor to help you understand how to deal with Covid-19 & isolation. Employee and Family Medical Emergency Fund: To ensure that during these tough times we are able to support our Rapido family who may be struggling to manage resources at their end to save their near and dear ones, Rapido has set up a Medical Emergency Fund of 20 lacs for employees’ and their immediate family members (self, parents, spouse and kids) who are in need of medical emergencies for surgeries, hospitalization and critical illness. To understand the benefit further please refer here: Emergency Fund Process To avail this benefit please write to us at [email protected]. 52
Covid-19 Vaccine Drive The safety and well being of our employees' and their dependents has been our top priority during this pandemic! On 31st May we successfully completed our first Covid-19 Vaccination Drive in partnership with Manipal Hospitals. This drive covered our employees', their family members, Alumni members and the security team at our Bangalore Rapido office. Kudos to the HR team, IT & Admin team and Housekeeping & Security team that ensured this drive took place seamlessly with necessary precautions in place. We also completed our second drive in partnership with Apollo Hospitals on 12th June at BGS Public School. 53
Appreciation Messages We would like to thank our stakeholders, employees and alumni members who expressed their appreciation and gratitude with us over emails and personal messages. We are proud to have been able to extend a helping hand to our employees and their families during these tough times. 54
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GREETINGS FROM GUWAHATI BY RAVISH MALHOTRA
Not just another travel experience. This article is not about seeing different places or exploring. This is rather about finding inner peace. Being with your “family” and cherishing the moments. With all the sad things happening around I got a chance to get out and see my family last December. And where exactly? A place which is called as gateway of North East – Guwahati. So as soon as you land in this beautiful city you feel as if this place is already familiar. You are humbly greeted not just by the airport staff but also by the taxi drivers outside airport. Being from a Punjabi family I always feared that how am I going to converse, but seems like everyone is comfortable talking in Hindi J. And Ahhh…don’t miss having delectable tea just outside, more famously known as “Lal Chai” (Tea without milk). All your travel tiredness is gone within seconds. And it’s not just regular tea and water, it’s a blend of all the masalas that gives it’s unique taste. Well, waiting outside, sipping my cup of tea, after a few minutes I see my “family”. Who exactly? My lovely and adorable 10 year old daughter and my beautiful would be wifeJ. So we go back home, settle down and I quarantine myself. Ofcourse, did you think I would forget that? Alright, so it’s been 7 days, I am doing fine, all is good and I come out of my room. It’s a weekend and I have not stepped out of the room since, so we decide to take a stroll (but in a car :D). Our first destination – Deepor Beel. And when you reach there, boy oh boy, the scene is unequivocally beautiful. First of all you won’t even believe that it’s a lake. It is so humongous, it feels as if you are in front of an ocean (I am not kidding). And with a backdrop of mountains, if feels as if you are in a different world. So serene, breezy and quite. On the road side you will find tea stalls selling chips and other condiments. But my favorite – “Jhal Muri”. Another flavor of Assam that caught me by surprise. Uff…that pungent taste of mustard oil did it’s magic. This entire experience is so satiable that you would keep wanting to come back. Come next weekend and our next destination. Mighty Brahmaputra..!!. The moment I reached there, I bowed down to it. So fierceful and in that moment you realize the power of nature. While driving along it’s bank we reached a place where water had descended and one could easily reach on the other side of it. So we hired a boat, the oarsman was very kind to take us to the other side in just INR 30. Upon reaching there my eye were wide open. 57
Technically we were standing inside Brahmaputra and since the water had rescinded, it left behind a river bank with white sand and not even a iota of any print. It was so smooth as if someone had spread the sand with a butter knife. It could put beaches in Mauritius to shame (seen in pics only). Well, now was the time to have some fun and leave some imprints and let the world know that we were here. So, me and my daughter played all the silly games we could. Muddled in the sand, made sand castles, raced and what not. Phewww….what a moment. With no one around to be seen, cold breezy air, with sun shine. It was an experience of heaven on earth. And when you have your family members around to enjoy all of it, it takes your happiness to a different level. Surely we missed bringing our basket of breads and some wine;) I just abhor the feeling of leaving that place behind and I am definitely going back. Just when I thought that this city cannot surprise me anymore. It just did. I mean, people here are crazy about music. Being a music head myself, it was a pleasant surprise. You will find bus load of people going for picnic with loud music on every weekend. Every house in morning will be playing something along with their daily chores. Every night there will some party or celebrations. And Assamese music itself is sugar for your ears. From the day I have heard Papon, I have become his huge fan. I want to tell a lot more but the space here precludes me. But I am happy to share my experience otherwise. We can chat on 9953033227 or at [email protected]. Sharing some pics below from my experience. 58
Poetry By Qurat Ul Ain UNUSUAL EMOTION We both want to protest but no one wants to be the first one. Like a magnet, we repel as if struggling to meet, like the similar poles. Same and yet so distant. Rebellious! Rage makes me feel quiet, not a usual emotion. Not as perceptible as one falling from the eyes, an emotion. An emotion, or a drop from the ocean. What good does it do to be vigilant when all it ensnares... Sometimes in sorrow and sometimes in confusion. What if the mind had a sieve! What would you choose to filter? When the lightening slices the skies and the walls of clouds Who passes the sieve of the sky? The good or the evil. The angels or the devil What do you decipher of the rains falling on the roofs and heads? An amusement to the roofs and misery to the heads. The colour of the rain is sorrow. It is everything but Fuchsia. The ambush of nature from above the sky. Why do some songs pierce the heart? Like the stray bullets aimed at the targets, apart. A rendezvous of death and life. Strange... Like the autumn in summer. We both want to arrive but no one wants to be the first one. 59
June 2021 THE NEW RAPIDO FAMILY Welcoming our new family members! Tejas Sakpal Around December last year, I took a call to Engineering start my new journey with Rapido. From December till the time I joined the HR team made sure all my queries are resolved, made the process smooth and introduced to the leaders across different departments. I Joined the team on March 17th and was onboarded smoothly with sessions from Co- founders and the HR team, followed by different departments explaining the role they play within the organization. This helped me in understanding the overall system. We also did jumpstart sessions for the Engineering team, where each team explained the areas that they focus on and explained the tech stack. This resulted in me having a better picture about the system. And now straight into the flow, shipping out features with an amazing team, that always has something new to teach :) 60
The experience has been so overwhelming. To be Zeeshan Lohani part a of this wonderful and culturally driven Auto organization that is employee-centric. #GoRapido 61 I am so delighted to share my journey and thankful to the people managers for making it extremely pleasant. Prior to my joining I had shared a small write-up on my LinkedIn page about my interview experiences and I am equally excited to share the onboarding experience. Over the last few weeks the team has not left any stone unturned to make us feel comfortable and adaptive right from the virtual onboarding and letting us know the peers through various ice breaking sessions. These included Covid-19 related awareness, AHM sessions and other engagement activities. Regular communication on the organization and business updates through email and other channels has kept me abreast despite working from home. Being able to participate in the Covid-19 vaccination drive along with my dependents within a few days of joining was icing on the cake. This shows the employee-centric culture at Rapido. On the contrary, the new normal/WFH has brought our team and subordinates even closer in these unprecedented times, this wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts by out team members, the unconditional support and constant interaction we have with each other. Eagerly waiting to meet and greet all the team members and enjoy never ending conversations over coffee/snacks from the Rapido cafeteria once the lockdown is ceased.
Taking a ride down memory lane, September' Shruti Kocchar 2020 was when I began my internship CSD journey at Rapido. By April 2021, I successfully transitioned into a full-time employee! I joined Rapido in March in the B2B Operations team and my virtual onboarding The onboarding journey was smooth and the was a smooth experience. I was very HR team had organized the induction for all impressed with how well everything was the newcomers on Day 1 itself. It made planned right from the logistics to the blending in this fast-paced environment a onboarding sessions. little easier. In the first few weeks, it almost felt like I have Currently, I'm a junior copywriter and work been here for months :) closely with the Social media, Branding & I was fortunate enough to plan my relocation CRM teams. I'm surrounded by inspiring to Bangalore (from Gurgaon) in March, and people and their never-ending support always have the opportunity to work with my team in encourages me. I'm excited to see what's next! the office, albeit only for a few weeks. I would like to thank Rizwan and the entire team for making me feel so welcomed. We now continue to work together and support each other and our customers virtually! While the work has not changed much, I definitely miss the camaraderie and company of my colleagues, and the lunches we had together! Shireen Honmode Marketing 62
Madhvesh Begure Procurement I Joined Rapido in January and the I am glad to join Rapido and was content with onboarding process was smooth. A complete the fact that my onboarding formalities were day of induction was organized where we got completed within one day. a basic idea about how the various departments function. The virtual onboarding process was smooth and I received the access to various platforms I was given a very warm welcome and (Zoho inventory, Finly, Slack) within 2 days introduced to my team members as well as the to kickstart my work. The induction members from other departments. My conducted by the HR team was very helpful in colleagues assisted me by taking me through understanding about the different aspects of the processes and the ways of working here the organization and what work each department performs. My colleagues have Needless to say my on the job training was been very supportive and have also been fruitful and I am enjoying the learnings I am providing me the training I require in my new receiveing here . role here! There are a lot of employee engagement activities conducted by the HR team which is really fun and the work life balance has been good too. I would love to contribute to the company's growth even further. KV Vybhav Finance 63
Dimpy Nandwani Product Starting my first job, and that too virtually, was daunting, to say the least. Even though I had been interning at Rapido, the transition to a full-time role brought fresh expectations and experiences. Despite all the apprehensions, the onboarding process was quite comforting and assuring. For all the problems I faced, the HR team was just a mail away. It’s almost nine months since I have been associated with Rapido. I am yet to meet anyone physically from the team. Yet I know, whenever we do, it’ll be as easy and seamless as if we’ve been working alongside for ages! 64
June 2021 Celebrating Life Changing Events Our peers who got hitched and entered parenthood! WISHING HEALTH AND HAPPINESS TO THE FAMILIES!
Congratulations to the proud parents! Rajiv Bhyri (Supply) welcomed a baby girl Siva Surya (Operations) welcomed a baby girl 66
Nithyashree NA (Engineering) welcomed a baby girl Rajesh Jangir (Operations) welcomed a baby boy Linga Reddy (Engineering) welcomed a baby boy 67
May the years ahead be filled with joy for the newly married couples: Rishikesh SR (Co-founder) Priyal Bafna (Finance) 68
Pramod N (Data) 69
JUNE 2021 WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF RAPIDO'S PRODUCT? By Aravind Sanka KNOW ABOUT RAPIDO'S PRODUCT VISION FROM ONE OF OUR FOUNDERS HIMSELF! What will you find inside? Long term & short term product vision Departmental level contributions towards the product What the new design team is all about Expectations at people side Some fun and peppy questions 70
What is Rapido’s product vision? The major contribution of our vision comes from our product i.e., how can we make Rapido a more convenient and affordable mode of transport. As product plays a major role here, we expect all our team members to focus on it, be it a city manager or a member working in marketplace. Each one of us should focus on how we can optimize our work, come up with new ideas and achieve the vision we have set. We expect all our teams to co- own the product end to end. Do you have any industry benchmark in your mind? In every organization product plays a different role. For example: in a company like Biju’s, sales is the driving factor or in gaming companies, the company’s product owns the entire roadmap and P&L At Rapido we want the end to end product to be co-owned by each department, this includes the app experience, loyalty, dispatch. This also means that if our teams members are required to manage the P&L and be responsible for achieving the outcomes they should be able to do that. In many companies, only the inputs are owned by the teams, but we as an organization have to reach a path within an year where the outcomes and inputs both are co-owned by all the teams involved. This will also include growth and experience ownership. How can each department contribute to the overall vision of the company? One of the most important things for us as a company is how we are able to think ahead of the problems and achieve our vision. If we solve problems on a day to day basis it will only contribute to the present challenges and not to the overall vision. Ride sharing exists in India since the past 10 years which means a lot of products that we think about now have already been thought through. However, bike taxi is unique. These drivers are not professionals and are becoming a part of this type of economy for the first time. Even when it comes to the customers, we were or are their first bike ride sharing experience. Hence, our offerings are unique even though this concept is old. We have to come up with very unique products that organizations who have similar background like Ola and Uber have not thought about because they have been constrained to four wheeler or three wheeler rides and are not heavy on the two wheeler rides. So, we expect all the departments to contribute towards aspects such as - how do we run fast with experiments even though we have a big team, how do we think ahead and build flagship products. Each member has to be very close to the business and ground level realities to achieve the vision much faster. 71
What are the broad OKR's you are planning to look at for all the teams? The two major factors at a broad level are app experience and fulfillment, we want to become better at these so that we can become a better ride sharing organization and differentiate Rapido from other companies. Ultimately, transport is a commodity but the way we are able to make people choose Rapido as compared to others is by improving the experience for them. For the next few months we would be concentrating on the onboarding, retention, customer and captain support experience, app experience and fulfillment. What are the skill sets employees should upgrade/possess to start contributing on these OKR's quickly? Decision making and having their own product vision is something all our team members are expected to get better at. This will make us a different organization compared to the other companies. As a company we have a common vision, but each department will be responsible for their respective line items. The teams members need to be clear about how they see their product coming along in the next 1-2 years and how they can work backwards to understand the short term and long terms tasks. Have you planned to introduce any new job families for the product team? We have brought in product analysis and design already and now we are ideating on customer and user research as a practice. Our goal is to make everyone equally responsible for the experience of their own division. From the job family point of view, we want to bring in user research as a new team either in this or in the next quarter because we want to get better at constantly understanding customer needs. What is the new design team all about? Earlier design used to be a different team, but now for every problem statement the product owner will have a dedicated design team so that the designer can go deeper into one problem statement rather than solving problems at a boarder level. Each team is expected to think about the design when they come up with a product. 72
What is your expectations at people side? We expect each team member to think like a leader and understand how they can convince others that their product makes sense and has to be prioritized compared to others, either with data or with benchmarking. We encourage the teams to not give up on the roadmap if challenges arise, they are expected to define their own vision and how it is supposed to look down the line. We have already built in a lot of features in the last 1-2 years, now our focus has to be on how these existing features can be mastered. Each time a new feature might not solve a problem, sometimes getting better at what we already have will solve majority of the problems and will make the product a lot better rather than looking at the next new feature we can build. The Peppy Section What was your most recent trip and how was the experience? The last trip I took was in December for about a week. It was a great vacation where I experienced snow for the first time in Srinagar. As it was the year end, the trip helped us to retrospect on what we can focus on in 2021 and what is it that we can do better as a team. We had huge ambitions last year and because of the covid-19 situation we could not fulfil majority of our dreams. What is on your bucket list/your goals for this year in your personal life? I am planning to form reading as one of the habits this year and read at least 5-10 books in the next 6 months. 73
MORE FROM OUR PRODUCT TEAM By Shashank Raghavendra and Donela Suryanarayana What will you find inside? Role of product management Long-term and short-term goals for the team New age competitors for the department People strategy to drive the team Process driven approach for team objectives 74
What is the role of product management in overall product strategy? A product manager's main goal is to solve a business problem using a product and hence it is very important for the product to be aligned to the business strategy. A product that solves a user problem but is not aligned to the overall business vision and strategy is not a viable solution in the long run. A PM is responsible for coming up with the strategy for their respective themes/products and is the prime owner of the same. A PM needs to evangelize the strategy to the other key members of the team and also needs to ensure that all the efforts are focused in right direction. While it’s important to have a long term strategy and plan, it’s equally important for a PM to continuously evaluate the strategy based on market conditions and pivot if required. What are the long term and short term goals for the team? Short term: Given there is a dip in the demand and orders, the current goals are around learning and capability building. Build capabilities and work on system stability that will help us hit the ground running when thing start getting back to normal. Put some effort in support captains and customers get through the pandemic with loans, insurance and support with vaccination. Long term: Build demand and scale supply to hit 1 mil / day orders. Build first in class products which can make Rapido a unicorn. Become a product driven company. Name something without which the department can not function, it can be or it can be fun. Clarity and buy - in on the long term strategy and vision is crucial for a team to function effectively. We are the advocates of customers and captains without knowing them this team can not function On a fun note - This team cannot function if there isn’t any argument. What do you feel is the benchmark or whom do you think are the new age competitors for your department? Companies like Uber, Gojek, DiDi, Ola are setting the benchmark for building brilliant products. Given the target segment, we can’t discount companies like Swiggy, Zomato, Deliveroo and Dunzo that are building products which are tugging the right strings like retention, loyalty and usability for the gig segment. Though our Product teams are much smaller compared to the unicorns, we have been able to roll out multiple new products and offerings in a very short span of time. 75
Especially speaking about product team, we think we need to benchmark the following with different companies. 1.Design - CRED. They have set a new benchmark for design in Indian market. Something different and out of box which no one has tried out. 2. User empathy - Gojek, Urban company, Uber 3. Marketing - Zomato, Swiggy, Dunzo What is your people strategy to drive these teams? Hiring the right person for the job: Someone who is driven, not afraid to fail and who is humble and a team player. Give necessary freedom to work as per their style yet holding accountable for an outcome/KPI. Evangelize business vision and get a buy in from everyone. Motivate them to experiment and remove the fear of failure. Back them whenever needed. Help them upskill by driving various engagement and brainstorming sessions. What is that one thing you would like to do/introduce for this team? With the pandemic and work from home, inter-team collaboration has gone down drastically. While we want people to focus on KPIs and work towards one goal, cross-pollination of ideas and collaboration is equally important. Are you passionate about driving the team objectives through a process driven approach or otherwise? We truly believe that discipline gives us freedom. While we want people to have the freedom to achieve the KPIs how they see it right, there needs to be some structure for all the teams to come together to achieve a certain goal. The teams have a fair bit of freedom to implement the changes to move the KPI needle however ensuring that there is structure in the way things are executed, hypothesis are validated, design lifecycle and sprint planning and how we work with the tech teams to take products to market. 76
AND THERE IS MORE AHEAD... By Dimpy Nandwani Is there any learning assignment you have recently indulged in within your team which you would like tell us about? Graduating from college only a month ago, I was skeptical about how I would continue on my personal growth and learnings that go beyond my work profile. When I joined Rapido’s team, even though all my team members worked on the same problem and goal, I realized the expertise and background we came from were highly diverse. Some had strong technical background, some came from analytical background and some had expertise on the design front. I, on the other hand, came from a psychology background and had an interest in understand people and their behaviour. We, as a team collectively started weekly sessions titled ‘Think out Loud’. It’s a free space, where we pick up topics from different domains, and share, question and learn from each other. Through these weekly sessions, I get to explore, read and learn more outside my domain. 77
By Apabrita Biswas What is the role of the different sub functions (content design/analyst/management) in the overall product strategy? A good strategy is to include all other facets of the product without which the product would be incomplete. And therefore a product strategy cannot function on its own without the other departments. You cannot make biriyani without all the 5 different spices and irrespective of the quantity all of them play an equally big part in creating the unique flavour of biriyani. Name something without which the Product department cannot function, it can be logical or fun. Well, Team Marvel cannot function without gossips of customer and captain complaints. (Recent gossip is that customers have even started referring to captain issues related to cancellation due to payment mode, distance and fare as #captain_interviews). What fun things have you guys recently done as a team? The product team is always up at its feet. While we all cannot go out and are in different cities, normalizing talking about our personal lives and random stuff within our Team Marvel, in between meetings and work (kind of an online version of chai breaks) is the biggest fun and relaxation we could afford. We are planning a Team Marvel Stay-cation soon too! Is there any learning assignment you have recently indulged in within your team which you would like tell us about? We, in Team Marvel, have started a new weekly ritual, named TOL (Think Out Loud). We all gather to discuss and debate on a common topic and crazy ideas around that topic. It is a fun, friendly and peer- learning session designed to keep us pushing towards learning something new all the while making us feel inclusive through acceptance of our opinions, no matter how different. We, without fear of being judged, keep asking questions no matter how silly and even cross questions each other with counter-opinions irrespective of the hierarchy. The only ground rules are honesty and mutual respect. 78
NEW LIFESTYLE: WORKING FROM HOME
Work-life balance is not only important for our emotional and physical well-being, but it also creates space, time and energy for career development too! As per the research conducted on The Impact of work-life balance on the wellbeing if employees by Malgorzata Kluczyk - almost 200 in-depth interviews with 78 professionals from global firms were conducted, equal number of men and women, and most of the interviewees were between 30 and 50 years old, with at least one dependent child, and in either middle or senior management roles. About 30% of the men and 50% of women appeared to consciously resist working long hours, describing a variety of strategies they developed for maintaining a healthier work-life balance. The research showed that achieving better balance between professional and personal priorities boils down to a combination of reflexivity, increase in self- awareness — and intentional role redefinition. Importantly, it showed that this is not a one-time fix, but rather, a cycle that we must engage in continuously as our circumstances and priorities evolve. 80
This cycle is made up of five distinct steps: 1.Pause and deformalize: Take a step back and ask yourself: What is currently causing me stress, unbalance, or dissatisfaction? How are these circumstances affecting how I perform and engage with my job? How are they impacting my personal life? What am I prioritizing? What am I sacrificing? Only after you take a mental pause and acknowledge these factors you can start working on it. 2. Pay attention to your emotions: Once you’ve increased your awareness of your current situation, examine how that situation makes you feel. Ask yourself, do I feel energized, fulfilled, satisfied? Or do I feel angry, resentful, sad? A rational understanding of the decisions and priorities driving your life is important, but equally important is emotional reflexivity. Awareness of your emotional state is essential in order to determine the changes you want to make in your work and in your life. At Rapido we have created a personal forum for you to address your emotional concerns. While the employees are working from home, there are certain situations where an employee would require an advice or suggestion to cope up with any tough times both professionally or personally. For any such assistance please explore the various counselling options on ResilienceWorks by logging in your corporate account. 81
3. Reprioritize: Increasing your cognitive and emotional awareness gives you the tools you need to put things into perspective and determine how your priorities need to be adjusted. Ask yourself: What am I willing to sacrifice, and for how long? If I have been prioritizing work over family, for example, why do I feel that it is important to prioritize my life in this way? Is it really necessary? Is it really inevitable? What regrets do I already have, and what will I regret if I continue along my current path? Our priorities often shift faster than our day-to-day time allocation habits. One participant described how he still saw himself as a professional, but redefined that professional role to be more inclusive of other valued roles, such as that of parent. 4. Consider your alternatives: Before jumping into solutions, first reflect on the aspects of your work and life that could be different in order to better align with your priorities. Are there components of your job that you would like to see changed? How much time would you like to spend with your family, or on hobbies? Changing situation takes time and experimentation. 5. Implement changes. Finally, once you’ve recognized your priorities and carefully considered the options that could help you improve, it’s time to take action. That can mean a “public” change — something that explicitly shifts your colleagues’ expectations, such as taking on a new role that’s designed to be less time-demanding or allows for a compressed-week model — or a “private” change, in which you informally change your work patterns, without necessarily attempting to change your colleagues’ expectations. 82
Both public and private changes can be effective strategies, as long as they’re implemented in a sustainable manner. Private changes might mean self-imposing boundaries (such as choosing not to work on evenings, weekends or during holidays — and sticking to that decision and public changes can mean that rather than simply telling your supervisor that you want more time off or more flexible hours, securing support from key mentors, partners, and coworkers — or even better, formally applying for a new internal position or a flexible working scheme — is likely to result in more lasting change. Lastly, to make real changes in your life, you must continuously remember to pause, connect with your emotions, rethink your priorities, evaluate alternatives, and implement changes. Throughout your personal and professional lives. 83
With the above study in mind, we would like to remind you on the below mentioned WFH guidelines which have been incorporated keeping in mind the recent times and the need for all of us to be little more empathetic, mindful and emotionally intelligent for each other’s well-being. We understand that between socializing, parenting, running errands, and working, the coronavirus has significantly altered the way we live our lives long with the sudden shift to working remotely from our private spaces. While there are certainly benefits to working from home, the transition and finding balance within your life can be difficult sometimes. We bring to you some tips and etiquettes to manage your work-from-home lifestyle and create a better and healthier work-life balance! Tips to Manage Work-life Balance: 1.Create a Dedicated Workspace: Creating a designated workspace is essential to creating balance and making a clear divide between your work hours and your free time. Make sure other people living with you know this is your “office” so you can create healthy boundaries. 2. Take Regular Breaks: Schedule regular breaks throughout your day. Eating lunch with a family member or going on a walk are great ways to spend some mental time away from work. By regularly removing yourself from the work environment for 10 or 15 minutes, you’ll feel refreshed and ready to be productive when you get back to the computer instead of exhausted and unable to focus. 84
3. Establish a Routine: Keeping a regular schedule before the pandemic probably looks different than keeping a schedule now. Whether you’re living with roommates, alone, or taking care of your family at home, establishing a routine that works best for your situation will be key. Just remember that not every day will go according to plan and that’s completely normal. 4. Communicate Your Needs clearly: Overcommunication is essential, especially during a time of social distancing and increased isolation. Your team won’t be able to see if you’re having a hard time managing tasks and your family might not know you’re working on an important project if you don’t tell them. If you feel overwhelmed by your workload or you’re struggling to make connections in a remote setting, talk to your manager or peers and look for solutions together 5. Engage in self-care and be kind to yourself: Prioritize a relaxation or self-care activity as taking care of yourself will help you function best in your roles. Take a personal day off if required and rejuvenate yourself! 6. Stay connected: Have a weekly check-in meeting with a friend or family member who is experiencing similar challenges at home. 7. If you have children, involve them in your planning: Create a structured but flexible schedule and allow your children. You can have them Facetime family members, engage them in educational videos/books or play games/ puzzles and set a timer for them—if they do not bother you until the timer goes off, then they get a small reward (ideally a toy or a sticker rather than food). 85
Work From Home Etiquettes: 1. Pick the Appropriate Method of Communication: Choosing the most appropriate communication method should be well thought through to ensure the conversation/discussion is productive and efficient. Deciding when to send an email, when to use the calendar invite, when to make a call and when to use a messaging tool (slack/hangouts/WhatsApp) can save your as well as others time and energy. 2. Provide a Meeting Agenda: By providing an agenda in the scheduled meeting the other members would be aware of what to expect, can guess the estimate of how long will the meeting run and will allow them to prepare talking points. 3. Make calls as short as possible: Before setting up a day full of half-hour meetings, remember how long those chats would have taken in an office. More often than not, you will find that a shorter call is far more appropriate. 4. Respect Off-Hours Time: We advise you to avoid asking updates from your peers and colleagues too early (before 9 am) or too late (post 8 pm) in the night time unless it’s something critical and cannot hold for a later time. 5. Be sensible for the personal needs of each other: Understanding the working hours and off days of your peers and adhering to those timelines will ensure that all of us are being able to take time out for their family as well as offline hobbies. 6. Calendar discipline helps us plan better: So, block off time for personal needs and try to avoid setting up ad-hoc meetings unless urgent as they tend to mess with everyone’s schedule. Finally, remind yourself that this pandemic will not last forever. And while everything might not go back to the way it was, many things will. Take a deep breath and consider the perks of the life you are leading right now. Let’s cherish our present times and be grateful for whatever is yet to arrive :) 8 80 6
PREVENTION OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT POLICY We want you to feel welcomed and safe at Rapido At Rapido we follow a gender neutral POSH policy. We do not tolerate any form of sexual harassment at workplace and strict action will be taken against anyone found guilty of such behaviour. If any employee wants to report an unwelcome sexually determined behavior please fee free to get connected with the POSH committee members mentioned below: Shravya Reddy, Chairperson Ekta Puri, Internal Committee Member Abeer Kumar, Internal Committee Member Sharvani N S, Internal Committee Member Anvith Murthy, Internal Committee Member Uma Victor, External Committee Member - [email protected] To raise a concern please write to [email protected] Know the key points on what sexual harassment constitutes of by visiting the policy document on the GreytHR tool. 87
UPCOMING COMPANY HOLIDAYS Please refer to the Rapido 2021 Calendar on greytHR tool to know the holidays pertaining to your states. Bakrid - Wednesday, 21st July (Floater) Last day of Moharam - Friday, 20th August (Floater) Krishna Jayanthi - Monday, 30th August (Floater) Vinayaka Chathurth - Friday, 10th September (Fixed & Floater) 88
WHEN IT COMES TO CREATIVITY, THE MORE THE MERRIER! We invite our employees' who are interested to write articles on any of the non-business fun subjects or share their personal experiences with the Rapido family. You could be a bike rider, car lover, fond of photography, technology, gardening, interiors, pets and what not! We would also like to invite all the creative minds out there to become a part of our Newsletter Club. Please feel free to connect with us at: [email protected] 89
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