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Happiness, the final frontier that can revive employee engagement levels in the corporate world

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Happiness is going to be the litmus test that would decide the ultimate retention policy of your company, says Susheel Agarwal, Happiness Coach at Ethika Insurance Broking Pvt. Ltd. 

It is counterintuitive how it took an adversity – the pandemic – to enlighten us on aspects of life that are important to us, he adds. Staring death at our doorsteps during Covid made us reassess our priorities – what was important to us and what are we willing to compromise for.

Susheel can be considered a pioneer of sorts. He introduced value added services like Employee Engagement Programs, Employee Assistance Programs to the insurance broking portfolio that his company was traditionally offering. This was way before “the start-up” culture was in vogue. 

His latest offering ‘The Science and Art of being Happy’ seems to have come about at the right time. Employee dissatisfaction levels in companies are at their highest; employee engagement programs no longer seem to be working. It is as if he has peeked into the future and is creating a pathway for companies to adapt to it.

In 2020, when the pandemic struck, Mr Susheel Agrawal observed something unusual in the market. The market seemed divided into two sets of companies – ones that were using the pandemic to fire employees left right and center, at times despite making profits, and others who were barely surviving and yet retaining most of its staff. 

What was going on here? Wasn’t profit maximization one of the foremost business virtues? Why did some businesses appear to be extremely anxious, while others treated it as yet another day? 

He realized while he was equally anxious about how things would turn out, work was his sacred space, he looked forward to it, day after day, everyday. Even in those glib times, work was something that gave him the opportunity to help others and thereby a sense of being a part of a larger whole. As it turns out, this ability – to be able to be of service to others – is one of the biggest keys to happiness. 

Susheel also realized that his team at Ethika shared a similar DNA with him. All of his colleagues are self directed individuals with a service orientation par excellence. Susheels profound realization – When every employee behaves like a CEO, the job of a CEO morphs into that of an Human Resource Manager, is also thanks to his wonderful team at Ethika. 

Well, we couldn’t agree more. 

The growing startup ecosystem has brought about a spurt of white collar jobs, but the cost has been grinding mental instability; a sense of anxiety pervades the existence of millenials and Gen Z – the population that forms the largest employable chunk. It is as if this young demographic is spinning at full speed between the fear of missing out on life at one end, and the anxiety brought about by work, on the other. The sad part about all of this however is, by the time these folks realize the damning repercussions of the situation, damage would have been done. 

Stress, anxiety, and depression are commonplace today. The intertwined spheres of professional, personal and financial worlds overwhelm the hell out of employees. Technology, which was to bring us liberation has unfortunately pushed us further down this rabbit hole. Our inability to control technology’s impact on society has now seeped to aspects of life that can lead to gruesome circumstances if we continue down this road.

Two of the biggest sources of our unhappiness stem from our inability to stay married to the task at hand and our inability to stop comparing our material possessions with those of people we know. Technology ensures that we are pinged by some irrelevant notification every ten seconds and that most of these notifications are designed to make us feel incomplete in the moment – it could be a friend vacationing at some exotic beach or a sale you better not miss. 

Technology has also conquered newer peaks with its omnipresence – work hours seem to have become irrelevant as a concept. When the engagement hours of work have almost doubled, it was about time, the human resource department started channelizing energies toward employee happiness to ensure employee retention.

The increase in yield of India’s demographic dividend will ensure that the war for talent will only intensify in the future. If talent acquisition used to be a challenge, retention just took away this cake. And in all this insanity, happiness continues to remain the elusive kastoori.

But Susheel feels identification of the problem is a battle half won.

He thinks the current business environment would mark a paradigm shift in the way businesses treat employees. Businesses can no longer afford to offer mere lip service about employee wellbeing. If the employee isn’t being well, it is as much an employer’s headache as it is the employee’s. 

Prod him further and he reveals The Happiness workshop he had designed as a prototype has been tested on a couple of clients and the results have been encouraging. 

Some of the elements from the workshop that Corporates have benefitted from include 

  1. Open architecture of policies – let policies be defined by don’ts rather than do’s. 
  2. Once you have trusted someone with a certain piece of work, trust them with delivery – Micromanaging is a strict no-no. 
  3. Encourage employees to change the way they communicate with themselves – A lot of our problems stem from the way we communicate with ourselves i.e. inwards. Our efficacy takes a natural hit when we demean ourselves. Changing this outlook, puts the choice of action in our hands, which inturn makes employees feel responsible, instead of being directed by factors out of their control.

In his own words “The battle for talent promises to transition into a war without an end in sight. The last man standing is going to be one, who is able to turn workplaces into places employees want to come to, and don’t feel compelled to come to. A happy employee is an engaged employee and a productive one.”

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IIM Ahmedabad launches two-year hybrid MBA programme for working professionals, complete details here

The MBA programme offers on-campus, face-to-face, and live interactive online sessions, designed for a seasoned cohort of participants with a minimum of three years of work experience.

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The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), has launched a two-year Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme in hybrid mode for working professionals and entrepreneurs.

The online MBA programme in blended mode comprises, on-campus, face-to-face, and live interactive online sessions, designed for a seasoned cohort of participants with a minimum of three years of work experience.

To be considered for admission, applicants must have a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent and a minimum of three years of full-time work experience. The admission process involves an admission test (IIMA Admission Test (IAT)/ CAT/ GMAT/GRE) and a personal interview.

The programme will primarily utilise synchronous online learning, supplemented by five distinct on-campus modules. The programme emphasizes a case-based approach to provide practical learning experiences that will equip participants with the necessary knowledge and skills for success in today’s dynamic business landscape, as announced by the institute.

On the launch of the hybrid programme, the director of the institute, Professor Bharat Bhasker expressed his excitement over the launch of the new MBA programme and said the Online MBA programme will expand IIMA’s reach and provide world-class education to working professionals and entrepreneurs around the world.

This innovative program combines the flexibility of online learning with the richness of on-campus interaction, ensuring participants gain the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in their chosen careers, he added.

Professor Joshy Jacob, Chairperson of the Online MBA programme, explained the format of the program. He said that the curriculum is designed to provide participants with the necessary functional and organizational skills to succeed in a challenging world. The program aims to upskill working professionals by teaching them managerial decision-making frameworks that are rooted in human behaviour, economics, finance, and other relevant areas.

In-person classes held at IIMA focus on complex interpersonal and organizational dynamics that are difficult to master. Conversely, online sessions conducted through live classes concentrate on content that is more suitable for quantitative and systematic analysis.

Aspirants enrolling for the programme are requested to visit the official website of the institution for more details.

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At IIT Kharagpur convocation, President Droupadi Murmu says not a single Indian institute among Top 50 in the world

Over 3000 students received degrees during the institutes 69th convocation ceremony. President Murmu congratulated all the students and wished them best of luck for the future. The president noted that 21% of the students receiving the degrees are daughters. She wished them special congratulations.

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While addressing the 69th annual convocation of IIT Kharagpur, President Droupadi Murmu on Monday said there is not a single institute in the country has been able to secure a place in the top 50 educational institutions of the world and IIT Kharagpur, being the oldest IIT in the country, must work in that direction. She added that while a good ranking is not important, it helps attract top faculty from across the world and increases the reputation of the country.

President Murmu said that everyone must get access to technology. It helps lessen the gap in the society and digital payment is very good example of the same. She said technology should be used for promoting social justice and equality and should not widen the gap in the society. The President gave the example of Digital Payment System Technology is the best example of simplifying the lives of the common people.

She said today even the smallest shopkeepers are using digital payment for very small amounts. Over 3000 students received degrees during the institutes 69th convocation ceremony. President Murmu congratulated all the students and wished them best of luck for the future. The president noted that 21% of the students receiving the degrees are daughters. She wished them special congratulations.

She said she believed that greater participation of women in the field of science and technology is important for a healthy and strong society. A total of 9 students were awarded gold medals by the IIT on Monday. President Murmu said that by year 2047, the nation has set the goal of a making India a developed country. Keeping this vision mind, the government of India is moving ahead with the idea of inclusive growth. The President said the students have to make revolutionary efforts to develop and bring technology to the ground.

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Education

CBSE announces Class 10th, 12th board exam date

CBSE class 10th and 12th board exams are scheduled to take place from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. The 55-day board exam period starts from February 15 to April 2.

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The date sheet for the class 10 and 12 board exams in 2024 has been released by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) today, December 12.

It can be found on their official websites, cbse.gov.in and cbse.nic.in. Exams for classes 10 and 12 will start on February 15. The complete exam schedule has now been released available by the board.

CBSE class 10th and 12th board exams are scheduled to take place from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. The 55-day board exam period starts from February 15 to April 2. The class 12 examinations will end on April 2, while the class 10 board exams will end on March 13.

Exams for class 10 English, science, social science and maths are scheduled to be held on February 26, March 2, March 7, and March 11, respectively. The exams for class 12 will be begin from accountancy, which will be held on March 23, pol science will held on March 22, economics on March 18, and history on March 28. Information technology and computer science will conclude the exam on April 2.

20% of the questions on the CBSE Board Exam 2024 question paper will be response-type questions, and 50% of the questions will be competency- or case-based. 30% of the questions will be a mix of long and short answer questions, and 20% of them will be multiple-choice (MCQ) questions. For the previous year’s board exams, 38,64,373 students registered in total.

The criterion for calculating percentages in the Class 10 and 12 board exams of 2024 has been announced by the CBSE. Students in classes 10 and 12 will not be given an overall division, distinction, or aggregate beginning this year.

Last year, the results for class 10th and 12th were announced on May 12, 2023. However, as of yet CBSE has not decleared the result dates.

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