PwC India is Investing Over INR 600 Cr Over the Next 3 Yrs Towards the Holistic Learning and Development of Its People and Across Different Wellbeing Initiatives

Launches a new four-pillared people experience framework that will unlock potential, accelerate learning, create an enabling environment and inspire the community

The past three years have had a dramatic effect on people, and as a result, individuals are now reassessing what they want to do and how they want to work. Appreciating this fundamental workforce shift, PwC India is committed to investing over INR 600 crore towards the holistic growth, development and wellbeing of its people through its new People Experience Framework, where our people can experience infinite opportunities. The framework enables employees to gain access to personalised opportunities that allow them to live their lives how they want to, including meeting the needs of their families, finding work that aligns with their purpose and values, thereby creating an environment in which they are building the skills needed for the future.

“We want to enable limitless possibilities and infinite experiences for our people. Towards this, our new People Experience Framework will bring in increased emphasis on growth and development, customised rewards, benefits and well-being that are stitched into our daily experiences, and where we have the flexibility to support our people as their lives and needs shift over time,” said Sanjeev Krishan, Chairperson, PwC in India.

At their recently organised Chairperson townhalls that was held in eight cities and saw enthusiastic participation from over by 15k people, the firm announced this People Experience Framework and its four key pillars:

1. Unlocking potential: The firm’s priority is to ensure that PwC community of solvers find their careers to be enriching – which includes engaging work that challenges them professionally and contributes to the larger organisational purpose, an ecosystem that develops their skills, deepens their expertise and provides them opportunities to grow while being rewarded. Through its Opportunities, Growth, Rewards model, PwC India aims to unlock the true potential of its people at work.

2. Accelerated learning: PwC India has long committed to investing 1% of its revenue on the learning and development of its people. To ensure holistic development, there will now be an enhanced focus on three key areas through which the organisation aims to accelerate professional growth:

• Build capabilities of people to ensure that the firm is developing capable leaders and managers
• Upskilling people and making sure that they are future-fit in their respective areas of expertise
• Building a common minimum Digital IQ for the organisation

PwC India has announced a non-residential executive MBA programme for regular full-time employees up to the Director level, wherein the firm will sponsor 75% of the course fees for employees (up to INR 10 lakh per person). In addition to this, sponsorship of self-initiated learning certifications has been increased to up to INR 1 lakh from INR 30K before.

3. Environment that cares: The creation of a workplace that continues to be inclusive in its style, nurtures people by focusing on holistic wellbeing and develops a diverse workforce where individual opinions are valued is a key area of focus. PwC India also aims to facilitate ease of working for its people by creating an enabling ecosystem that invests in digital and technology to simplify how people experience processes. The firm has announced an increase in medical coverage to (INR 20 lakhs) for every employee, their spouse and two children (up from an average of INR 5 lakh). The organisation has also created a special Benevolent Fund, reiterating its commitment to fulfilling the financial needs of its people in any adverse situations relating to health and life. Apart from this, a Recharge and Rejuvenate policy has been introduced so that each employee is entitled to a minimum downtime of 10 days in a year. Paternity leaves have also been enhanced to 30 days. 

4. Inspiring communities: PwC’s passionate community of solvers are always coming together to collaborate in unexpected ways to build trust and deliver sustained outcomes with stakeholders. They are creating solutions to help businesses solve faster, solve more and realise more value, delivering on trust in a sustained manner and creating an impact in society. Through the PwC India Foundation, the firm continues to invest over 16,000 volunteering hours for supporting India’s humanitarian, environmental and educational challenges. It has also announced the Chairperson’s Award of INR 2 lakh per person to recognise 150 inspiring employees up to the Director level.

In addition to this, PwC India announced that it is committed to sharing the gains of growth with all its people by matching the percentage overachievement of its revenue budget with a corresponding increase in the people budget. The amount of the year-end bonus would be increased on this basis. PwC India also announced a special celebratory gift for its employees to commemorate the 150 years of existence of its member firms in India, and has set aside INR 150 crores for this payout.

Padmaja Alaganandan, Chief People Officer, PwC India said: “Our people are at the core of everything we do as a firm. Just as we are relentlessly client focused, we will continue to invest in our people. To deliver on our purpose – to build trust in society and solve important problems – we will continue to build trust within our own organisation. The most meaningful workplace experiences are those that are created with people’s interests top of mind. Our new People Experience Framework will give our people greater personalisation within their career so they can grow and develop, and have access to #ExperienceInfinite opportunities, benefits and connections they need to maximise their journey at PwC.”

“Our people strategy will continue to transform how we work over the coming years, and while change of this scale is not always easy, it will help us create a culture that sets us apart from any other firm, helping us to attract and retain the best people in the market. I couldn’t be more proud of our people and the bold steps we are taking,” concluded Krishan.

About PwC

At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. We’re a network of firms in 155 countries with over 327,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com.

PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.

Yellow.ai Rolls Out $43 Mn in ESOPs, Democratising Wealth Creation for its Global Workforce

Yellow.ai rolls out USD 43 million in ESOPs, democratising wealth creation for its global workforce

Program rolled out with the aim of creating wealth and long-term value for employees

Yellow.ai, a leading enterprise-grade Conversational AI platform trusted by 1000+ enterprises globally, today announced the roll out of its ESOPs program for its global workforce, worth USD 43 million.

With this initiative, Yellow.ai aims to empower its employees, irrespective of their tenure in the company or their designations, to create wealth in line with the business growth. The focus is to promote collective success by ensuring that employees think about long-term value and wealth creation for themselves, customers, and for Yellow.ai. Along with a very competitive ESOP plan, Yellow.ai is providing maximum flexibility to its employees by extending quarterly vesting post a one-year cliff period.

Commenting on the ESOP roll out, Raghu Ravinutala, CEO and Co-founder, Yellow.ai, said, “Yellow.ai is witnessing exponential growth globally and our employees have played a pivotal role in achieving this. Taking our commitment to be an employee-first organisation further, we are democratising wealth creation for our employees to recognise their valuable contribution to this upward journey. At the same time, we aim to empower our employees to achieve their personal goals and contribute to the company’s business goals. We are confident that this will help drive further accountability, hire the right talent, create wealth for our employees, and implement our long-term vision more effectively.”

As a Great Place To Work certified organisation, Yellow.ai continues to stay committed to its goal of creating a people-first culture where its employees get the best support to achieve personal and professional milestones. With physical, financial, and emotional well-being as its top priority, the company is actively investing in a myriad of activities such as focus-learning weeks, no-meeting Fridays, group challenges including photography contests and fitness challenges, and partnerships with best-in-class partners for health insurance and other benefits catering to physical and mental wellness. For instance, the company recently partnered with Cult.fit for a year-long membership where Yellow.ai employees have access to Cult Centres and Live Classes across India. The ESOP program is a part of its 360-degree experience initiative that holistically focuses on wellness, learning & development, rewards & recognition, and employee wealth creation options, generating true moments of delight for its employees.

Neeru Mehta, Chief Human Resource Officer, Yellow.ai also added, “We are committed to creating the best opportunities for our current employees and attract future talent that will bolster Yellow.ai’s position as a market leader. In the face of complex global shifts such as the Great Resignation and the Great Reshuffle, adopting a people-first approach is crucial today, and we are proud to launch an employee centric programme that not only accelerates growth but makes it easier for employees to be part of the journey too.”

Commenting on this, an employee at Yellow.ai Apoorva Shrivastava, Product Manager said, “I was asked if I wanted more salary or equivalent ESOPs, and I went with the latter, of course. I truly believe in the product and w, ant to participate in the growth of the company. I have always felt like Yellow.ai is my company, and this ESOPs initiative just makes this belief stronger.”

With a 900+ global workforce, Yellow.ai is looking to touch the 1000 employee mark by the end of this year. Recording a 3X YoY growth, the company is exponentially expanding across Australia, Japan, Africa, Latin America, the US, UK, and Europe markets while strengthening its presence in India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

About Yellow.ai

Yellow.ai is an enterprise-grade Conversational AI Platform, enabling enterprises to make every conversation fulfilling and delightful for customers and employees. The platform is trusted across 85+ countries by 1000+ enterprises, including Domino’s, Sephora, Hyundai, MG Motors, Bajaj Finserv, Food Panda, Bharat Petroleum, Waste Connections US and Tata. Powered by Dynamic AI agents for enterprises, the company aims to deliver human-like interactions that boost customer satisfaction and increase employee engagement at scale, through its no-code platform. Recognised by Frost & Sullivan, Gartner, Forrester, IDC, and G2 as a leader, the company has raised more than $102M from blue-chip investors and has offices across six countries.

Visit www.yellow.ai for more information. Contact us at contact@yellow.ai

Recordent Launches ‘CEO for One Day’ Program for Its Employees

Recordent, One of India’s first credit and payment reporting fintech platform for SMEs, introduces the ‘CEO for One Day’ program, which will provide a chance for its employees to get the power to make an enduring choice for the company by being the CEO for just one day.

Terming the program as having ‘serious fun’, Recordent will encourage its employees to get a holistic understanding of the organization and its processes and goals. The employees will also get firsthand experience, and insight into the abilities needed for leadership roles. Most of all, through the CEO for One Day program, they will get an edge to grow in the organization and in their career.

Winny Patro, CEO & Co-founder, Recordent 

Speaking about the program, Winny Patro, CEO & Co-founder, Recordent said, “So many times, as employees, we think ‘if I was the CEO, I would change this, do that’. We wanted to give our employees a real chance to be able to make a difference to the company. We are committed to nurturing a great workplace culture and through this program, selected candidates will get an opportunity to experience from the bird’s eye view of the company. They can actually experience what it is like to affect change”.

“We do understand that employees may be apprehensive about taking on management & leadership responsibilities or, perhaps, even uninterested in doing so. However, a program like these benefits both, the individual and the company. It’s very important for employees with immense potential to learn to be a leader”, added Bhasker Shetty, Chief of Staff.

To enroll into the ‘CEO for One Day program’ Recordent employees will be required to attempt a few tests which evaluate their Reasoning, Situational judgement and Personality fit for the role of the CEO.

Recordent will select one candidate per month as CEO for One Day. As part of the program CEO will exchange the role with the selected candidate. This also enables the CEO to experience the ground reality and working dynamics of the employees in the organization.To know more about Recordent, visit https://www.recordent.com.

Investment Planning 101: What Is EPF & How Does It Work?

A pension scheme is not just a fund for a rainy day during your retirement but provides the necessary support system to live a comfortable and respectable life after retirement. By not relying on anyone for personal expenses, retired individuals can continue living their lives as they did during their employment days. But everyone doesn’t have such pension plans from the employer. And most pure pension schemes are only meant for government employees. A worthy substitute for pension for private employees is Employees Provident Fund. 

If you are also looking forward to investing in EPF, you will get the basic knowledge here. Read on to know more about what is EPF, how it works, and how EPF contributions can create a huge corpus.

What Is EPF?

EPF of Employees Provident Fund is a national provident fund scheme introduced by the Indian government to benefit private sector employees. With this scheme, they can create a retirement fund for their future without going through much trouble. EPF is solely for employees working in an EPF registered organization with more than 20 employees.

If your employer doesn’t have EPF registration due to a lack of employees, you can voluntarily enrol in EPF. If any unemployed or self-employed person wishes to enrol in EPF, they cannot do so because of their employment status. However, they can join other provident fund schemes such as PPF, which is open to people with any employment status.

How Do EPF Contributions Work?

An employee in an EPF eligible company must have a basic pay of more than INR 15,000 to enrol in EPF. This limit is on the basic pay and not the entire salary. Your entire salary is the culmination of various components such as basic pay, professional tax, TDS, conveyance, dearness allowance, housing allowance, and various other special allowances and taxes.

After successful registration, the employer deducts a set percentage of just the basic pay every month. Now this percentage can be 10 or 12 based on the organization. The employer then contributes the deducted amount into the EPF account of the employee. The employer also contributes the same amount at their own expense into the same EPF account. So, if the employer deducts X from your basic pay, it deposits 2X into your account. By doing so, you instantly get double the benefit of your investment. But wait, there’s more.

EPF also has an interest rate of 8.1%. So the amount that accumulates in your EPF account increases further with such high interest rates. This EPF account remains the same for a person even if they change employers and remains active till the retirement age of 58. And they can withdraw the entire sum accumulated over their employment years.

EPF Returns And Benefits

Now that you understand what is EPF, you must also know its specific returns and benefits to the employee. This will help you understand its value as a great investment scheme. Given below are some returns and benefits that an EPF account provides.

• High Interest Rate
• Partial Withdrawal
• Loan Facility
• Safe Invested Capital
• Assured Returns
• Steady Capital Growth
• Market-Independent Capital And Interest

Right Time To Invest In EPF

Any investment with such a high return rate as EPF will have the right time to invest. But fortunately, EPF doesn’t have such criteria. No matter when you join, the return rates are always high. But as seen in the past, EPF interest rates are decreasing over the years. So it would be better to invest in it as early as possible.

Young employees at the beginning of their careers also face the dilemma as to whether to choose EPF or not. However, EPF is a highly efficient investment scheme, and as you don’t have many financial obligations when you are young, the EPF contributions won’t matter much. So you can invest in EPF and still have money for other requirements.

Also, the deduction is not of your entire salary; it is just 10 or 12% of your basic pay. So you won’t notice a lot of difference. But when you invest money with such discipline, almost similar to a SIP, you can accumulate a huge corpus by the end of your career. And you can use the corpus for other important personal or family requirements.

EPF is a great backup plan which already has double the investment and with an added benefit of high interest rates. By investing in EPF, you can get liquidity whenever you.

Creating A Good Rapport with Your Business's Employees ? This Is How You Should Motivate Them

Following a jarring and hard 2021, the past year provided some opportunities for recouping lost ground. Organizations across all major sectors have used automated and digitalized platforms to simplify their business operations. However, the epidemic also helped companies recognize how important it is to keep their workforce engaged.

As for the future, based on upcoming technology developments, it's reasonable to conclude that organizations will need 100% commitment from their employees to continue adapting and prospering in the years to come.

Transparency is essential. When it comes to communication

Whether you are implementing management changes or making a significant announcement, always ensure that team leaders are clear in their remarks, mainly working in a hybrid company. Employees' ability to concentrate and be engaged in their job would inevitably suffer in a hectic workplace.

Be adaptable when it comes to end-of-year goals.

Yearly targets may be very stressful for workers struggling with a heavy workload, which is especially true if your company is trying to recover from pandemic-related interruptions. In such circumstances, it is recommended to revise the goals to be completed by the first quarter of 2022. Lifting a little weight off your workers' shoulders and providing them with adequate space to breathe will likely result in them feeling more inspired to complete the job at hand.

Provide personalized employee support

Organizations no longer rely on conventional service desks to offer employee assistance, as was the case in the past. Make sure that you transition to more modern and automated technologies by 2022. Modern service desks are driven by artificial intelligence and can give staff help in seconds.

Consider the following scenario: you have relevant data that has been input into your knowledge base. Then chatbots and other virtual assistants take over, processing the concerns highlighted by your staff, scanning the knowledge library, and returning nearly instantaneously with customized responses.

Employee service desks drove by artificial intelligence (AI) modernize antiquated manual ticketing systems, allowing your staff to generate, monitor, and close support complaints with a few easy clicks.

Encourage the usage of collaborative platforms as much as possible.

Platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Slack have aided employees all over the globe in their efforts to interact and cooperate with their coworkers and supervisors. However, even if the pandemic's urgency is reduced, it is still essential to support the construction of collaborative platforms in the run-up to the year 2022. You may improve their performance by integrating a contemporary service desk with the same technologies. This will allow your workers to seek individualized solutions to their problems without leaving their chosen platform, which will increase their productivity.

Provide regular feedback

Nowadays, most employees accept constructive criticism and honest feedback that encourages reflection and the implementation of beneficial adjustments in their work practices. This will also aid you in keeping track of your workers' growth over time, as well as helping them in improving their abilities to increase their productivity. By any chance, you are managing an online card game, and try your luck playing jackpot games; it is advisable to communicate to your employees twice a week.

Stay in touch with everyone.

Even if offices reopen and businesses return to their physical locations, a total restoration of how things were is still a long way off. This has resulted in developing a hybrid style of working, which demands managers to maintain continual communication with their staff, regardless of where they are located when working.

Always make an effort to maintain frequent social contact with your coworkers, both during and after working hours. This is most vital in the case of remote workers since it helps them feel appreciated and noticed by the company. Keeping track of their development across departments is also possible using this tool.

Beginning to make preparations for the following year

It is usually necessary to start preparing for the next year before the current one concludes. This assists you in providing your employees with a sense of direction and expectations for the future. You won't be caught off guard and bewildered in 2023 if you have a comprehensive strategy in place.

Because of the epidemic, you've learned that things may go wrong apparently suddenly. Companies must plan for the worst-case scenario and ensure that their operations are not disrupted due to unanticipated situations.

Concentrate on your imagination.

Whether you work in the advertising sector or own an information technology firm, you should constantly encourage your employees to think beyond the box. 

Disrupting standard forms of operation is essential, and increasing your organization's level of innovation will help it stand out from the crowd.

Counsel your employees

It is just crucial to look after the emotional health of your workers as it is to ensure that they are physically well. It is usually essential to give your staff frequent counseling, which will enable them to discuss the challenges they are experiencing in their work and personal life with one another.

Bottom Line

These are a few vital strategies for keeping your staff engaged and motivated moving into 2022. They are guaranteed to assist you in developing good working relationships with your employees and kicking off the new year on a positive deviation.

Employees-focused InsurTech Startup HealthySure Raises $1.2 Mn in Pre-Series A Led by Inflection Point Ventures

(L-R) Anuj Parekh co-founder/CEO and Sanil Basutkar Co-founder &Marketing_Head

• HealthySure is an employee welfare platform, targeting SMEs to make insurance and healthcare affordable and accessible to the Indian workforce and their families.
• Funds raised to be utilised in technology, marketing, sales and operations.
• IPV has so far invested Rs. 330 Cr across 108 deals

Insurtech start-up HealthySure has raised $1.2 Mn (INR 9 crore approx.) in a Pre-Series A round led by Inflection Point Ventures. The round also saw participation from We Founder Circle, Dexter Angels, Campus Fund, HEM Angels and other private investors. The funds will be used to further fuel its mission of offering innovative and affordable group health insurance led solutions to the Indian workforce and their families.

Founded in April 2021, by two CAs, IIM-B alumnus Anuj Parekh and ISB alumnus Sanil Basutkar, HealthySure is transforming the insurtech industry with tech-enabled employee healthcare protection and management solutions for Indian organizations. It’s already working with 70+ organizations and is covering 20,000+ people under its healthcare solutions. The start-up helps in simplifying health insurance for the employed Indians and make it more affordable and accessible.

Mitesh Shah, Co-Founder, Inflection Point Ventures says, “In this day and age, securing Health insurance for each and every family is imperative as it helps to bear the huge cost of future health concerns which at times can be extremely expensive and unaffordable. However, the penetration of voluntary health insurance in India is less than 10% for various reasons like difficulty in understanding the policy, affordability, trust factor, accessibility and so on. To address this problem, HealthySure has created a seamless platform to reach out to larger masses targeting SMEs whose majority workforce doesn't have an insurance cover. We believe it is a huge market opportunity to be tapped and HealthySure is rightly positioned for it.”

HealthySure offers a unique product of Unified Health Insurance which lets employees take personal insurance cover as high as Rs. 1 crore and all this, while saving significant costs since a sizable portion is subsidized by the employers themselves. All this is managed through a seamless tech experience for the organizations as well as the employees. At the same time HealthySure also offers a complete healthcare stack for organizations to manage their health benefits.

Anuj Parekh, Co-Founder & CEO of HealthySure says, “The current fundraise will help us invest in the team, technology and operations. We are not just building a disruptive startup, we are also looking to transform the lives of millions of Indian families with health security. We see tech as core to achieving our vision and are investing heavily to make our systems seamless and frictionless and hope to drive down health insurance costs further.”

“We are confident that we will unlock even more savings as we continue to innovate further. We ultimately want every Indian to be comprehensively covered through health insurance and eliminate financial worry at the time of health emergencies,” adds Anuj.

Tushar Agrawal, Partner at Dexter Angels says "HealthySure is disrupting the Insurtech space with a product-first approach. The Insurance industry is a large market and it will see a host of innovations and consumer-first products to further drive its penetration. HealthySure’s Unified Health Insurance is one such product, with many more to follow. We have been tracking HealthySure's progress since they have launched and have been impressed with the traction they have achieved in a short span of time."

HealthySure with a 20-member team is planning to scale up to 50-member team over the next 6 months. The start-up also aims to cover 150,000 individuals in the next 12 months with comprehensive health security and management.

About HealthySure

HealthySure is an employee welfare platform, targeting SMEs to make insurance and healthcare affordable and accessible to the Indian workforce and their families. The platform offers digitized policy and claim experience with curated health and wellness offerings. HealthySure has launched India's first Unified Health Insurance plan that allows employees to personalize their organization health covers with continuity post-employment thus, eliminating the need of holding an independent personal health cover and saving upto 75% premiums.

UST Honored as one of the '100 Best Companies for Women in India 2021' and '2021 Exemplar of Inclusion'

Recognized by 2021 Working Mother & Avtar Most Inclusive Companies Index for the third consecutive time for UST's efforts towards diversity and inclusion at workplace 

BENGALURU, India, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- UST, a leading digital transformation solutions company has been recognized for the third consecutive time as one of the '100 Best Companies for Women in India 2021' for its exemplary efforts on gender diversity, inclusion and equality. The company also won the prestigious title of 'Exemplar of Inclusion' for its continuous efforts on gender inclusion in the workplace. Avtar, India's premier Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion solutions firm along with Seramount (formerly Working Mother Media), a strategic professional services firm dedicated to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace in the United States, conducted the sixth successive edition of the Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI) study in 2021.

 

Over 330 companies, spanning every major industry, geographical location and line of business, participated in the sixth consecutive edition of the Best Companies for Women in India (BCWI). The key segments that MICI covered were diversity, including gender, generation, people with disabilities, LGBTQ, practices for fostering diversity and inclusion in recruitment, retention, advancement of people from diverse groups, and company culture.

UST is always committed to maintaining a balanced work-life environment to support employees through important life-changing events, not limited to maternity, elderly care, and child adoption; therefore, reasonable flexibility is provided in terms of working hours, remote working, leave extensions, and holidays. Through its hiring, promotion, recognition, leadership development, and retention, UST has always ensured diversity in the process. Programs like Network of Women USsociates (NOWU), mentoring, UST Career Architecture framework, D3 - a global developers conference celebrating talent in the technology world, and 'Women Unlimited' have been highly impactful towards furthering inclusivity and community building. From being one of India's first digital technology transformation companies to hire transgenders, to designing internal communities like 'Curved Colors,' a group for the LGBTQAI+ community, UST proved its active involvement in supporting and sustaining an inclusive culture.

UST also conducts programs like 'Impact India,' which identifies talent within the differently abled community. UST has an ongoing partnership with institutes such as 'Braille without borders' for the visually impaired and 'National Institute of Speech & Hearing' for the hearing impaired. UST has designed 'Step IT Up', an accelerated training program, in several countries they operate in, designed to train and employ women, minorities, and veterans in STEM fields. UST encourages and actively recruits women who had to take a break in career due to family or personal reasons.

"At UST, DE&I is a way of life, and we believe that the future of our organization lies in the aspiration of our diverse and inclusive talent to instill positive change. We have been deliberate and elaborate about adopting DE&I in our culture, processes, and interactions. We want our customers, employees, partners, and the communities around us to touch and feel this facet of the UST DNA. We make significant investments year on year to train, develop and create awareness of the need and, impact of DE&I. To be recognized by AVTAR and Seramount as one of the '100 Best Companies for Women in India 2021' is a reflection of our ongoing effort to make this world more diverse, equitable, and inclusive," said Manu Gopinath, Chief Operating Officer, UST.

"We are deeply honored and energized to be recognized as the '2021 Exemplar of Inclusion' and listed among the top '100 Best Companies for Women' in 2021. At UST, we believe in equity, inclusion, and diversity and the richness of diverse perspectives to build for boundless impact for our customers, communities, partners, and employees. We welcome open and honest conversations to empower and enrich thus creating opportunities for innovation, growth, and collaboration. We are strongly committed to creating communities by providing avenues for excelling, and empowering every UST associate paving the way for a more inclusive future," added Anu Koshy, Head - Diversity and Inclusion, UST.

Commenting on the occasion, Dr. Saundarya Rajesh, Founder – President, Avtar, said, "This year's study results indicate that companies are consciously evolving in their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Maturity. This is primarily based on three factors, viz., their leadership intent, the industry they belong to and the history of their DEI journey thus far. It is noteworthy that the disruptions of 2020, have further accelerated the pace of DEI progress in the Best Companies, with 73% of them having reported an increase in their DEI spend. One such key indicator is the large number of companies which have institutionalized practices to boost representation of women and other underrepresented groups in senior leadership and executive positions."

She further added, "Companies are increasingly building a cascade effect of DEI Accountability. As per the data from 2021 Working Mother & Avtar Most Inclusive Companies Index (MICI), 95% of companies have built their KPIs/KRAs on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion for their people managers across levels."

Recently, UST won the 'Business Culture Team Award' for its Office of Values & Culture (OVC) at the Business Culture Awards 2021. UST was also recognized as the Best Place to Work in Malaysia, U.S., UK, India, and Mexico. Additionally, UST was named a Top Employer 2021 in eight countries - US, UK, India, Mexico, Spain, Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia, by the Top Employers Institute (TEI). The company was also honored with a Glassdoor Employees' Choice Award for being one of the Top 100 Best Places to Work in 2020. The company recently announced its aggressive hiring plans of over 10,000 employees across the globe to support its global business demand, accelerate the digital transformation of companies, and the rise of the digital economy.

About Avtar

Avtar set up in 2000, is India's premier Diversity, Equity & Inclusion solutions firm. Lead by the visionary Dr. Saundarya Rajesh, Avtar has helped charter Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion plans for several organizations in the IT/ITES, BFSI, FMCG, Pharma, Retail and Engineering Industries in the country. As the earliest firm in India to provide end to end DEI solutions, Avtar's services span a broad spectrum, including Diversity Recruitment (including gender, People with Disabilities, members of the LGBTQ community), Audits & Advisory support towards strategic DEI planning, Conferences & Events that host very pertinent DEI discussions and Training interventions towards building DEI capability.

To know more, visit www.avtarinc.com

About SERAMOUNT

Seramount, now part of EAB, is a strategic professional services firm dedicated to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Over four decades, partnering with some of the most iconic companies in the world, we've built a deep, data-driven understanding of the employee experience, which lays the groundwork for everything we do. Our comprehensive DE&I toolkit includes actionable research and insights, membership, strategic guidance, and consulting, and inspiring events, meeting each client's needs no matter where they are on their journey and guiding them along an ever-changing landscape. Seramount has empowered over 450 organizations to realize the business benefits of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Learn more at seramount.com.

About UST:

For more than 22 years, UST has worked side by side with the world's best companies to make a real impact through transformation. Powered by technology, inspired by people, and led by our purpose, we partner with our clients from design to operation. Through our nimble approach, we identify their core challenges, and craft disruptive solutions that bring their vision to life. With deep domain expertise and a future-proof philosophy, we embed innovation and agility into our clients' organizations—delivering measurable value and lasting change across industries, and around the world. Together, with over 28,000 employees in 25 countries, we build for boundless impact—touching billions of lives in the process. Visit us at www.UST.com

Media Contacts, UST:

Tinu Cherian Abraham
+1 (949) 415-9857
+91-7899045194

Neha Misri
+91-9284726602
media.relations@ust.com

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1422658/UST_Logo.jpg 

Personal Finance App Branch Rolls Out Upskilling Initiative for its Employees

Every employee is eligible to get Rs.40000 per calendar year

70 percent of the employees can add this.. as well

India August 2021: India's leading Personal finance app - Branch International has rolled out a one-of-a-kind BOLD Stipend program, as part of the upskilling initiative for its employees. As an employee-first company, Branch International is well aware of the importance of constantly enhancing the skills of its employees and leaders to equip them with the right skills for the future.

In these uncertain times, Branch International has decided to develop a program that enables its employees to upskill themselves and thus contribute to the individual growth of its employees. Accordingly, the company has constituted a Professional Development Budget. BOLD Stipend is a part of this development budget, and employees can use the same to attend any job-related seminars, conferences, and training programs. In some instances, employees can even apply for reimbursement under the BOLD Stipend for certification programs or assistance in paying tuition fees.

Under this program, every employee is eligible to get Rs.40000 per calendar year. The employee can use this fund to achieve their professional development goals. The immediate manager has complete discretion to approve any requests for professional development expenses for their subordinates.

More than 70 per cent of the employees at Branch International have taken advantage of it to polish their core skills or acquire new skills, including soft skills. The total stipend that is available to every employee is Rs 40,000 per calendar year. Branch International has been investing in building a future-ready workforce, focusing on upskilling and retraining talent. The company has already spent over Rs 10 Lakhs to enable its workforce to upskill themselves and gain new capabilities.

"Branch International has always invested in and promoted lifelong learning. Bold Stipend is one of the many ways through which we are promoting a culture of growth in our company. Radical reskilling is the need of the hour now, and we are encouraging all our employees to use this opportunity and enhance their skills. The core objective behind introducing initiatives such as this is to create pathways to higher-paying, more resilient careers to build a more equitable future," said Ms Sucheta Mahapatra, MD India, Branch Personal Finance App.

Founded in 2015, Branch International delivers world-class financial services to the mobile generation. The company has offices in San Francisco, Lagos, Nairobi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Branch is a global, socially conscious company that uses the power of data science and mobile technology to reduce the barriers of delivering financial services in emerging markets. With over 30 million downloads, 5 million customers and 25 million loans processed, Branch International has disbursed over $600 million in loans.

Ecom Express Named Among Best Places to Work by AmbitionBox

Ecom Express, a leading technology enabled end-to-end logistics solutions provider to the e-commerce industry has been awarded the Best Places to Work in India in in the country’s first employee choice awards by AmbitionBox, an Info Edge subsidiary and a rapidly growing career advisory platform. Ecom Express was ranked among top 4 Large Internet Companies and top 2 among Tech Startups in the country.

AmbitionBox Best Places to Work in India 2021 Awards recognizes the top companies to work for in India based on reviews and ratings shared by employees who have worked with a particular company during the year 2020. The reviews and ratings capture employee sentiment across key workplace metrics including culture, career growth, compensation, work-life balance, development of skills, work satisfaction and job security.

Commenting on the announcement, T. A. Krishnan, Co-founder and CEO, Ecom Express, said “We are honoured to be among the Best Places to Work in India. As the pace and shape of work has seen a dramatic change in the recent past, earning a spot in the Best Places to Work list is significant. This is a testament to the company’s value-driven and people-centric culture where the most talented and creative minds create a difference every day. I am proud of the diverse group of outstanding individuals we have at Ecom Express and I am heartened that collectively, they likewise recognize and respect the effort that we put into creating a positive and empowering working environment."

Saurabh Deep Singla, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer, Ecom Express said, "At Ecom Express, we believe that great organizations are built only when its people are inspired and motivated, and therefore we have always aspired to create an inclusive culture and environment that encourages people to be themselves, find, explore, test and share their ideas. This achievement only strengthens our resolve to continue our journey on making Ecom Express one of the Best Places to Work."

Ecom Express’ culture is built around its shared iCORP values, which stands for – Integrity, Commitment, Openness, Respect and Passion. These are the pillars upon which the company culture is built and are the fundamental truths that transcend every department and position. The employees hold each other and themselves accountable to these values and guiding principles, for they are the essence of the kind of company that Ecom Express is today and will be in the future.

This achievement further strengthens Ecom Express’ commitment to building a credible and transparent workplace culture for employees, customers, and partners. As an organization dedicated to creating fairer and safer workplaces, Ecom Express is thrilled that employees feel their mission is echoed within organization.

About Ecom Express:

Ecom Express Private Limited is a leading end-to-end technology enabled logistics solutions provider to the Indian e-commerce industry. Headquartered in Gurugram, Ecom Express was incorporated in 2012 by T.A. Krishnan, Manju Dhawan, K. Satyanarayana and late. Sanjeev Saxena with their 100+ years of cumulative experience in the Indian logistics and distribution industry. 

Ecom Express has its presence in all 29 states of the country and operates in over 2650 towns across 27,000+ PIN-codes in India. The company is the first private logistics company in India to envision a full-state coverage strategy, offered in 25 states, including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. Through this deep reach strategy, the company has a capability to deliver to over 1.2 billion people.