GeekyAnts' Guide to a Reimagined Post-Pandemic Organisation

One year ago, the world found itself facing a global pandemic presenting unknown and unforeseen challenges; one of them being the culture of remote working. Whilst every change at its preliminary stage presents its own set of hurdles, the only way to go forth is identify the cause, improvise, adapt and grow. The digital era that we live in has made this reshaping and reorganization of the system a whole lot easier, the result being a digital hybrid organizational model that is sustainable even after the pandemic. When organizations started shutting down in the Spring of 2020, they had to make decisions that would not just provide a sustainable present, but also a progressive future that is receptive to change. 

Read on to find out how we, as an organisation, went the extra mile, not just to ride the wave of change, but to also grow during this time, by double!

In 2020, we shut down our offices with no premonition of what the COVID pandemic would bring about or when the world would go back to normal. Over the course of the past year, we have learnt to accept the challenges, the changes it would bring with it and evolve, while re-establishing ourselves to counter such turbulent times. Reinventing ourselves structurally was an integral part of this process.

As a unit, we have found a way to work, live and thrive by accepting the remote culture and making dynamic changes while reinventing ourselves, both as an organisation and culturally. Providing a safe environment and a comfortable working space for our employees has always been of paramount importance to us; assets were sent through delivery services so that employees could work at the comfort of their homes. In order to make the transition as smooth as could be, equipment required to work remotely, as well as internet reimbursements amongst other benefits are being provided, in order to facilitate a healthy and comfortable personal working space within the GeekyAnts community. The HR Buddy Program was initiated to ensure a streamlined employee management system while we adopted Slack for effective interdepartmental communication. 

As WFH went from being just a perk to the new future of work, our introspection made us realise that building on our interpersonal relationships was of massive importance; the HR Buddy Program was born as a solution to this. Employees at GeekyAnts have the benefit of an HR assigned to them who can be contacted through the online portal for any issues of queries they may be having. The portal streamlined existing HR processes through digitization and efficient communication with the GeekyAnts community. This innovative method also helped our HR department in getting their policies and work amalgamated to the current working situation.

We are proud to say that we, at GeekyAnts, had entered the remote culture with 160 members in our professional family and now, after one year, we are close to a strength of 270. Since we seek to grow and develop dynamically, we had to overhaul our hiring practices in order to expand. We revolutionised it by going completely online, thereby substituting the need of physical interaction to ensure maximum safety. This has not only centralized the complete process, but has since proven extremely productive as well. Effective communication through emails is being maintained with colleges and universities to encourage campus placements. The HR department has worked in tandem with the management in order to arrange different interview rounds and keep prospective candidates up to date about their respective hiring processes. To make things easy for prospective employees, they are also given the opportunity to opt for an online onboarding process, where the initiation is conducted by our skilled HRs through platforms such as Google Meet. Assets are also dispatched through post to prevent the hassle of travel.

As the pandemic spread globally over the course of the last year, a lot of businesses saw a dip in productivity during this era of change and uncertainty. The precarious nature of the times caused a lot of change in consumer patterns which eventually led to clients pulling out. The pandemic has not hindered our business goal as our team has made a successive effort to go online and stay connected. Our marketing team has kept up the rapport with existing clients, constantly checking for any updates, while new leads that are generated by the dynamic marketing team are followed up promptly. In the pre-pandemic era, we used to visit clients on-site; however, in order to keep up with the changing times and to do our part for a safer and healthier world, the process was conducted remotely through efficient communication.

Ensuring both a mentally and physically healthy employment for our community, both old and new, was the next thing on our bucket list. To ensure that the feeling of fraternity is not lost, the HR department organises regular company-wide activities and events where members from all departments within the organisation can participate via online platforms. Despite the remote working culture taking away the pleasure of celebrating festivals and events to a certain extent, we, at GeekyAnts strive to hold online events and send fun gifts to uphold the festive spirit. Our geeks are our lifeline and as we’ve entered the digital era, we keep the community knit by sending gifts and bouquets on occasions such as birthdays.  Regular meetups with the management and virtual coffee get-togethers are also held to ensure a fun environment for our clan.

Being a developer’s haven, GeekyAnts has always promoted innovation. As an organization that prides itself on having teams that are adept and well versed in recent developments in core business areas, tech talks and online seminars are hosted internally, to ensure a conducive learning environment for our dedicated workforce, especially in areas that can positively impact our clients. Such events are not just focussed on technical aspects, but also entrepreneurial aspects, made possible by inviting renowned guests and subject matter experts from around the world to share their experiences and learnings from the topics being discussed. Simultaneously, our resident geeks are encouraged to experiment and proudly showcase their innovations on the company’s Trello board.

Considering that working from home has now become a norm, it is imperative to accept the challenges that come along with it. The hardest part about going online is the feeling of missing out on spending time with our family at work, which in most cases is our family away from home and enjoying the sense of solidarity that comes with it. Over the course of the previous year, we have continuously reinvented ourselves making constant effort to ensure that communication is maintained; our zeal to meet every problem with an efficient solution has taken us forward. As we reflect over the past and look forward to the upcoming future, we move forward with a team that is ever ready for change and the knowledge that we have successfully entered the digital era of a remote working culture.