COVID-19: Amway India's Employee Support Initiatives

“The global COVID-19 pandemic is expected to fundamentally change us and the way we operate – personally and professionally – for the foreseeable future. At Amway, our employees are at the heart of who we are hence their safety and well-being is of utmost importance to us. In line with this thought, and considering the dynamic situation we all are in,  Amway has taken significant measures for work management and constant learning while ensuring optimum engagement and flow of information round the time.

We have constituted a COVID-19 Crisis Committee comprising select members of the leadership team. The team is responsible for charting out and guiding the crisis strategy for the India market. The COVID-19 Crisis Committee has an eye on each aspect of our people and operations and is proactively engaging with relevant stakeholders to initiate action as and when needed.

To help our employees navigate these uncertain times, we have undertaken the following initiatives:

• ‘Work by Design’- working remotely, including home while continuing to collaborate with other teams, is a part of the way we work at Amway and is a familiar practice for our employees. Our contract employees were also issued laptops to ensure that they stay connected with the larger team and work from home. We had Introduced concept ‘work by design’ for all our employees prior to Honourable PM Modi making work from home mandatory

• These are extraordinary times, however, we are committed to our employees’ growth and hence, taking a definitive step, we are continuing with increments, promotions, and recognition as per earlier plans. Despite the trying times we have seen a large percentage of employees receiving salary corrections effective 1^st April 2020 in line with our founders growth mindset of ‘Lead with heart’ & ‘Live to Serve’

• We are leveraging digital technology for conducting all the important meetings within the organization and direct sellers.  Through virtual townhalls we keep all colleagues updated on important developments. It is a critical interaction to reinforce ‘hope’ among all our colleagues, taking their queries and suggestions while also maintaining transparency in communication.

• At Amway, we have always believed in working together as a family whose spirit is driven by collaboration and growth mindset. We understand that this level of remote working is unprecedented and hence, emotional well-being has become one of the top priorities for us.

• We have rolled out virtual engagement programmes with ‘Amway Hotspot’ – platform to reconnect colleagues to keep their morale high
• Continuing with our ‘Fun@Work’ philosophy, we regularly organise exciting sessions for the teams such as Funtakashari, trivia quizzes, virtual coffee breaks etc.
• From live health and wellness sessions, including Yoga and Zumba sessions, for the employees and their families to curating external webinars on a variety of topics to learn new skills, our talent team has been collaborating to utilize this period to create a positive environment for all
• We are leveraging our digital rewards and recognition platform ‘SPARK’ to continue to appreciate and recognise efforts of our colleagues and team members.
• The health of our employee & their families continue to be a priority for us and planning for any eventuality that may arise, our employee Mediclaim plan will cover treatment cost arising on account of N-COVID

While we are taking numerous measures to create a safe, productive and engaging experience for our employees, it is also important to take their feedback and suggestions. Hence, we are also conducting regular employee surveys which serves as a base for review of our employee management and engagement strategy and necessary steps are being taken to achieve remote working readiness.