Employers Of The Future: How We Did It

Fortune India joined hands with Work Universe — a full-stack fund that provides fuel for start-ups to scale and disrupt work — to identify companies whose human resources practices are well aligned with the future. We started off by jointly creating a questionnaire to get inputs from some of the best companies in the country. Companies were invited to send in their submissions.

We received over 80 submissions from companies such as Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank, Genpact, Tata Power and SAP Labs. Many new age firms and start-ups —Paytm, Rentomojo, LEAD School — also sent their submissions.

Based on the submission, the Work Universe team met HR leaders of these companies that were future oriented in work practices to identify the nuances of their outstanding work practices. A Board comprising of leading names in the HR world guided the identification of companies whose practices truly stand out for their future-readiness. The Board of the Employers of the Future vetted the study and its findings. It comprised of: Anand Kripalu, MD and global CEO, EPL; Deep Kalra, founder and group executive chairman, MakeMyTrip; Radha Ahluwalia, general partner, Work Universe; Rajeev Dubey, former group president, HR & corporate services, CEO, after-market sector, and member of the group executive board, Mahindra & Mahindra; Rajkamal Vempati, HR head, Axis Bank; Santrupt Misra, director, group HR, Aditya Birla Group; Suresh Narayanan, CMD, Nestle India.

The study finds that most respondents across sectors are looking to expand their workforce over the next five years. One key transition as companies move to the future workplace is the larger role played by gig workers. Over the next couple of years, gig workers are slated to take on more significant roles, even in companies where their presence has so far been negligible.