Remote Working: How Is Edelweiss Coping Up?

Long before the Maharashtra government made it mandatory for private sector employees to work from home till end March and companies started taking the initiative voluntarily in other parts of the country, Edelweiss had started preparing to enable its employees to work from home. 

The company started implementing various tools and partnering with companies like Microsoft, Zscaler and AWS for better productivity and a better experience for its customers, even in these unprecedented times. 

Currently, more than 90% of Edelweiss employees ie 9000 people have been enabled and are working seamlessly from home, while ensuring that client information and data are protected at all times. 

Nitin Agarwal, CTO Edelweiss said ‘’ Employees are using digital tools for Online Video Meetings and Secure Instant messaging through Microsoft Teams. They are accessing internal applications hosted on our ‘On Premises Datacenter’ as well as AWS/ Azure Cloud, using the zero trust security platforms of Zscaler and Microsoft. Our digital engagement internally has gone up 30 times in the last week. We currently have over 1500 online video meetings/ per day (up from just 30 last week). Our colleagues are exchanging over 50, 000 instant messages daily (up from 2000 messages per day).’’

 Edelweiss has always been a progressive and socially responsible organization, going beyond profitability to align with societal causes. It has always been conscious of the fact that sustainable and responsible growth is the only acceptable model for business.

 As a leading organization in Indian financial services, Edelweiss is in the unique position to positively influence or reinforce responsible governance – be it as a business or as an employer. Thus, considering the current environment, Edelweiss has taken several proactive and timely steps to mitigate the threat and spread of COVID 19.

Travel Advisory:

All Edelweiss employees have been asked to restrict International and Domestic travel, both for official and personal reasons, unless there is a dire exigency.

• It has been made mandatory for all employees to report all travel history (domestic and International) for themselves and any of their family members.
• For those who have travelled or been in contact with any person recently travelling from affected locations, self-quarantine has been made mandatory.
• In case of any exigency requiring an employee to travel, they will self-quarantine for 14 days.

 Hygiene:

• All the Mumbai premises have been deep sanitised over the weekend of 14th March 2020. For other branches, especially in affected cities, a schedule has been prepared and shared by the Incident Services Team for sanitisation.
• All offices in Mumbai are equipped with non-contact thermal checks at entry. These checks will be performed on all guests, employees or third-party staff entering the office premises for any emergency staff) 
• All visitors are being advised to sanitize their hands thoroughly before proceeding further within any Edelweiss building/office premise. Additional sanitizer bottles are provided at every entry point and monitored by the security/receptionist (for the emergency staff) 
• Edelweiss has procured over 5000 masks for the safety of its ground personnel

Reporting:

• If any employee develops any symptom of COVID-19, they have been advised to immediately report the same to their manager and HR team member, for appropriate precautions and further advice.

Client Servicing

Client Servicing remains the core of the business ethos and in these uncertain times, continues to remain priority. Edelweiss has undertaken the necessary business continuity steps to mitigate any disruption that may occur in the coming weeks. The company is well placed to ensure that the support and delivery for clients’ unique requirements, will continue at the highest standards.

Teams are in constant communication with all clients via email, Edelweiss websites and social handles to assure them of –

• Edelweiss’ proactive precautions to contain the virus
• The safety of employees to avoid any disruption of client activities
• Data Security measures in light of employees working from home
• Using remote/digital channels to minimise physical contact and ensure containment
• Tips on remaining safe and minimising spread