About Brigadier HS Kaura, Associate Partner, KPMG India
Brigadier HS Kaura Sena Medal (Gallantry) served in the Indian Army for 30 years. An experienced helicopter pilot, he served across all terrains in various operational roles in India and overseas including Sri Lanka and United Nations. He commanded an Artillery Brigade in the Western sector before hanging his uniform in Jan 2010.
He joined KPMG in April 2010 and heads the India Administration. Amongst the multifaceted responsibility of managing workspace, facilities and business continuity, he is deeply involved in strategic planning and development of office infrastructure. KPMG operates from more than two million square feet of office space spread across 29 locations in 15 cities in India.
KPMG has paid keen attention to its employee wellbeing through different stages of this pandemic. How has the company managed to balance business continuity with employee wellbeing?
‘Remote working as a new-age workplace concept has been implemented with varying degrees by many organizations much before the pandemic. COVID accelerated the pace of acceptance of this transformation overnight. It just about forced each business to reposition its workspace strategy as Work From Home (WFH) became a norm. With a workforce of about 30,000 professionals in KPMG, a coherent and clear communication strategy needed to be adopted to address the anxiety and give a consistent direction to all as the situation evolved. This has been very effectively done under the aegis of a central Crisis Management Team (CMT) which continues to meet regularly to date. Adapting to digital transformation to keep one bound to the organization’s work culture has been central to all planning.
Apart from the aspect of comfortable ergonomics and connectivity at the home-office, the mental aspect of wellness, wellbeing, and safety have emerged as the key focus areas. Typically the days start with well-orchestrated online instructions on yoga and meditation which have been very well received. The medical exigencies have been addressed in certain critical cases with support at the doorstep along with a robust health insurance program which has seen dynamic mid-course correction and customization covering our people and families through the last year as the pandemic unfolded.
What are some of the trends that will endure and prevail while undergoing constant intrinsic upgrades bought in by the pandemic?
There have been myriad discussions on the ‘low-touch’ approach to workplace management. Digital solutions and platforms had already eliminated much noise by enabling booking of meeting spaces, wayfinding within the office, and managing F&B services seamlessly. COVID has us evolving out of these touch technology-reliant solutions to platforms that are not only touchless but as frictionless as possible. While currently, voice-based solutions appear to be a fad, these along with gesture-based solutions will eventually be the long-term trends as touch solutions get restrained due to health threats. app-based solutions for optimizing workspace utilization including peripherals like parking are established cost-saving enablers. These would endure and prevail while undergoing constant intrinsic upgrades rendering human interaction more and more meaningless. While we don’t fully know how the pandemic will reshape the workplace, but we do know that it is accelerating the digital transformation and faster adoption of workplace technology.
Given the accelerated pace of transformation, what emerging technologies are the industry working with?
The workplace in 2021 looks drastically different than it did a year ago. There is little doubt that lasting changes are upon us. The return to the pre-pandemic norm is unlikely in the near future, if ever and a vaccine is not likely to change this. Remote working policies and practices will continue with an exodus of people to suburban areas. Technology-centered collaboration space of a much smaller footprint rather than conventional office workspace is now good enough. Some of the basic and key emerging technologies which are there to stay are virtual collaboration tools, space optimisation software, virtual onboarding for employees, remote IT services, virtual medical consultations, and dashboards giving outbuilding and workspace health in terms of air quality etc.
Is sustainability still a given?
At the most, basic level sustainability and safety are really about the same thing. Organizations cannot be sustainable without protecting the health and safety of their most vital resource, people. Sustainability is not just about what is done, but how it gets done. ‘Net Zero Emission’ is a mission which KPMG is committed to achieving as a firm with defined timelines. As we emerge from the pandemic, there is a sustainability strategy that acts as a guiding road map to achieve this target. Pandemic has, in fact, reduced pressure on various forms of energy and resources consumption in past one year.
Can you see any elements in workplace design that will disappear?
The simple answer lies in the fact that ‘agile working’ is there to stay to drive and maintain a competitive edge. One basic design element which will become extinct is MY workstation with MY pedestal and MY storage. In newer offices, these personalized configurations are already being done away with. It’s because people have become mobile and no longer get to work from the same desk or seat each day when in office. There will be a need for more lounge and collaborative seating as the predominance of work café emerges as an optimal way to go.
A lot of functional changes will happen and will be for the better.