Where work is spelt as FUN: the jovial work ethos of Skootr
It is a universally accepted fact that comes every Sunday evening every office going employee of the corporate sector dreads nothing more than the advent of the next day i.e. Monday. Awaiting a grueling start to the coming week, deadlines seem more like ‘dread’ lines and ‘awaiting’ e-mails are what nightmares are made of. This feeling of helplessness and seething anger is compounded by constrictive, drab spaces. The result? A cold and uncaring employee who is tethered right at the brink of exploding out or quitting. These outcomes not desired by any organization.
While workloads are a problem everyone has to ‘deal’ with individually, the problem of dreary spaces seems a thing of the past as Skootr, India’s leading chain of premium serviced office solutions provider brings back the ‘fun’ in workspaces. Founded in 2016, Skootr has gone beyond the utility and cost-efficiency focused approach of co-working spaces to offer enterprises space customization services, which enable them to showcase their work ethos in the spaces they occupy. It offers new-age, fully functional and managed workspaces across metros and tier-I, II cities. Each of Skootr’s spaces wholeheartedly endorses a culture that’s all about celebrating the spirit of productivity rather than equating it with the monotony of work. And yes, Skootr’s spaces feel wholehearted because they have a heart, and its pulse is determined by the organizations that occupy it. Nowhere is this spirit reflected more than in Skootr’s own operations and work ethos with the intent being to fully ‘practice what you preach.’
Here’s a small example where Skootr has tried to break away from the staid notions of hierarchy and time-bound productivity and gone the extra mile to celebrate the little things in life and work. Every Friday, it organizes a ‘Healthy Breakfast’ session for all employees, featuring great food, and even better conversations. With a single stroke, Skootr attacks the twin demons of superficial hierarchy and unhealthy eating habits.
Commenting on Skootr’s people-friendly practices, Anuj Saxena, Founder, and Joint Managing Director said, “We acknowledge the importance that each moment holds and care for it. That’s what we try to instill in every Skootr employee – the POWER of utilizing every moment and aligning all our energies towards the same. A special emphasis is put not just on training and development of job skills and interpersonal skills, but also towards the mindfulness and mental health to help each employee rise up to their true potential.”
Skootr believes in the continuous development of skills and talent and believes that while the former can be reflected only when opportunities to implement it are given, the latter needs leadership opportunities to flourish. Skootr believes in promoting talent internally by training existing employees for leadership positions. Emphasis is also laid on empowering employees to take decisions at every level. Employees who perform ‘beyond the regular’ to become outstanding members of the workforce who work with extra devotion and dedication achieving targets and even going beyond are incentivized and acknowledged both in monetary terms and through recognition.
Medha Mehrotra from Marketing asserts, “As someone new to the organization, I feel Skootr’s culture is quite welcoming and warm.”
Skootr follows a deeply motivational system of employee assessment and feedback where honest and innovative efforts of the employees are appreciated followed by a possible authentic criticism of some unsatisfactory front and finally ending on a positive note of encouragement as a morale booster. Called the ‘Sandwich’ approach, this deeply layered way of dealing with human emotions has resulted in gradually nurturing a happy, motivated and highly energized workforce whose personal goals are in alignment with Skootr’s vision. The organization also conducts a lot of interactive fun-filled engagement activities related to dance music, yoga, travel, etc. so as to keep the staff interested and on the go.
Great stress is laid upon the fitness of employees. A healthy workforce constitutes a healthy and thriving organization and Skootr has undertaken numerous steps in the same direction. The company conducts health camps and seminars such as vision, dental, female health checkups at regular intervals. Comprehensive and expansive health insurance is provided to all employees.
Skootr strives to create a world with endless possibilities by empowering employees with a certain freedom to inculcate a sense of assessable and visible growth in their employees at the grass-root level. Skootr promotes a referral system and incentivizes the same by holding the referrals of its employees in high esteem. It also provides international exposure to the employees to give them a chance to explore and grow at various levels.
Upasana Dattani who heads the HR division of Skootr says, “We break down walls so that there can be a breakthrough in businesses.” The company believes in doing away with the restraints of a formal hierarchical business structure, which she feels is more or less obsolete as it only leads to employee alienation and disheartenment. Beyond the ghostly drone-like hum of air conditioners and the distant cacophony of keyboards, Skootr envisions work to be a practice that everyone enjoys, feels challenged but not provoked, where productivity and not servility is recognized. Skootr aims to holistically ingrain these concepts in its own spirit to translate them into the workspaces they create for others!
