Max Life Insurance recently inaugurated it’s new office in Gurugram. To get deeper insights into this conceptual new office that is designed as an open, non-hierarchical “choice-based workspace’ and fosters Interaction, learning and inclusion, we had an email interaction with Shailesh Singh, Senior Director & Chief People Officer at Max Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Being a firm supporter of making company values come alive through leadership role modelling and embodiment of Values via Business and HR processes, Shailesh is consistently committed to enhancing culture, creating value for teams and organizations, raising engagement levels and developing talent & leadership.
Here is an excerpt of our interaction.
Max Life has recently launched its new office in Gurugram. We have heard that it is quite an expansive space and headquarters has many key functions. Kindly elaborate on these a bit.
Our new office is located at 90C, Udyog Vihar, Sector 18, Gurugram, and is a short drive from Max Life’s corporate headquarters at DLF Square. The office is designed on the key sustainability principles and built to step up productivity and collaboration opportunities in a hybrid work model for the new-age workforce. Spread across nine floors, it provides a range of experience-based work options that allow people to converge and engage at flex seats, booths, large worktables, and benches while also housing focus rooms for quiet time and improved concentration.
Eco-conscious daily habits at workplaces are the need of the hour, and with this new office, we’ve made commitments to reduce carbon footprints. Organizations can only achieve the big-picture environmental goals through many days of efficient action. With actions like water conservation or indoor plantation, we are driving a culture of sustainability within the organization.
How is this establishment different from your earlier office and what are some of its unique, defining features?
This establishment is based on the concept of a ‘Next-gen workplace’. The building design is unique and sustainable and builds a culture of holistic growth, agility, flexibility, and boundary-less collaboration among employees.
The building design incorporates sustainable initiatives to improve energy efficiency and water conservation and reduce the overall carbon footprint. The new office space has a history wall, art installations, cafeterias, and wellness arenas, prioritizing employee experience with multiple amenities focusing on their well-being and productivity.
With workplaces now transitioning to hybrid set-up, how does the new workspace support digitally collaborative and tech-enabled environment?
Max Life has ensured that the office is tech-enabled, making it ideal for enhancing operational efficiency and creating synergies across diverse teams and processes. The move paves the way for further growth in headcount, investment, and solution offerings and will help business teams advance their digital transformation journeys and drive process efficiency. We also successfully digitalized all our key operations including sales, policy issuance, claims, and services – across the entire value chain, making the experience seamless for the employees and the processes to run smoothly in the hybrid setup.
Is the workspace sustainable? What investments were made into ensuring the overall sustainability and wellness aspect of the building?
Sustainability is at the core of the new office design and includes solar panels providing 25kw of sustainable energy, electric vehicle charging stations for each parking floor, tap sensors and water aerators, thermal-controlled variable air volume systems, and sunlight harvesting processes.
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As a firm, we are also focusing on green Initiatives to reach our sustainability goals. Across our offices, we have planted more than 1400 indoor plants for air purification. We are also working towards water conservation and waste management with sensor-based taps, 100% water recycling, and a reduction in plastic garbage.
Do you believe that a good, sustainable and positive infrastructure is important to enhance employee experience? What are the initiatives that Max Life has taken to enhance employee experience through office infrastructure?
Employees tend to show up for work with an open mind when technologies, processes, and policies are easy to use and understand. Keeping the employee at the cornerstone of design, we have taken a human-centric approach to create spaces that let people thrive. Designed as an open, non-hierarchical “choice-based workspace’, our new office fosters interaction, learning, and inclusion. The workplace offers personalized experiences that enhance productivity, bringing dynamism to everyday work.
How has the expectation of a new age workforce changed in terms of workplaces? What do you think is the need of ‘next gen workforce’? Is Max Life working towards becoming the ideal workplace for this hybrid generation?
Today, flexibility has become the key to keeping employees motivated in their jobs. Along with the convenience of working from anywhere, the hybrid model comes with many other benefits, as well. For example, it helped Max Life to create a balance between employees and our agents across India by removing geographical and cultural barriers. In line with the said change, Max Life’s 90C office is an excellent collaborative center of community-oriented spaces that encourages innovative thinking.
The above practices and a commitment to ensuring superlative employee experience have made Max Life ‘India’s Best Companies to Work For’. The recognition is a testament to Max Life’s long-standing values-driven culture and ‘people-first’ practices around employee engagement and talent development.
What is the future of hybrid and remote working model? Is it here to stay? Can you share a few tips on how organizations can make this model more sustainable?
The hybrid work model is the need of the hour, and it is gaining prominence globally. As per a report by McKinsey, almost 90% of organizations are planning to combine remote and on-site working models as part of their long-term plans
A comprehensive approach is quintessential to creating and maintaining a highly engaged and efficient hybrid workforce and can be achieved with a few foundational elements in place:
- Technology adoption: As conveyed above, flexibility is the need of the hour, and regular check-ups with the employees are crucial to garnering feedback. Moreover, companies must ensure a seamless communication flow for which they should invest in an effective communication tool.
- The focus should be on learning: The hybrid model should not be about saving on costs but being more efficient. The approach towards work should be positive, and to ensure successful hybrid and remote work environments, companies must invest in employees through training and development courses.