THE CORPORATE CULTURE …
Best Place to Work
A Short Story on Corporate Culture in India.
External Communication or Public Relations (PR) is integral to a brand's marketing and myth-making. A lot goes on behind-the-scenes to build the narrative.
Date: Friday, May 26, 2023
5.30 pm IST (GMT + 0530 hours)
SUBJECT: External Communication Plan — June 2023
Hi Paresh
Good morning.
PFA the June External Comms Plan.
We have planned for four media stories, one each week covering — Pride Month (D&I Initiatives, Interview with PC, Stonewall Tribute, Celebrate Internal Pride event).
The respective teams are already working on these. I am working on the PR drafts (see attached version 1 for the D&I policy changes).
Smriti and I can present this in detail on our Monday team sync.
Speak then.
Regards Neha
6.45 pm IST
SUBJECT: PR draft — Best Places to Work
Hi Neha
Check PC’s mail (PFA). We need to get a PR out on this before our competition does. Tie in with the recent org changes, the HR initiatives, and the D&I stuff you’re working on. We don’t need so much Pride stuff; club them with this.
Check the link for the “Best Places to Work.”
Stop anything you are working on right now. This is business critical. PC wants to see a draft today.
You and Smriti collaborate on this and share a version asap.
Thanks Paresh
7.38 pm
SUBJECT: RE: PR draft — Best Places to Work
Hi Paresh
Unfortunately, Smriti has logged off for the day. She has COVID.
I have worked on the draft PR. PFA the same.
I have included –
· The 2-day WFO policy
· Steps we are taking to ensure mental health
· Increase in medical insurance coverage
· 10-day COVID leave policy
· Diversity & Inclusion policies (spousal support, etc.)
· Sample quote from PC
Do let me know your thoughts.
Regards Neha.
8.59 pm
SUBJECT: RE: PR draft — Best Places to Work
+ Smriti
Neha — This doesn’t work. The quote is too stiff and impersonal. It needs to sound more empathetic and holistic.
Overall, the PR needs more meat. Call out the policy changes PC has introduced and make him the story’s hero. Remove too much LGBT stuff and speak about overall diversity and HR policies.
Include flexible work hours, child care, mandatory time off, and paternity leave. There are so many things. Speak to Nobita, PC’s HR SPOC, on this.
@Smriti — This is business critical, so next time, please ask permission before taking off on Friday evenings.
Thanks Paresh.
9.15 pm
SUBJECT: RE: PR draft — Best Places to Work
Hi Paresh
Allow me some time to get back on this.
I need some time to feed my daughter and put her to sleep. I will get back as soon as I can.
Regards Neha.
11.01 pm
SUBJECT: RE: PR draft — Best Places to Work
Neha — Still waiting.
Thanks Paresh.
11.19 pm
SUBJECT: RE: PR draft — Best Places to Work
Neha — Please treat this as urgent. You need to be flexible with your work hours.
Thanks Paresh.
11.22 pm
SUBJECT: RE: PR draft — Best Places to Work
Hi Paresh
I am just getting to it. I will get back ASAP.
Regards Neha.
11.40 pm
SUBJECT: RE: PR draft — Best Places to Work
Paresh — PFA the revised PR draft.
Nobita hasn’t responded or answered my calls, so I picked up some pointers from the HR portal and the policies document shared last week.
I hope this works.
Regards Neha.
11.53 pm
SUBJECT: RE: PR draft — Best Places to Work
Neha — This does not work at all.
Let us get on a working call and sort this out. Please set up a call in 10 mins and block 1 hour of my time. This is a priority and needs to be finished today.
Thanks Paresh.
Date: Saturday, May-27, 2023
1.31 am
SUBJECT: RE: PR draft — Best Places to Work
Hi Paresh
As discussed, PFA the revised version of the PR. I have included all the points we discussed and revised PC’s quote.
Regards Neha.
1.59 am
SUBJECT: RE: PR draft — Best Places to Work
Neha — You missed a crucial point. Add a line on the direct impact of PC taking over the CEO’s job. Write about how his empathy is helping the employees cope with the uncertainty.
Add a line on how PC has made org changes — use words like agile, sprints, resource optimization, diversity of talent, and background: buzzwords and include the top performing keywords from Keyword Planner.
Regards Paresh.
2.20 am
SUBJECT: RE: PR draft — Best Places to Work
Paresh — PFA the revised PR doc.
Regards Neha.
2.22 am
SUBJECT: RE: PR draft — Best Places to Work
Neha — Thanks. This looks fine for now.
I am sharing it with Ashish Kumar, Rahul, and Anand Singh for their comments.
Please be awake to work on the final draft.
Thanks Paresh.
3.51 am
SUBJECT: RE: PR draft — Best Places to Work
Neha — See this link. This has all the comments. Incorporate them and share ASAP.
Thanks Paresh.
4.30 am
SUBJECT: RE: PR draft — Best Places to Work
Hi Paresh
Here is the latest version. I hope this is okay.
Regards Neha.
4.42 am
SUBJECT: RE: PR draft — Best Places to Work
Neha — Good work. See some changes. There are typos you should have checked for. Please write me a new mail with the PR draft in the mail body.
Thanks Paresh.
5.17 am
SUBJECT: External Communication Draft for “Best Places to Work” Award
Hi Paresh
As discussed, please see below the draft of the PR we can take out to celebrate our inclusion in the “Best Places to Work 2023” award.
________________________________
Noida, Bangalore, India and Houston, TX, USA; XX June 2023:
Fanny Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Phantom Technologies, a leading global technology company, is proud to be named among the “Best Places to Work 2023.” This prestigious recognition, awarded by the Global LGBT Workplace Institute, is based on feedback from current and previous employees. The company was scored based on policies affecting LGBTQIA+ employees, diversity initiatives, opportunities to upskill and advance, and anti-discrimination and grievance redressal policies. The certification™ considers additional factors such as employee experience, workplace culture, leadership empathy, employee attrition, and innovation.
This year, the highlights for Fanny Corporation include:
· 88 percent of its employees in India said it’s a great place to work — 19 points higher than the average Indian company
· 91 percent of its employees share that the company values work-life balance and is an equal opportunity employer
The appointment of Mr. Paritosh Chandra (PC) as the new CEO in March of this year has accelerated the market goodwill and brand value of Fanny Corp. He has instituted company-wide changes that have prioritized employee experience and well-being. In addition to significant staff changes and organization overhaul, PC has also re-evaluated the workplace and HR policies of Fanny Corp.
PC has insisted on greater diversity in talent, gender, backgrounds, and work experience, assembling agile, flexible teams who work in sprints. This and other resource optimization policies have helped deliver significant cost savings to the company and given internal teams greater flexibility in project management. Some of the inclusive policy changes he has made are:
· 2-Day Work-From-Office policy, along with flexible work hours
· Additional workplace benefits such as paternity leaves, same-sex spousal benefits, insurance coverage for same-sex partners, mental health benefits, and more
· Additional COVID policy, including 10-day mandatory leaves
· 8-hour work days with time-offs as required
· HR-backed diversity initiatives to sensitize the workforce to LGBT issues
“This is the best news to bring in Pride month. These rankings reflect the love our employees have showered on the company and me,” said Paritosh Chandra (PC), CEO of Fanny Corporation. “Our employees are family, and we are committed to taking care of them. In these uncertain times, we look forward to building India’s most employee-centric organization.”
About Global LGBT Workplace Institute: The Global LGBT Workplace Institute® is the largest LGBTQIA+ corporate workplace advocacy group. They promote diversity and LGBT-friendly workplace culture and employee environment. Their methodology, taken from studying the best global workplaces, is recognized as rigorous, objective, and non-biased. They are a gold standard for diversity and LGBTQ-friendly workplaces across business, academia, and government organizations. Their proprietary methodology and platform enable leaders to capture, analyze, and understand every employee’s experience and compare outcomes with data collected from over 100 million employees in 150 countries worldwide.
________________________________
I hope this is okay.
Regards Neha.
5.43 am
SUBJECT: RE: External Communication Draft for “Best Places to Work” Award
Looks good.
Set up a call @ 9 AM India time to discuss the distribution plan. Please ensure that Smriti and the team are available to work over the weekend.
Thanks Paresh.
