Case Study on MICROSOFT India Ltd

Challenges faced by a Matured organization during the four phases of Covid Pandemic

1.) Before Covid

2.) During Lockdown
3.) Open Up Stage
4.) After Covid

This case story about the challenges faced by a leading Tech Giant Microsoft India during this pandemic.

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company with headquarters in Redmond, Washington. It develops, manufactures,
licenses, supports, and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services. With the motto of We believe in what
people make possible, Microsoft has faced some challenges during this pandemic. But being a Technology company, it was one of the few companies who
was quick enough to adapt to the changes and the challenges imposed during this Covid scenario.

In Microsoft the entire duration of the pandemic was divided into 6 stages as follows

Total Lock down stage- No one was allowed even the sanitization workers security was posted outside the office premises

Closed – Sanitization workers were allowed inside office premises

Soft Close- Essential workers such as It and Helpline department have the permission to go

Soft Open- In this stage the employees for whom work from home is not feasible are allowed

Open- Limited food services will be provided following social distancing norms

Back to Normal- Back to normal way of working

Before Covid
Microsoft is an organization which promotes the employee feasibility to work and giving them the ownership of their work. Much before the norm on social
distancing and lockdown were imposed by the Government Authorities it gave freedom to the employees to carry out remote work by enabling them the
option of working form home. Microsoft India began its approach to Covid way before the first case in India. At March 5 th Washington the Headquarters of
Microsoft has observed its raising Cases and deaths. The Washington was pretty badly hit by Covid, At the end of March first week all the organizations
went into Work from home mode. From that point Microsoft got to know the severity of the Covid started preparing and issuing guidelines to all of its 221
offices located all around the globe. When the first Case was detected in India, which happened to be in Hyderabad, it began to implement guidelines for
Covid. Employees were initially given the option for Work from home for a time period of one month with an option to work from office till March 20 th. The
option of Working from office was given to very few people for those whom It was not feasible to work from home. In this 2-week time period they were
asked to make their arrangements for the work from home. Microsoft also provided what ever assistance it can provide for the well-being of employees.
When the Indian Government announced complete lockdown for 21 days starting from 24 th of march, Microsoft announced its first phase of work from
home. The employees were given work from home for 3 months, and as the situation got worsen the work from home deadline has also been extended.
Currently Microsoft India is on Complete work from home mode until February 2021. Microsoft, has moved thousands of employees to remote work
overnight. At the same time, helping its customers and partners cope with the impact of COVID-19 outbreak and keeping their businesses running are top
priorities for us.

During Lockdown- (Total Lockdown-Soft Close)

Microsoft understood the difficulties that organizations of different sizes and complexities are facing, as they grapple with the situation. This
includes transitioning employees to work from home in the initial days. To support the move, it made Microsoft Teams available free of cost for everyone in
early March, including organizations that don’t have Office 365. Leading Indian companies, such as Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL and Zee Group have placed
their trust in Teams. They are now using it for daily calls, meetings and virtual collaboration.

Much before the mandatory social distancing measures were announced by the government, Microsoft encouraged remote work for employees.
Transitioning a large workforce across the country to virtual work is no small task. Its goal was to ensure every Microsoft employee has the tools, resources,
and solutions to be as productive, creative, and secure as possible, working from any location and on any device. It recognized that this was also a period of
deep change. Microsoft employees were working in new environments, juggling new, often competing demands, and trying to stay productive while
battling the stress of protecting their loved ones. Supporting them and their families was top priority for it. Microsoft rallied together to ensure that our
employee policies and practices were able to address this rapidly evolving context.

During the initial phase of lockdown when everyone is confused about when the lockdown is going to end Microsoft left no stone unturned. It
provided the employees who are staying in flats away from family the option of taking lunch and dinner from office. Microsoft also helped its employees In
availing the E-passes for the employees who got stuck due to the travel restrictions imposed by government. It introduced a dedicated 24/7 COVID-19
Medical Advisory Helpline for its employees and their families. Available in multiple languages, employees can use this helpline for virtual consultations with
medical practitioners to assess symptoms and avail medical guidance, all in a private and secure environment. With schools and childcare facilities across
the country staying closed, many employees were dealing with the added stress of taking care of their children. Microsoft added an additional leave option,
the 12-week Paid Pandemic School and Childcare Closure Leave, to give its employees greater flexibility and time off. It also put together essential resources
to support the physical and emotional well-being of colleagues. To support mental well-being, we are encouraging employees to use Microsoft Cares, a
counselling service as part of our benefits program. Microsoft employees also have access to several webinars, virtual workshops and written resources on
our wellness platform to help them make informed decisions about their own health and safety and that of their families.

For many of the employees, their homes are shared spaces and often do not have the required infrastructure to enable an extended work from home
arrangement. For a comfortable and conducive work environment, we extended our policies to enable employees to procure the right equipment, including
ergonomic furniture. Microsoft Provided its employees with an Covid incentives of 50000 rupees to provide them with the proper infrastructure.

Open Up stage
Microsoft values Ownership, Innovation, Trustworthy Computing and Diversity and Inclusion. Microsoft placed its utmost trust on its
employees and had given the ownership of their work. The employees will be given a particular task with a deadline. If they fail to finish with in the deadline
the employees will get extended deadline but with some repercussions that will affect the performance matrix and in turn affecting the Hike and bonus
decrement. When asked about whether Microsoft is planning to open up the offices now that government is allowing to open up we were surprised to get a
straight NO. We got to know that although few employees are willing to come to office for work Microsoft is not planning to open the offices for employees
until a feasible solution comes up for the Vaccination of Covid19. Like many matured organizations Microsoft took care of its employees by providing them
with flexible work hours. While many organizations are suffering losses due to the pandemic it was quite the opposite for Microsoft. The lockdown and
social distancing have made remote working and learning the new normal. Technology is the enabler for almost all that we do, be it for work,
communicating with friends and family, or ordering your grocery. This has accelerated India’s organizations and individuals on the path of digital
transformation. In April, globally, we saw more than 200 million Microsoft Teams meeting participants in a single day, generating more than 4.1 billion
meeting minutes. Teams has more than 75 million daily active users. Microsoft Teams is being used across various industries, including healthcare,
education, information technology, manufacturing, banking and financial services, and governments. Thirty of India’s top 50 companies are working
remotely on Microsoft Teams. As a result, it increased tremendous work load for the employees. When every organizations are doing mass lay offs
Microsoft has gone all out and hired many employees as to reduce the work load. Microsoft has carried out various virtual fun activities for its employees so
that they don’t miss out on the employee engagement. It has conducted virtual onboarding of its newly recruited employees and provided with all the
support they needed to get accustomed to the work environment.

After Covid
Microsoft has conducted a anonymous survey to get to know how many of its employees want to return to office as the situation got
better. They got some shocking results that more than 73% of the employees want to return back to office. When we asked How the new normal is going to
look like Mr. Ankur said that upon receiving constant feedback and surveys we got to know that the employees are not feeling the personal touch and are
getting the engagement of what they are getting at physical work space. And also said that upon given a chance many are willing to return to offices as soon
as possible.

Conclusion:
Upon interviewing both the senior level management and mid-level employee both of them has some biased opinions on the financials parts of the
compensation offered. While the senior Management thought that the employees are being paid enough, the mid-level employee has an opposite opinion.
He said that the hike and bonus was halved of what it was last year. But the employees are grateful of all the incentives they are getting.

This Case is presented by Group-3. Info gathered by interviewing Mr. Ankur -with 11 years of experience as Apac Head of Microsoft India & Singapore &
Mr. Manish– Software Developer at Microsoft with 3 years of Experience.