Introduction to the Company and the Dilemmas faced: -

Duralloy India was established in the year of 1998 and was incorporated in the year of 2001. The number
people working for Duralloy India varies from 51-100 people depending on the bulkiness of the
order. Duralloy India is a small enterprise with an annual turnover of 10-25 crore. Duralloy India is based
in MIDC Butibori. Duralloy India is an engineering facility which specializes in the manufacturing of
wear plates. Wear plates find vast applications in thermal power plants, cement manufacturing plants,
steel producing plants etc. Wear plates are attached to the insides of pipes or on the surfaces of conveyor
belts which carry abrasive materials such as coal, limestone, iron ore etc. Pipes carrying coal from
storage area to plant or to and from inside the coal mill are covered with a layer of wear plates so as to
enhance their life greatly. The wear plates manufactured in the machine shop range from very small
plates to huge plates. The production is not limited to plates, but pipes & classifiers are also
manufactured in the adjoining manufacturing shop. I completed my internship in Duralloy India.

To better understand the challenges faced by a manager during the pandemic we contacted Mr. Nitin
Lonkar, Managing Partner, Duralloy India, and took his insights on the kind of people dilemmas that
were faced by them and what steps the company took to combat them. During our conversation he told us
about what problems his employees were facing due to the pandemic and how it was having a negative
effect on both their personal and professional life.

The biggest change that happened due to the pandemic was the sudden change in the work environment
and as a result the work conditions. This led to a growing disparity between an individual’s needs and
their work environment, one such problem was faced by Shashank, who was a new addition to the
company, where he was keen on developing new relationships and connections at his workplace but was
not able to do so due to the limitation on physical interaction. Further leading to a lower level of
motivation and a feeling of detachment from the workplace and his colleagues, which lowered his
participation and a feeling of dissatisfaction with the work he was doing (decreasing employee
engagement).

Another common problem that was evident in the organization was of disproportionate work-family
balance. Rajesh, a technical engineer at Duralloy working on the shopfloor, who had just had his first-
born, only 6 months old, was afraid to even enter his home after coming back from work out of the fear
of transmitting the coronavirus to his family. This resulted in him spending his nights in his car leading to
a lot of fatigue and weariness which lowered his performance and also made him feel alienated from his
own family. Rajesh, being a person of high self-esteem didn’t bring this issue up with his immediate
superior. Noticing the drop in his performance level, he was confronted by his superior.

In the initial months of the lockdown, due to government regulation, all factories were closed for around
3 months. The decrease in revenue, resulting from a drop in orders and late payments, due to the
pandemic put a lot of pressure on the company financially making it such that the company had to reduce
its operating costs to survive in the long run. This implied that the company would have to lower the
wages it pays by either conducting layoffs or lowering the wages paid to each employee. This in turn led
to a growing fear amongst the employees and lowered their perceived job security (Perceived
Organizational Support, POS). Following the expectancy theory, the employees felt that the effort
performance relationship was hampered which led to deviant workplace behavior in the workplace.
It was observed that employees had started coming late to work on a regular basis and would often come
up with excuses that were not genuine just to cover up their tardiness. At times even using the pandemic
as an excuse to come late to work.
Certain employees also started showing up at work in an intoxicated state and there were also cases of
drinking on the job due to which productivity took a serious hit and set a negative precedence for the
other employees.
Losing motivation to work the employees started turning up to work just for the sake of it as they would
spend most of their time dilly dallying around not focusing on their work and also distracting other
employees who were genuinely performing their tasks.
The company had also noticed that its property was missing. After these instances occurring repeatedly,
they decided to install CCTV cameras. This brought into light instances of employees stealing company
property which when further investigated into, revealed that they were selling the same for their own
personal gain.

An often-unnoticed challenge of the pandemic lies in the segment of contemporary structures of childless
families and single individuals. Although organizations have not devoted any real attention to this
segment of family structure, research suggests that such individuals and families face unique forms of
work-life conflicts. Take the example of Priyanka, who had just shifted to Nagpur from her hometown,
being away from her family for the first time. She was struggling to cope with the major change of
location which was further hamstrung by the pandemic. In the absence of normal work culture, the lack
of opportunities to interact with her co-workers which made her feel isolated and she also lost her
motivation to work. As a result, she experienced a phase of depression, loneliness and social exclusion.

Our discussion with Mr. Nitin Lonkar brought into light these dilemmas that were faced not only in his
organization but being the president of MIDC he also noticed similar instances in other organizations.
While the long-lasting impact of the pandemic is still unknown to us, these situations show that COVID
is bound to have long term consequences for organizations.
 Measures taken by the Leader to deal with the Dilemmas: -

During the conversation, Mr. Nitin Lonkar mentioned some of the steps taken by the organization in
order to deal with the dilemmas mentioned above. Some of them were as follows:

 In order to keep the employees familiar with the organization’s culture and improve the rapport of the
employees, the company started organizing virtual sessions such as lunches, coffee breaks and happy
hours. This gave the employees an opportunity to interact with their cohort and improve interpersonal
relationships. This also initiated a flow of exchange of ideas which improved the overall productivity
of the organisation. This made the employees feel more connected with the organisation. These
measures taken by the company increased to some extent, the social interactions to a level that the
employees used to have in the pre pandemic work lives.
 To help their employees improve the work-life balance and prevent the potential transmission of the
virus, the company gave their employees an option of temporary lodging in a leased residential
complex.
 In order to remain fair to all their employees and reduce the operating costs at the same time, the
company came up with a new compensation plan. The plan facilitated an organization-wide salary cut
proportionate to the respective salaries of the employees across different levels.
 Apart from hosting virtual sessions such as lunches, happy hours as mentioned above the company
also started sponsoring professional and social events on a regular basis. This was primarily for the
single employees such as Priyanka to rediscover their purpose and motivation to work. Company also
institutionalized certain formal mechanisms such as conducting regular team meetings to promote
better communication and interpersonal relationships among the employees.
 Analysing the Measures and Recommendations: -

After the conversation with Mr. Nitin Lonkar, our group analysed the various measures adopted by the
company and came up with the following recommendations: -
 Organizing virtual sessions to help employees like Shashank: -
Analysis: Even though this decision might prove effective in the short run, there is a probability of
repercussions in the long term. This is because too many of such sessions might make the employees
reluctant in their approach to the job. They might get habituated to such informal environment and
expect the company to host such sessions on a regular basis even when the situation gets better and
the employees resume work at the physical office space. Moreover, they might expect such sessions
to be held during the regular working hours which will reduce the net working hours affecting the
overall productivity of the company.
Recommendation: We suggest the organization to appoint a Wellbeing Officer in the Human
Resource Department, along with holding the virtual sessions occasionally (such as on a monthly
basis) so that they do not get habituated to it. The Wellbeing Officer will assist the organization in
maintaining a system wide culture of well-being by collaborating with the middle as well as top level
management. He/ She will help in aligning the personal, professional, physical as well as financial
well-being of each employee. The Wellbeing officer will be empathetic to employees such as
Shashank and help them to cope better with the workplace dynamics.
 Providing temporary lodging facilities to the employee: -
Analysis: This option will be particularly costly for the organization (in terms of lease price) as the
company will have to accommodate a large number of employees. Apart from this, the solution might
be helpful to eradicate the professional-life crisis, however their personal life problems will persist.
The desire to be with their family and closed ones will affect the motivation of the employees as they
will be unable to concentrate on the work-in-hand.
Recommendation: In our opinion, the company should invite employees in a hybrid mode, allowing
only those employees at workplace whose physical attendance is critical to the operation of the
company. Hence, for accommodating a limited number of employees, the company can setup
temporary residential facility within the office premises saving on the lease cost of lodging. This
facility will be fruitful for the company in the long term as it can be used for storage purposes once
the situation turns to normal. Also, to ensure safety of the employees and their family members, the
company can undertake random corona testing of the employees who join the organization physically
while in the hybrid mode.
 Compensation Plan of an organization wide proportionate Salary Cut: -
Analysis: This compensation plan will promote a sense of inequality throughout the organization. It
will be unjust to those employees who actually contribute to their maximum capacity. This will make
the employees increasingly dissatisfied and frustrated with the organization, increasing the instances
of negative personality attributes such as loafing, tardiness, being intoxicated while on work etc.
Recommendation: The company should introduce a merit-based compensation plan across the
organization. This will include reducing the fixed component of the pay structure, and adding on to
the variable component in the form of bonuses, incentives for better performance etc. Apart from the
incentive pay structure, the company can introduce certain payment-in-kind benefits such as
 providing them with goods of daily necessities such as groceries. This will prove to be comparatively
less expensive for the company and at the same time address the inconvenience of the employees, of
stepping out of the safety of their households to buy such goods.
 Sponsoring Professional and Social events on a regular basis: -
Analysis: Having such events on a regular basis, especially in financially difficult situations such as
the pandemic will not be feasible. This is primarily because such events are hugely time consuming
and consume a major chunk of the organizational budget. Moreover, the success of such a measure in
solving the problems faced by employees such as Priyanka is not guaranteed.
Recommendation: HR Managers of the company should focus on building relationship-oriented HR
systems that will help employees such as Priyanka to build strong meaningful relationships both
inside and outside the organization. HRs can help the employees to improve their networking skills to
help them connect better with one another. The company can also arrange an organization wide Big-
Five Inventory test, and keep a close watch on employees with high scores on Extraversion (as
extroverts will be affected more due to a limit on human connections) and low scores on Emotional
Stability. If needed, the company can also provide the services of an industrial/ organizational
psychologist for the welfare of their employees.
 Individual Components: -

1. Ankit Kumar Singh – Roll Number: 301012

Big 5 Personality Test Scores: -

 Extraversion: 2.63
 Agreeableness: 3.89
 Conscientiousness: 2.89
 Neuroticism (Emotional Stability): 3.75
 Openness to Experience: 3.1

Behavior: -
 An employee with a similar personality profile like me will have an introvert personality, having
scored low on extraversion. He will have a tough time making small talks with his cohort especially
in an online mode, owing to the pandemic. He will naturally avoid large groups and will have a more
reserved approach.
 Having scored high on agreeableness, the employee would focus more on having things running
smoothly especially in a group activity. He will always be ready to help others, having a caring and
honest attitude towards his co-workers.
 Having a score on the lower side in conscientiousness, he will be comparatively less organized. He
will complete tasks in a less structured way, that too, at the last minute. He will be relatively
disorganized and impulsive, rather than making decisions based on facts.
 A high score on neuroticism means the employee will often feel vulnerable and insecure. He will get
stressed easily in tense situations and struggle while facing unexpected difficult challenges. He will
have frequent mood swings and get depressed easily.
 As an individual, the employee will be open to new experiences and enjoy trying new things. He will
be creative, having a good imagination. He will be willing to consider new ideas and be curious in his
approach to new situations.

Managing the Employee: -

In order to the manage the employee in an effective and efficient manner, the company should organize
individual-oriented assignments or activities (both related to work as well as social ones) to give an
opportunity to such employees to demonstrate their personality openly in front of others. However, the
company should make sure that they don’t push the employee to much or put unwanted performance
pressure as it can negatively impact the employee. For example: He will make excuses to skip the
activities altogether.
While assigning group activities to the employee, the company should ensure that the respective group
leader is an individual with high conscientiousness. By doing this, not only will the overall performance
of the group be optimized, but also the leader will ensure that the employee in question is more dedicated
to the task assigned to him. The employee might also be inspired by the charisma and competency of the
leader, trying to emulate him in the future by idolizing him.
In tough times such as the Covid-19 pandemic, such employees (high on neuroticism) are at a higher risk
of feeling depressed and anxious. The organization should closely monitor the employee and encourage
him to open up about his feelings by providing him with a positive work environment, and if needed,
help him seek therapeutic help.
Such employees, if used properly can be invaluable assets to the organization owing to their positive high
openness to experience scores. They can provide the organization with much needed flexibility in these
uncertain times.

2. Anveet Manish Joshi – Roll Number: 301013

Big 5 Personality Test Scores: -

 Extraversion: 3.75
 Agreeableness: 4.33
 Conscientiousness: 3.22
 Neuroticism (Emotional Stability): 1.88
 Openness to Experience: 3.9

Behavior: -
 An employee with a similar personality profile like me will have an ambivert personality, having
scored around medium on extraversion. Essentially, being an ambivert is like being an all-rounder.
Pliable and supple, they adapt to whatever environment they find themselves in. There can be
ambiverts with more introverted tendencies and some with more extroverted tendencies
 Having scored high on agreeableness, the employee would focus more on having things running
smoothly especially in a group activity. He will always be ready to help others, better liked among his
peers and will show lower level of deviant behavior.
 Having a score this score in conscientiousness, he will be reliable. He will complete task on time and
will be responsible. He will not be easily distracted.
 A low score on neuroticism means the employee will have the emotional stability to be calm and to
be self-confident and secure. He will have less negative thinking and fewer negative emotions. He
will have higher life satisfaction and lower stress levels.
 As an individual, the employee will be open to new experiences and enjoy trying new things. He will
be creative, having a good imagination. He will be willing to consider new ideas and be curious in his
approach to new situations.

Managing the Employee: -

In order to the manage the employee in an effective and efficient manner, the company should
understand that as he has an ambivert personality and the company should strive to create an environment
where the employees are welcomed to give in their suggestions. High agreeable people have the tendency
to over-commit, saying yes to everything because they want to please people. Help people-pleasing high
agreeable people to start saying no by giving them time to check their schedule and think about
something before committing. Employees with high conscientious want to know that they’re on track and
meeting metrics. Let them create auto-reports for sales, client acquisitions, or other metrics to share
weekly with your team. As a high conscientious team member, he is also good at following directions
and completing multiple tasks within a project. Don’t offer vague or general terms try to be as specific as
possible. Low neurotics don’t panic and sometimes miss the boat when it comes to dealing with issues
that require a plan or reaction to stressors. If a problem is serious, communicate the details and your
expectations for their responsibilities. High open employees can be distracted by new shiny, objects. So,
be clear on overall timelines and due dates. As a manager you can encourage them to devote 20 percent
of their time to side projects. This helps high open team members to flex their creative muscles, while
staying committed and focused on other responsibilities.

3. Apurv Malviya - Roll Number: 301014

Big 5 Personality Test Scores: -

 Extraversion: 2.875
 Agreeableness: 3.67
 Conscientiousness: 4
 Neuroticism (Emotional Stability): 1.875
 Openness to Experience: 4.2

Behavior: -
 With a score on the lower side of extraversion, such a person will tend to be more of an introvert.
Being an introvert the desire to meet a necessary quota of social interaction would be less. Hence in a
pandemic situation such a person would struggle less compared to someone who intensely desires
social interaction on a regular basis. But it may also cause the person to become a bit more aloof from
their colleagues.
 The score in agreeableness is on the middle side. This implies that the person would be cooperative
with others for the most part but may also restrict themselves to their inner circle of friends or
colleagues.
 The trait of openness to experience emphasizes on creativity and openness to try new things or face
new challenges. A person with a high score in this field would be more than open to experiencing the
changes that would happen due to the change in their work life due to the pandemic. Being high on
creativity they may also be a driving force in finding new ways to enhance the work atmosphere.
 A highly conscientious person is said to be punctual and goal-oriented. They will tend to have a set
schedule and abide by it. So, even in a pandemic situation where work from home is the norm such a
person will diligently complete their work and not use it as an excuse to slack off.
 Neuroticism is characterized by the emotions of an individual. A person who is low on neuroticism
will be more emotionally stable and be able to deal with stressful situations as and when they arrive
in a relaxed manner.
Managing the Employee: -
When analyzed from a broad perspective such a person will not be too negatively affected by the changes
caused due to the lockdown. One problem that a manager will have to address is to keep this person
actively interacting with other employees. Even though this person can serve as a major asset in terms of
their working capacity they will have to make sure that there is constant communication amongst them
and all their colleagues. If this is done effectively this person will prove useful in helping other people
during the lockdown and may also suggest good ideas to enhance the quality and efficiency of work
being done in the online mode. A manager can safely assign important tasks to this person and expect
them to be completed on time or even make them the member of a team that may otherwise be struggling
to get their work done efficiently as a result of the lockdown.
To conclude, the manager can use the personality traits of the person to enhance the work being done
provided that they are able to keep them in constant communication with them and their work colleagues
otherwise they may become aloof and only keep themselves active around their closest friends. Leading
to them forming a cocoon around themselves and the loss of potential ideas and collaboration

4. Tushar Chhabra- Roll Number: 301015

Big 5 Personality Test Scores: -

 Extraversion: 3.25
 Agreeableness: 4.78
 Conscientiousness: 3.2
 Neuroticism (Emotional Stability): 3
 Openness to Experience: 3.8

Behavior: -
 A person with similar personality will be an extrovert and will easily connect with people. Even in
online mode he will connect with people and keep their morale lifted.
 A person with high agreeableness will be a good team player and will perform well when it comes to
group activity. He will keep the group united and will show care and team spirit towards other team
members.
 Having conscientiousness on the higher side the employee will be more organized and reliable and
will finish the assigned task on time. He will make decisions based on the facts rather than being
impulsive.
 A person with average emotional stability may get anxious and feel depressed sometimes. He may get
stressed easily in difficult times and uncertain situations and may also have mood swings.
 A person with high level of openness to experience will be more confident and motivated to try new
things. He will take challenges in a positive way and will try to solve them rater than being scared or
feeling anxious about it.
Managing the Employee: -
Managing employees who are different from each other in every aspect is a very difficult task for the
management. In order to use employees efficiently and effectively, the companies should undertake tests
to identify the power and weaknesses of employees and then give them work according to their potential
and what they are good at. Moreover, the company should give him tasks that are important due to high
reliability of the person.
The management may organize some sessions on emotional stability and management so that employees
do not feel low and anxious especially in the time of covid.
Such employees with high degree of openness to experience can be given new and challenging tasks and
will deliver results which will be beneficial for the organization.
Such employees are a valuable asset for the company and keep their personal goals aligned with that of
organization and the organization should make sure that they get a fair chance and platform to showcase
their skills and perform to the best of their potential.

5. Ayush Garg - Roll Number:301016

Big 5 Personality Test Score

 Extraversion: 2.375
 Agreeableness: 4.11
 Conscientiousness: 2.667
 Neuroticism (emotional stability): 2.875
 Openness to experience: 3

Behavior: -
 An Employee with similar scores on the big 5 personality model would have firstly an introverted
kind of personality. He would not be able to cope very well during the time of the pandemic. As
someone with an Introverted personality person would not be able to talk or effectively communicate
with his peer groups also would not be able to communicate with family and friends as there was no
way to meet them physically.
 Having high agreeableness scores mean that an employee like me would agree on any matter or group
related activity be it in his peer group project or in any informal meetups and would not be able to put
forth his opinions or facts in an assertive manner. He would have been sympathetic towards other
employees and would also care for his personal and professional group members
 Having a below-average score on conscientiousness means that the employee would find it difficult
to be able to exercise self-discipline and self-control to pursue their goals. He would be less
organized and determined and would procrastinate in doing the work at hand to achieve his goals.
 Having a below-average Emotional Stability score means that the employee would’ve found it tough
to cope up with all the mental distress caused due to this pandemic and the havoc it created. He
would’ve been easily upset by the current scenario caused due to Covid. He might have gone into a
slight depression and experience mood swings. He might have become moody and anxious because
of the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic
 A good score on Openness to experience means that the employee might’ve been reluctant initially to
embrace new, fresh ideas but gradually would’ve come to terms that this pandemic is here to stay and
would’ve started trying new ideas through the constraint of virtual mode.

Managing the Employee: -

As the employee is having low extraversion score and the current pandemic made the matters worse the
individual should try to connect people through virtual mode wither by talking to his family or friends via
skype, google meet and through other social media platforms and should keep in mind that the this is the
new normal until the situation gets eased up.
The individual should try to be a little less on the agreeableness score by also putting forth his arguments
in a consolidated and assertive manner during Office group meetings. Highly agreeable people are very
eager to avoid any conflict hence they often leave the decision making to their colleagues even in such
critical situations where their opinions would make a significant difference.
The individual should improve his emotional stability and conscientiousness score and for that, both he
and the organization would be responsible. An organization should keep a close check on its employees
especially during the COVID pandemic when the physical mode stopped and everything started online
interrupting any kind of social gathering or meetings in offices. Organizations should organize daily
meditation and yoga sessions which would be helpful to all employees mental and physical wellbeing.
And would give them the motivation to work with the same intensity that they used to during pre-
pandemic times. Organizing virtual lunches could also help in improving the emotional stability score.
To improve openness to experience, score the individual could pick up some new different types of
hobbies during the pandemic times maybe learning a new language or restarting to work towards a long
lost passion which was lost due to busy lifestyles. Or even bringing novelty in their daily routine
lifestyles and choices could increase the openness to experience score and may bring out a new side of
his personality.