Employees of IT companies should be back in offices as there is an intimacy quotient compared with working from home, while the future of work would continue to be “hybrid”, according to Wipro chairman Rishad Premji.
“I am a big believer that we should be coming back in some shape and form, and connecting because there is an intimacy to it that is irreplaceable with technology,” he said, adding people should have the flexibility to WFH but they should also be coming into offices.
“I deeply believe the future of work is hybrid which means people should have flexibility to work from home, but people should also be coming into organisations,” he added. Premji was talking at the Nasscom Technology and Leadership Summit 2023.
Three years ago, a virtual model worked because employees knew each other but after the pandemic, due to the high attrition over the last few years nearly 50-60% of the personnel in an organisation are new. Working from office is necessary to build professional relationships for the new recruits.
According to Premji, while work culture would be hybrid, companies need to go to where talent is present, rather than bringing the employees to the bigger cities.
On women’s participation, he said that about 50% of industry’s hires were women but it drops down to 37% when it comes to the overall workforce equation and only 10% of leadership are women.
Talking about leadership, Premji said “the days of authoritarian leadership” are diminishing, while the space for authentic and empathetic is becoming much more pervasive. Leaders, who can empathise and connect with people are powerful, he added.
Premji also said that it was important to encourage an environment of risk-taking and celebrate failures. “Innovation by design doesn’t mean everything will succeed.”