The Tamil Nadu Chapter of AMCHAM held a session on September 22nd with EY. Mr. Ashwin Ravindranath, Senior Partner, EY welcomed members and after the introductions, Mr. Aman Shashank made a presentation on the topic ‘Evaluation, Performance and Compensation.’ The salient features of the presentation included, the new work dynamics — how employees prefer remote working arrangements and in-person time with their teams, only 1% of employees surveyed said that ‘leaders need to be flexible and embrace hybrid work,’ while 70% of employees surveyed wanted flexible remote options and two-thirds of employees want in-person time with their teams. It was mentioned that the truth of measuring performance is complex. A single metric rarely reflects all the nuances of an employee’s responsibilities and contributions — whether they are remote, in-person or hybrid.

The topic of rethinking performance was also discussed with a focus on 1) self – setting goals and meeting them, 2) team – partnering for effectiveness and 3) customers – translating work into its outcomes. While highlighting rethinking compensation structures, the biggest insight today is that employees are rethinking the “Is it worth it?” Organizations are restructuring compensation with a higher focus on benefits and allowances to make employees successful while working in a hybrid set up. Others topics included allowances to enable employees to build the right infrastructure to be successful while working remotely, comprehensive wellness allowances, increased paid time off, retention bonuses for stemming attrition and equity programs. In conclusion, Mr. Ashwin Ravindranath said it is challenging to be an employer and exciting to be an employee. He added that a crisis is an opportunity today as attrition helps clean out talent and it helps retain mission critical employees.