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The Challenge of Having It All

The Challenge of
Having It All

A sneak peek into the challenges faced by Indian site Engineers and
their Manager:

Engineering is one such industry where when one enters, enters with the
planning of bidding adieu only when they complete six decades of their life. The industry offers lucrative perks and
benefits to its employees. The employees have insured finances, health, and assured job security too. But there
still lie certain challenges at the heart of the functioning of this sector.

If at all it was about having it all…

The Challenge of Having It All

A sneak peek into the challenges faced by Indian site Engineers and their Managers Engineering is one such industry where when one enters, enters with the planning of bidding adieu only when they complete six decades of their life. The industry offers lucrative perks and benefits to its employees. The employees have insured finances, health, and assured job security too. But there still lie certain challenges at the heart of the functioning of this sector. If at all it was about having it all….

COVID Failed Perks for Ensuring Employee Resilience (The Redefined Comfort)

Antarmanh Consulting has worked with the industry for around a decade now. The findings based on our work clearly show how paradoxically despite the sustainable assurance of multiple resources for a secure lifestyle, the site engineers are struggling to bounce back to work especially post the pandemic.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the national lockdown from March to May 2020 had a differing impact on the producing sectors of the Indian economy. Similar to the construction industry, manufacturing reportedly shrunk in the second quarter of 2020. While the threat of industrial shrinkage was posed to the sector, the distance from the family has turned out to be a very significant variable pulling them away from work, limiting all the pulls (in the name of reasonable assurances and insurances) towards work. This became an additional challenge.

construction industry
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The impact on the construction industry, in particular, can be well interpreted from the graphs above. The left graph shows the places where the construction industry finds its dwelling the most. The right one shows the impact of COVID-19 on various Indian states. It is clearly visible how most parts where the site engineers would have been placed were the most hit by COVID. Most of the sites were closed. The employees placed on the sites demanded going back and feared spreading the virus to their families at the same time. Those who could be back home, did not want to go back to the site. 
work travel causing attrition by percentage
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Not going back to the sites got supported by reasons like stress about family well-being, fearing the family health, fear of traveling, and catching the virus. Above it all was the fear of complete uncertainty – ‘When would this all be over, no one knows.’ The adversity of health impact was also unclear but there was surely immense anxiety around it. All this despite all insurances in place! The sole reason is that the psychological variables of stress clearly disguise and blind us to existing opportunities and comforts. It shifts our perception fulcrum.

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Stress also intervenes with our belief system. It seems that self-care as an idea that seems to be at the roots of one’s resilience, is missing. This can be prevented merely by understanding on part of the workplace that this concern exists. Studies show that the workplaces that promote self-care and wellness services display a higher organisational health index.  In Conclusion… Whenever we speak of long-term commitment, resilience is one variable which comes as a necessity. Lack of it reduces motivation, hampers one’s ownership of work and even personal satisfaction of the employees. When we have a secure guarding wall of ample assurances and insurances for a respectable survival, we would definitely be prone to leaning towards an ‘easier life’ given how humans basically run on the pleasure principle.  This could pose a major qualitative challenge for the industry in the long run.

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