SPOTPOLL The Good Bad & Ugly of 2020
It was a year that no one had imagined in their worst nightmare a veritable return to the medieval dark ages of Pandemics and deaths and chaos. To begin with, it served as a grim reminder to man that no matter how much he progresses, Mother Nature's boundaries remain challenged. That no matter what strides science makes, a natural disaster is a merciless antagonist. Sans doubt, the year 2020 ended the decade with a shock to the system, whether it was the economy, government or the social life. The Covid-19 Pandemic this year changed the world forever, transforming how we lived and worked. It wasn't all gloom and doom, though. From amidst the debris of broken dreams and devastated economies, emerged the human spirit, more resilient than ever before. Corporate Citizen captures the year down the line, wherein Corporate leaders from various sectors speak on the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the year 2020: in their professional life, business sector, and personal life, what do they foresee as the road ahead? Some answers are a mixed bag, but mostly of positivity & renewed energy. Read on...
Appreciating values of thrift and ecology
2020 is a watershed year. Humanity has started appreciating values of thrift, vegetarianism, ecology. As far as India is concerned, the right thing has been the way we have given a strong rebuff to Chinese adventurism. China had thought that they could bluff their way through, but the Indian military has called their bluff. Not only that India has started mending her relations with neighbours and forging alliances with countries who are affected by Chinese expansionism but were afraid to talk. The bad thing in 2020 has been the effect of coronavirus on health and economy. There seems to be some silver lining by the time the year is coming to an end. The Ugly thing has been the standoff between the farmers and the government. I sincerely hope that the impasse gets resolved soon. There has to be a give and take approach on both sides. To that end, can we utilise the experience and services of Shri Sharad Pawar?
Arun Firodia, Chairman, Kinetic Group
Prioritising investment in social structures
The Good the year 2020 leaves us with a few good realisations. However, much may we have progressed economically, in the last two decades, if we are not invested well in social infrastructures like health and education, we are utterly inadequate. Secondly, we realised how vital the frontline workers are to our lives. Be it the healthcare giver, the soldiers guarding our borders or the essential service provider. While the world was under a severe lockdown, these are the people that kept us going. Thirdly, the year saw the acceleration of technology in our daily lives. Whether Work from Home, a movie on Netflix, college lectures, wearable devices to track health or a Swiggy delivery, technology touched our lives in some form or other. The Bad and Ugly with GDPs shaved, industries crippled, vital economic sectors frozen, retail closures accelerated, job losses, the year leaves behind a trail of economic disruptions like never before. The financial crisis is likely to last far longer than the health crisis, which is seeing its end of days. About two billion people across the globe, mainly in informal sectors are facing risk due to lack of social protection. However, we live on hope; we thrive on our ability to bounce back stronger and brighter. Good luck to all of us.
Rajiv Mitra, Govind Milk & Milk Products
The grim year of great learnings
The year 2020 taught me to believe less is more and quality is perhaps quantity itself. The year helped me progress personally, which I think is the highlight. This pause from our fast paced life and ugliness around during the lockdown gave me time to reflect upon myself and analyse the true meaning of love, happiness, anxiety and fear. At first, I was carried away by the deluge of daily news; however, eventually, I chose to park the uncertainty aside and stay in the moment. Professionally, I moved from focusing on results to reasons. The shift in approach helped me look at things differently, in terms of my goals, actions and output. When all actions cease, your mind calms down, then in that restful state something begins to emerge, and that is something only a year like 2020 can teach.
Saloni Jani, Co-founder and CFO, WorkLabCo
Personal meetings sorely missed!
In hindsight, 2020 was a challenging year, but it brought in new opportunities. The best part was the way technology was explored and utilised in a short time. Courtesy of the latest technology, I could continue to carry on with my work even during the lockdown. The geographical barrier has reduced, which helped us reach more clients. However, the sad part was, personal meetings were hampered. I cannot undermine the importance and the impact of a personal meeting as matters of wealth are a private affair. In a face-to-face meeting, the clients derive a greater sense of trust and comfort. They are willing to discuss family objectives and issues concerning wealth and inheritance, which allows me to offer appropriate legal solutions. The uncertainty prompted several people to put in place a succession plan. Still, unfortunately, the clients who sought advice in the past few months for the execution of estate were for their deceased family member.
Namita Agarwal, AVP-Succession Planning, Emkay Wealth Management
Never let a good crisis go to waste
First of all, what was the good, the bad and the ugly of 2020 is all just an individual interpretation.
The Good in keeping with what British premier Winston Churchill said at the end of World War II that 'Never let a good crisis go to waste;' hundreds of organisations came up with incredible innovations; those that had a 9-5 pm office culture adapted to work from home. Families, where individuals would spend more time on the road than with their families, have spent great quality time together. Small businesses have re-oriented their thinking and work.
The Bad many people have lost loved ones to the virus. Many others suffered grave inconvenience like never before through being alone at home and hospitals, loss of jobs and business, the migrant crisis, and so forth.
The Ugly spending so much time together at home with families has also brought out the worst in some. I have heard horror stories of physical, sexual and emotional abuse in families I would have never even imagined.
Sameer Dua, Founder Director, The Institute for Generative Leadership, India
The chance to pause and unclutter
What a year! For many, 2020 has been the worst possible year, for a lucky few it has been rewarding, but for each one of us, it has been unforgettable.
On a professional level, it has been extremely challenging to co-ordinate with 150 people who are now working from their hometowns in different parts of India. Training, QA, infrastructure issues, privacy violations, etc. have all been challenging.
Working from home has been a mixed bag, with all of us jostling to get the maximum bandwidth out of a neglected, creaky router. The most common words heard at home over the last nine months have been 'Am I audible now?' The best that 2020 gave me on a personal level is the chance to pause, reflect, prioritise, unclutter and to spend beautiful, rewarding and high-quality time with my family.
Anmol Chawla, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Boomerang Global
Productivity on an upswing
The Pandemic brought the entire ecosystem of IT tech events and conference sector to a halt. A lot of allied businesses took a hit with cancellations worldwide. However, this was a debilitating change, and it also created an opportunity for collaboration products to evolve and mature quickly over the virtual platform.
In these uncertain times, work from home was the only option. Being confined to your home as a workspace without face-to-face interaction with people affected the employees. I fear a long term impact of this new normal. However, one of the biggest positives coming out of this was the busting of the myth that Indian IT cannot work from home. Results indicate that productivity has increased and the way the companies support the employees with the required infrastructure is undoubtedly commendable.
Girish Sane, Director-IT, BMC Software
Humanity formed a singular alliance
From our collective mental and physical health to our economy, while 2020 put everyone through the wringer, I am incredibly proud to have led a healthcare startup that provided a second line of defence against the Pandemic in India. Besides, we also managed not to lay off a single person at a time of unprecedented uncertainty. And, I can attribute this to the personal sacrifices of an unbelievably committed core team as 2020 certainly taught me on whom to count on during a crisis. Personally, like many other healthcare workers, this was a challenging time balancing home and work as there was no 'work from home' option for us. I found incredible solace in my social work, along with several other willing volunteers who contributed time and money on various projects to serve the needy. To sum up, 2020 taught us gratitude and resilience and the power of humanity to thrive and come together-a formidable foundation to take into 2021 and beyond.
Antra Bhargava, CEO, Suvitas
Gratitude for the gift of life
The start of 2020 was good until we hit a rough patch due to the Pandemic slowing us down until mid-June. We resumed work in the 'new' normal and began operations with a minimum of 10% of our regular staff. A difficult phase, as we had to be at work without being infected or becoming the vectors to spread the infection. Business-wise, the lockdown witnessed Research and Development in making indigenous EV chargers for use in our premises. We also set up EV charging stations to support the electric mobility and lockdown that had hit the transport and mobility industry hard. Personally, a complete absence of my usual travels and on-site operations allowed me to spend a lot of time at home with family, enjoying quality time together, which was rejuvenating. This short pandemic vacation came around sensitising us to be grateful for the gift of life and the importance of celebrating life and holding onto to each other.
Darryl Dias, Co-founder & MD, Magenta Group
The year of adoption and adaptation
Let us join in celebrating the end of 2020, a year that brought tremendous pain, economic disruption, and uncertainty to most of us. However, the year ushered in innovation, new technologies, fine-tuning to a new business model and new hope in vaccine development and approvals. Personally, 2020 was a 'challenge of adaptation', and I wondered on how to adapt to the changes in business, personal and social life as quickly as needed. I mused over whether this apparent 'pause' year could turn out to be a call for a better opportunity. The positive in spending more time with family was a blessing; eating healthy and exercising became easy. Days became more productive and gained a much needed focus. Our company benefitted from remote work and the need for better employee support. Despite the losses and frustrations, we look forward to a better 2021-retaining the best of learnings from 2020 and into a pandemic-free future.
Manish Sharma, COO, Rezolve.ai
Crowning glory and learning curve
Undoubtedly, 2020 was a grim year that tested us to the core. Amidst all this, we all learnt to rely on the innate resilience that we possess within us and that is what helped us out, both professionally and personally.
Speaking for myself, winning the Mrs West India 2020 pageant was a career high as it brought forth a whole new dimension to my personality one that was a value addition to my roles both professional and homemaker. Being a beauty queen is a different ball game and a learning curve in many ways.
The worst or the ugliest aspect of 2020 was, of course, the lives it threw into disarray. The human cost was terrible on a level and that is something that we have all had to deal with.
Bandana Dua, VP, Deutsche Bank
Keep the hope afloat
The most heartbreaking aspect about 2020 was the fact that many people lost both lives as well as hope on the backdrop of the never before scourge of a global Pandemic. Futures were lost and dreams put off for the foreseeable future were something we had to contend with across the board.
But every dark cloud as a silver lining. In many cases, it would be the unexpected quality time we spent with loved ones, people we don't really spend time with on a regular basis. Covid-19 really put the scanner on what's truly important in life, namely our loved ones and the ability of the human spirit to overcome. And therein lies hope
Prashant Surana Jain, Co-founder, Snapper FutureTech
Of strength, mutual support and sensitivity
Although I've lived alone and worked remotely for several years, the mandatory self-isolation took some getting used to. The Pandemic did profoundly impact every aspect of my existence. I realised that staying relevant, up to speed, motivated and keeping others motivated and productive, could be achieved by adopting a disciplined routine, both across work and personal life. At work, keeping the lights on and also drastically cutting costs is probably my biggest lesson out of the Pandemic. We managed to keep the cash flows on despite the challenges of zero 'face-to-face' interactions or travel and didn't miss a single customer or internal deadline. Not giving into to a Pandemic-related fear psychosis and extreme negativity was something that only extreme positivity and faith in God helped achieve. Concern for my family and loved ones were always foremost in my mind. The inner realisations arising out of self-isolation, seeing death and economic hardships has made me a more sensitive human being.
Sumir Nagar, COO, Bank-Genie Pte Ltd
Thrift, frugality and a return to basics
The good part of the entire year was, it taught us the basic principles of disaster management. Be it business, professional or personal life, it taught us the importance of thrift and frugality. We learnt the most important art of cash management and effective management of resources. I will surely welcome the New Year 2021 with a lot of positivity and hope. The Pandemic would be on its wane, and by the end of the year of Pandemic, we would be entering a period, definitely with a lot of cheer and enjoyment.
The year 2020 has been indeed an unprecedented year. The uncertainty which crept in, at the very beginning of the year, remained for the rest of the year. This uncertainty, together with the total closure of the economy, industry and routine public life, probably was the ugliest feature of the year. The unprecedented nature of the economic and industrial situation made forecasting impossible, adding to the uncertainty. The horizon was blurred with absolutely no visibility of the immediate and a distant future. The fear of catching the virus was intense and resulted in significant fear of phobia, panic everywhere.
Dr Anant Sardeshmukh,
Management Counsel and former Director General, Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA)
Change of Work, Workforce, and Workplace
A sudden outbreak of Covid resulting in a global lockdown has radically affected every aspect of life - economy, industry, society, even our personal lives. Three critical elements of business-work, workforce, and workplace have changed altogether, imposing rapid and radical changes and challenges and creating new opportunities. What can 'Work' make you thrive in the markets with innovation, disruption, automation, and digitisation? Workforces need future skilling and up-skilling (AI, ML, AR-VR, IoT), and the workplace has gone virtual. While most other economies will struggle or have negative growth, the Indian economy has an excellent opportunity to re-energise, rebuild, restructure, and react to these changing times.
We at Rubiscape and Inteliment have transformed our business model from IT services to a Made in India product in AI-ML and are launching in Jan 2021, as the economy starts picking up. We are upbeat about the growth higher than the industry standard in the next 3-5 years.
Prashant Pansare, CEO, Rubiscape & Inteliment
An opportunity to slow down and introspect
What happened in 2020 was unprecedented as the entire world was under lockdown. Each one of us had our own experiences of going through the lockdown. I believe most of us used this opportunity to slow down a bit, spent time with family, health and doing introspection. I could do some of these as well. The Good on the business front, we could further boost our processes to serve our clients seamlessly, since we were already distributing mutual funds or helping them with health or life insurance plans entirely online, the lockdown further helped us streamlined the existing process. We used Zoom calls to interact with clients, especially, during the market crash, which helped us a lot in handling our clients during stressful times. We are alive, is the most significant benefit one could ever ask for. I have the deepest gratitude for the almighty God.
The Bad on a serious note, looking at our fellow countrymen losing their livelihood was indeed sad. Seeing people losing their lives and loved ones was the worst part of this pandemic.
Rishabh Parakh, Founder, Money Plant consultancy
WFH is a learning experience
The year 2020 was a unique year when everyone in the world was facing the same situation.
The Good during the lockdown, I got more time to spend time with my family. Before the pandemic, due to the working hours, professional commitment, sometimes it is difficult to spend time with one's family as one would want to. But the pandemic-induced lockdown made spending my time with the family possible.
As everybody was working from home, I got well versed with the technology which aided me to work from home. As a result, I was working virtually like many others across the world. I was following the norm of work from home like many others. Working from home taught me many things, it was a learning experience.
With ample time on my hands, I decided to use it to improve myself. Learning, re-learning and unlearning is a must in this VUCA world. To enhance my skill set, I studied social psychology and Machine Learning. I believe one must keep learning and keep enhancing one's skillset.
On the personal front, in the time of distress, I got a chance to help the people in need, which also taught me various things. That being said, I got a chance to explore my own capabilities and talents. As I was improving my professional skill set, I also wanted to expand my personal capabilities and talents. Having written a book earlier, I wrote another book, and also learnt the art of painting.
The bad side of the lockdown was that it affected the economic cycle of India, and it also affected the industries in India at large, and as a result, some of my friends lost their jobs, some of my friends lost their loved ones.
The Ugly the ugly side of the Covid-19 pandemic was the fast spread of the virus and the fatalities it had. Despite my best intentions, I could not save the lives.
Harjeet Khanduja, Vice President Human Resources at Reliance Jio
Pandemic has accelerated trends of virtual engagements
None of us had anticipated pandemic of this magnitude with such a drastic impact on our lives and livelihoods. Many industries, especially, those associated with mobility have been impacted with such ferocity that it has put them years behind. Millions of vulnerable segments have seen standards of living decline greatly. It has been very challenging for students passing from institutions to get employed.
IT sector in India has shown tremendous resilience in delivering growth & business continuity under very challenging circumstances.
Pandemic has accelerated trends of virtual engagements, be it education, entertainment or retail focus on renewable energy and automation. It is vital for individual and organisations to demonstrate agility aligned with existing and emerging trends for outperformance.
At a personal level, it has made me realise that we need to be grateful for being alive and healthy. We should strive to build the best version of ourselves with the mindset to be of service to others.