Enabling a safe return to work environment.
After the COVID - 19 pandemic when offices started reopening, the business continuity planning (BCP) team at Ingram Micro India gathered a team of 5 people and provided us with a problem statement. They wanted an app to enable a safe work environment to return to work.
Ingram Micro India has about 3000 employees all over and we had to come up with a way to ensure a safe return to work for them. This was particularly challenging because we were working on a tight deadline. We had to come up with a plan, design, implement and test a product all within 4 months.
How might we ensure a seamless and secure return-to-work experience for Ingram Micro employees while addressing any emerging workplace safety concerns?
We designed and implemented an application that enabled HR to schedule work slots for employees and provided a medium for employees to report their illness and also alert other employees
React JS
NodeJS
Pradyuman Pareek- Developer
Nandinee Holkar- HR
Pransu Kushwah- Tester
Mobile Solution
Screenshots from the mobile app for employees
Based on the initial breif provided to us, we tried to understand who the users would mainly be. We were able to think of mainly 3 categories of users.
01
HR Team
HR staff were responsible for uploading employee schedules and managing attendance. They needed efficient tools to streamline their work and ensure employee safety and increase in office attendance.
02
Admin Staff
Admin staff, particularly security personnel, controlled access to the office. Their role was critical in ensuring that only authorized and healthy employees could enter the premises.
03
Employees
The employees were going to be the end-users of the app. They relied on the app for accessing their schedules, making ad-hoc requests, and ensuring their safety and compliance with health protocols.
To get a better understanding of the problem, we interviewed the HR and some employees.
01
HR wanted a way to easily upload and manage employee schedules in batches.
02
HR wanted way to send announcements to employees about changes to office hours, safety protocols, and other important information.
03
HR wanted a way to ensure the safety of employees by disabling features for employees who are sick.
04
Employees wanted a way to request ad-hoc office visits through the app.
05
Employees wanted a way to easily enter the office without having to go through a lengthy check-in process
06
Employees want safety info and sick employee numbers to feel confident returning to the office.
Based on the interview data collected, we created task flows of the major tasks to understand what all was required from the app.
HR -
Task 1: Schedule Management
Task 2: Report Generation
Task 3: Approving Ad-hoc requests
Key points for HR
01
Schedule Management
HR staff are responsible for ensuring that employee schedules are accurately uploaded to the app. This task requires attention to detail and compliance with company scheduling guidelines.
02
Report Generation
HR staff have the responsibility of generating important reports related to health, attendance, and employee information. Accurate and timely report generation is essential for decision-making and compliance.
03
Compliance Monitoring
HR staff are tasked with monitoring attendance data and ensuring that employees are following safety and health protocols. This involves corrective actions when discrepancies or non-compliance are identified.
04
Communication
Effective communication is critical for HR staff, both within the Hive app (reporting and responding to issues) and external communication with relevant departments or employees for issue resolution.
Employees -
Task 1: Schedule Management
Task 2: Report Generation
Task 3: Approving Ad-hoc requests
Key points for Employees
01
Anticipation and Preparation
Employees feel a sense of anticipation when they check their schedule and answer health-related questions. They may initially feel cautious about the self-declaration process.
02
Gaining Access and Ensuring Safety
Successfully gaining access to the office reassures employees of their compliance with safety measures. They feel safe, compliant, and part of a responsible work community.
03
Ad-Hoc Request
When the need arises for an unplanned office visit, employees can use the app to request access. However, the process requires HR approval, which may introduce an element of uncertainty or anticipation for the request's outcome.
04
Convenience and Control
Throughout the workday, the app provides convenience and control. Employees are confident and appreciate the app's features for schedule management, communication, and requesting ad-hoc visits.
Admin -
Task 1: Employee Check In
Task 2: Employee Check Out
Key points for Admin
01
Access control
Admin staff play a vital role in controlling access to the office by scanning employee QR codes. Their attention to detail ensures the safety and compliance of employees.
02
Safety and Compliance
Admin staff must be vigilant in ensuring the safety and compliance of employees by verifying QR codes and self-declarations.
Based on the user task flows, we tried to define the structure of the App
We concluded that there was a need of 3 independent apps that worked in sync with each other. These were -
01
A web app for the HR/Admin and BCP teams to upload schedules and send announcements.
02
A mobile app for employees to see their schedules and announcements and to create ad-hoc requests.
03
A mobile app for the security personnel to check-in / check-out employees in the office.
We conducted participatory design sessions with all the stakeholders involved to speed up the design process. We needed to get from design to development asap. I was mainly involved with the HR/Admin portal that was a web app.
Once the designs were approved, we built out the app and then conducted testing. Here are some of our sketches
HR app sketches
Building trust and ensuring a safe return to work environment
We designed and implemented a highly succesful system in a very short span of 4 months. This system got adopted by Ingram Micro offices worldwide.
My key learnings -
01
Balancing Speed and Quality
While speed is essential, it should not come at the expense of quality. The team successfully managed to develop an enterprise-scale application under time constraints, demonstrating the value of finding the right balance between speed and the quality of the final product.
02
Project Management
Managing such a project with tight deadlines taught me the importance of effective project management, including setting priorities, allocating resources, and meeting milestones.
