Companies in India are increasingly adopting “spouse hiring” wherein husbands and wives work for the same company. While conventional ways prefer employees to keep their professional and personal lives separate, companies in India have found that hiring both partners in a company facilitate better retention and improved employee engagement.
In one of the example, Synechron, financial services solutions provider implemented this policy of spouse hiring in place, after receiving several requests from its employees. Faisal Husain, CEO and Co-Founder of Syncechron told Economic Times of India, “We take employee requests seriously, and implement them when feasible. We expect this policy to impact about 2,000 married employees at Synechron globally.”
Many companies globally are turning towards conventional wisdom means to employee retention by adopting spouse hiring strategies in place. These companies include Amazon, PwC, Directi, Peppertap, SAP labs and others who are engaging in spouse hiring as a way to curb attrition within organisations, improve employee engagement and combat talent war strategically.
Until now, spouse hiring to a large extent was being used on a case-to-case basis. However, some couples do not prefer working together in the same company as a conscious de-risking strategy. PwC India recently introduced spouse hiring at the company, but with a caveat that the couple should not work in the same team or report to each other.
While organisations in India are opening up to the idea of embracing spouse hiring methodology but with caution that they do not work in the same department, which may lead to conflicts of interest. Online grocer Peppertap is in the process of putting a formal policy on spouse hiring, said CEO Navneet Singh.
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Amazon India in a recent initiative launched the Amazon Military Talent Partnership, wherein it offers employment to ex-service personnel and their spouses with career development opportunities. The company has further set up an affinity group called Amazon Warriors comprising of staffers who are ex-army personnel, spouses and other support personnel who will help these employees to transition smoothly into the Amazon work culture.
Spouses working in the same organisation, increasingly vouch for this emerging hiring trend picking up momentum among MNCs in India and efficacy of this practice. Some couples opine that working in the same work culture and environment, commute, timings all help to connect better and maintain work-life balance.
MTS India encourages hiring through referrals, which not just includes spouses but friends and relatives as well. The company is now in the process of streamlining its policy to make it more flexible for employee’s requirements, since this has been doing well within the company for talent management.
The spouse hiring policy at Aegon Religare Life Insurance is communicated to employees during orientation and more prominently, the company encourages meritocracy in hiring practices. While SAP labs have not yet implemented spouse hiring policy, but in case the spouse is a best fit for the job role, then they are open to hiring spouses of employees.
News Source: Economic Times
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