Combating COVID-19 at Quixy

Quixy Editorial Team

August 11, 2023

COVID-19 changed the way that the world functioned when it hit in 2020. Combating a virus like this caused countries to enforce lockdowns and quarantines, which in turn affected most businesses and establishments. Many businesses had to quickly adapt to working remotely and closing down their offices to stop the spread of this virus. Social distancing and wearing masks became a part of the daily routine for those who working in essential industries and going out for any non-essential reason became an unforeseen danger.

Businesses also had to completely change the way that they functioned as they had to find ways to keep their employees safe and business running. Most companies encouraged working from home at full efficiency on an organization-wide basis. Regardless of the unending meetings and disrupted communication, this was the safest method of working during the crisis. However, slowly, employees got used to this new style of working and started adapting to the needs of the moment. By utilizing tools to encourage better teamwork over digital channels and rethinking the processes within the business, the employees and businesses were able to bounce back and provide renewed support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

After the new year began, India was hit with the second wave and it affected everyone in a way that wasn’t seen before. Our office in Hyderabad remained closed as we complied with the social distancing and lockdown norms, but we wanted to ensure that we could take care of our employees, nonetheless. Keeping our employee’s comfort in mind was our aim when we created apps to help make it easier for employees to safely come back to work once this crisis had blown over. Taking care of their loved ones and staying safe during this pandemic and after was the only thing that we wanted our team at Quixy to focus on.

At Quixy, we’ve always been focused on the wellbeing of our employees, whether it’s emotional, physical, or mental. We prioritized the safety and comfort of our employees and both the company and the employees benefited from empathy in these trying times. Our employees are our greatest asset, and we introduced a few effective measures to ensure that we can all get through this crisis safely:

Measures taken to combat COVID-19

100% remote work

All employees were told to work from home remotely as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. This was one of the most effective measures that a business could take and this decision was taken as fast as possible to ensure the safety of our employees.

Encouraging the use of digital tools

Although the world was thrown into disarray due to this virus, business still had to go on after an initial adjustment period. In the interest of keeping our employees safe by preventing any potential interaction or contact, we switched to digital tools to get our work done. There are multiple tools which have been created to make it easier to communicate and collaborate with team members, and our employees were able to work remotely and without any contact, thus mitigating the risk of Covid-19.

Also read: Digital Business Strategy Post-COVID-19: Top 5 Goals to Accelerate Business

Automating processes

The team at Quixy was able to work efficiently and persevere even during the pandemic by automating their processes through Quixy. Going paperless was essential during this time as sending actual papers and documents to the concerned individuals was risky. After making these changes, we were able to seamlessly conduct our business and make all of the processes easier for our employees throughout the company.

HR check-ins

Working remotely is safe but it can also become isolating for the employees. After always working in a group or as part of a team, the sudden disconnect may have been startling, and our HR team stepped in to fix that. With frequent calls to touch base and enquire about their and their loved one’s wellbeing, we wanted to reassure our employees that we stand with them and we’re ready to help.

COVID-19 Care Insurance

At Quixy, we’re determined to provide our employees with as much support as possible. Thus, we took insurance for our employees in the event of a COVID infection, where the costs and expenses of medical treatment will be covered. It’s already daunting when the COVID-19 virus affects an individual, so we wanted to eliminate any hesitation in trying to get the medical help needed by the patient due to costs or financial reasons.

“The team at Quixy has helped me greatly during this tumultuous pandemic period. Unfortunately, both of my parents got afflicted with the COVID-19 virus which was a very scary situation. As they were both admitted into the hospital, I knew that I would need to take care of the formalities, when all I really wanted to do was take care of my parents. I was so surprised and relieved when I got a call from Quixy saying that the paperwork had been taken care of and the expenses had been managed. Thanks to their help I could focus all of my efforts on making sure that my parents recovered successfully, instead of being constantly anxious about managing everything by myself. I was incredibly grateful for this support from Quixy during this challenging time.”

Vivek Goel, marketing team

COVID-19 Care Task Force

Giving our employees a clear resource for help with COVID-related issues was important as it can help bolster their courage in this difficult situation. Hence, we started the COVID Care Task Force with a focus on providing support and assistance in combatting the virus through doctor consultations, testing help, resources like oxygen and medicines, etc. This task force is available 24×7 to give employees a strong support system.

COVID-19 Care Leaves

We also instated a new leave policy with special COVID Care leaves in case it infects an employee or their loved ones. We proposed 10 paid leaves aside from the weekends and holidays to allow for enough time to recover. With the submission of an RT-PCR test, every employee is entitled to these 10 days of leave and they can avail themselves this twice a year in the unfortunate circumstances of COVID-19 affecting them twice. This system would also be applied retrospectively for those who battled COVID-19 in the earlier months of 2021. This policy helped ease the employee’s worries regarding taking leaves and getting their salary cut when they should just be focused on successfully recovering.

Dedicated COVID-19 Help Center channel on Microsoft Teams

COVID-19 has caused rampant confusion about its effects, longevity, recovery rate, vaccines, etc. This confusion just leads to further emotional and mental stress, so we started a channel focused on answering COVID-related questions on Microsoft Teams so every employee can access it. By giving official resources and links to refer to, we were able to assuage some of the doubts in our employee’s minds and provide further clarity about this virus.

Workplace Health & Safety Apps

We have also introduced a few apps on the Quixy platform to make it easier for our administration staff and employees when they return back to the office after this crisis is over.

QR based E-Permits

Applying for these e-permits is one of the only ways to gain access to the office which bolsters the employee’s confidence Quixy’s commitment to keeping them safe. These e-permits can only be received after a declaration of health from the employee, and they must be applied for in advance.

COVID-19 Self-Assessment

We’ve created a checklist to help employees self-diagnose themselves with potential symptoms of COVID-19 in an effort to help them remain vigilant against this virus. The only way to get ahead of this bug is to prevent it from spreading by recognizing the symptoms and limiting your contact with those around you.

Screening at the Entry

Thermal screening at the entry of our workplace is one of the measures that can help the employees avoid unnecessary contact. Only permitted individuals with an e-permit are allowed to go into the office and their temperatures are recorded within the Quixy application.

Contact Tracing

We’ve provided each of our employees with a unique QR code so that we can track the interactions between them. This can help in the unfortunate event of an employee contracting COVID-19 and interacting with others so that we can warn them to get tested as soon as possible.

Health and Safety Inspection

We have created an application where we can track and keep records of compliance with health and safety procedures. This can help ensure that we maintain standards of hygiene and keep our employees safe.

Incident Reporting

Sometimes there are threats to the safety of employees that we might not be able to catch on time. So, we’ve created an app to make it easier for the employees to report any problematic incidents which we can immediately take care of to mitigate their doubts and concerns.

COVID-19 Command and Control Dashboard

We’ve created a dashboard to help update our employees on the current statistics and insights regarding COVID-19 within the organization. By providing frequent updates, we can keep our employees informed about the virus and give them a clear resource to refer to for any queries.

Also read: Workflow Automation in Remote Learning: Astounding Ways Gaps have been filled during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Overcoming COVID-19 as a team at Quixy

Our employees at Quixy remain our number one priority and we pride ourselves on providing a safe and comfortable workplace for them. We’ve made sure to give as much support as possible to our team since they’re the reason that Quixy has become what it has today. These apps and special measures have helped us support our employees even without any face-to-face contact or interaction.

We’ve also made multiple free apps for use on our platform, so companies can also utilize them to create a safer environment for their employees in the future. We can definitely overcome this pandemic if we stick together and support each other, and that’s the attitude that we want to foster at Quixy!