On this episode of The Shape of Work podcast, our guest is Jayant Rastogi, Global CEO of Magic Bus India Foundation, an NGO founded 20 years ago which has made a difference by working in the poorest communities to help 1 million children and young people transform their lives.
Jayant is an industry veteran with over 28 years of experience in setting up and driving successful and scalable businesses. An entrepreneur for the last three years, Jayant has diverse experience of working in the technology, distribution & enterprise segment.
In this episode, he talks about his journey from being part of several tech-based enterprises to now working in the Social Sector.
We picked his brain to know about the importance of strong communication, maintaining a culture that motivates the team members, and implementation of technology and automation in the Social Sector.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
The transformation of the Magic Bus Foundation:
Jayant explains that the industry is more complex than it looks. He mentions the difference between the corporate sector and the nonprofit sector. When Jayant’s journey in Magic Bus started, he felt overwhelmed for the first few days. It was an organization without systems and processes. His first step was to conduct parallel processing and get people to rely on it.
They went for all the automation processes together. It is generally not possible in all companies.
They went through a massive transformation which eventually turned out to be great for the organization. Currently, their financial systems, technology, and all other processes are in place. They turned their employer promoter score from -35 to 56.
Effectiveness of Automation:
They faced a lot of challenges while automating the organization. When they implemented new technology, the employees started having trust issues against Jayant. They felt that he did not believe in their work. To solve this, Jayant tried to assure them that the organization is here to look out for them. Moreover, they started seeing the benefits of this technology too.
Taking care of employee well-being:
Many small organizations had to downsize themselves. Before the lockdown got announced, Magic Bus was busy carrying out work and conducting fundraising. They started by carrying out a business continuity plan. 35%-40% of their funds were donated to the PM cares fund. They decided not to cut the salaries of the lower-level employees. They performed intelligent cost savings by moving their programs virtual. Technology helped them a lot. Jayant says that this adaptation of technology could have taken years otherwise.
Strategies to make an organization a great place to work in:
The first and foremost factor to make an NGO a great place to work is trust. Leadership should walk the talk. Building trust requires transparent communication and honesty. In addition, the organization should reward people who do well. In addition, it should also focus on talent development through internal and external workshops. Getting people involved and taking care of them is extremely important. Magic Bus arranged O2 concentrators for their employees.
Employee well-being in an NGO?
Magic Bus tied up for several mental health and counseling sessions. These sessions have been anonymous. Jayant says that it is a necessary step towards watching out for the employees.
Follow Jayant on LinkedIn
Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast host: Junius Dsilva