In conversation with Rajeev Sharma, MD of G4S India

As appeared in Business Today, June 2020 Issue

This year so far has been quite unprecedented for people, businesses, economy and the government. Safety and care for all lives has taken a centerstage and a preventive approach is the most sought-after behavioural change. Everything that we used to do prior to Covid-19 is being questioned from a safety stand point and simple things that were routine have become important now e.g. working from office, restarting of a business, strict safety compliance of government policies and the personal fears of people beyond the realms of business.

Workplace hygiene and employee mental well-being, will no longer be a good-to-have component; instead it will become a must-have in the post-lockdown world, likewise going digital too will be a basic necessity for survival in all spheres like communicating, working, educating, supporting etc.

Post Covid-19 life would require every individual to take extreme care of personal health & hygiene, educating our resources on personal safety, drive social distancing behaviour, focus on mental well-being, helping employees with anxiety and provide assurance to employees, their families and the government while we get to business as usual. This is good to have but the businesses which are under financial stress due to continued lockdown will prefer to have an asset light model in absence of available cash for deployment.

During the period of lockdown, G4S continued to provide all its customers the required level of security, protecting their facilities and employees from the adversity. Through our global expertise and innovative IP technology solutions, we have provided support to many customers and help them resume their business.

Uncertainty about the future

Leadership will be expected to define new rules of working, provide direction and comfort to the employees to get them back to work, motivate and energize the teams by actively engaging with them. It will take a while for the employees to get away from social distraction and focus on their work, hence the managers will be expected to increase collaboration and provide direction to the team for meeting the desired performance.

This unprecedented situation has taught us to be more resilient and I am sure going forward we will charter our own territory and define the path to success amidst all that may continue to happen around us. The world’s dependence on Artificial Intelligence based tech solutions to manage the work environment will increase multi fold and it will be multi-dimensional.

How has G4S been ensuring the safety of the employees and customers during and post the lockdown?

G4S India, an industry leader in security solutions is also offering a wide range of integrated solutions spanning security; facility services and technology to support customers carry on their business with minimum disruption and increased productivity. We are also preparing workplaces for the safe return of employees in a safe and hygienic environment.

Highly trained G4S Security personnel were entrusted the responsibility of securing more than 18000 client sites in India 24X7 equipped with personal protective gears ensuring their own safety as well. G4S did sense the potential damage Covid-19 can cause early in the year because of our global presence and prepared to minimize the impact on our employees and clients by preparing well in advance.

We invested heavily on training our workforce in temperature screening, social distancing, sanitizing and adopting safe practice both at home and at work.

We ensured adequate stock of PPE, masks and hand sanitizers even before they went out of demand to equip our Security personnel with them. We swiftly moved and created a Command Centre to tackle dynamic update on Covid-19, provided alerts, reports and advisories to our clients and employees on regular basis to keep them informed. We continuously learned and engaged with our clients to keep them updated with central and state Government advisories and orders ensuring all our customers remained compliant to all such orders.

G4S has also launched G4S Return to Work Assurance program, a new comprehensive range of solutions developed to assist organizations with security planning and facility readiness as they prepare the reopening process post the lockdown.

What are some of the possible solutions companies can implement?

G4S Intensive Infection Control Solution is one specialized disinfecting and sanitizing service for office facilities, private, public and other commercial spaces including company vehicles used to ferry employees.

Thermal fever screening and detection solutions are one of the easiest ways of detecting high body temperature. G4S Integrated Fever Screening Solution helps detect elevated body temperature, which is a key symptom of Covid-19.

Application to monitor social distancing at office, wearing of face masks, and temperature screening on the go are few asset light solutions which are well received by our clients. We also provide a Covid Compliance application with real time dashboard for the management.

G4S will continue to provide security and facility readiness services to customers and closely monitor the latest development of the outbreak, and ensure that employees delivering essential services on ground have the support, awareness and adequate protective gear, to continue delivering high standards of service.