Vuram Launches Initiatives to Support its People and Society

CHENNAI
Vuram, a leading hyperautomation services company, responds to the ongoing pandemic following its founding principles and what its name means: being the nourishment to its people, customers, and society. The organization’s latest initiative ‘Vuram Empathizes’ was launched by its CEO, Venkatesh Ramarathinam. He said, “Our people make Vuram. During such tough times, the decisions we take show who we are and how good we are as citizens. Most of these initiatives are ideas suggested by Vuramites, making it a very collaborative approach to COVID.”

The initiative will focus on supporting Vuramites (Vuram’s Employees), customers, society, and individual self.

1. Vuramites (Vuram’s Employees)

COVID Taskforce
Headed by the Director of the People Team, Suresh Kumar C and volunteers within Vuram, the team focuses on:
● Supporting Vuramites and their families with help and resources from third parties
● Sharing COVID-related help information within Vuram
● Connecting on-call doctors/pediatricians with Vuramites in need of a consultation

Suresh Kumar C, said, “The COVID Taskforce, with 60 volunteers and still counting, focuses on enabling Vuramites to navigate through the pandemic. The team is also focused on realizing the initiatives in the pipeline, including organizing vaccine drives. At Vuram, we make collective decisions. We are rolling out internal surveys to decide the ‘how’ and ‘what’ of these initiatives.”

COVID Leaves
Vuram adopts a ‘people over policies’ approach. During the pandemic, Vuramites may feel the pressure due to self impact, family impact or general social impact. In such cases, they are allowed to take as many leaves outside their leave balance without affecting their appraisals or bonus. It is to be noted that Vuram already has an internal application to gather the daily health status of its people. This allows Vuram to make empathetic decisions or extend the required support in a timely fashion.

Wellness Days
Vuram has announced a global shutdown between June 4 and 7. The objective is to have everyone pause from work, including emails, chats, and work-related applications. The entire company will return on June the 8th, and all revenue raised on the 8th will be committed to an internal fund for community welfare.

Financial Support
Adding to the employee’s interest-free loans that Vuram has been offering for a few years now, the organization is now introducing the concept of salary advance, without major paperwork. With the insurance policies already covering hospitalization expenses due to COVID, non-hospitalization expenses like a CT scan, prescribed tests and medicines are also covered now. In addition, a certain amount of money will be credited to each Vuramite’s account to be used as they see fit: buy oximeters, help someone in need, or donate for a cause. Since Vuramites have been working from home since March 2020, monetary support to set up an ideal home office setup is already in place. So far, 235 Vuramites have procured the work-from-home essentials like computer monitor and accessories like UPS, keyboard, mouse, work chair, and desk.

2. Community-Focused Initiatives
   OxygenHall
   Vuram Foundation has built a dedicated website to help the community with the information on oxygen availability across India: https://oxygenhall.in. A team of dedicated volunteers is working to keep the information relevant and current.

Upturn Fund
Vuram’s welfare fund is set up to support the people impacted by the pandemic. Vuram’s entire revenue on June 8th will also go towards this fund. The amount raised will be spent according to the requests submitted by Vuramites to help someone from the community.

3. Taking a Pledge as Individuals
   Venkatesh Ramaratinam addressed the entire organization during the launch and asking to pledge them to be responsible citizens in stopping the spread by:
   ● Referring individuals in need to the Upturn Fund
   ● Never stepping out without masks (even for photographs)
   ● Never delaying testing or reporting
   ● Maintaining social distance everywhere we go
   ● Speaking up when they see an inappropriate behavior