How Shiprocket exemplifies the culture of inclusivity and innovation

Organisations across the world are abuzz with the discussions of harmonising technology with the workforce. In a world that is increasingly relying on artificial intelligence and virtual tools, it is the people who ultimately drive businesses to success.

Logistics-tech platform Shiprocket understands the importance of empowering employees to be able to innovate and scale. “One of Shiprocket’s values is Challenge the Status Quo which entails consistently looking at innovative ways of solving real world problems and coming up with newer and bolder ideas continuously. This means innovating in small iterations as well as through bold initiatives and is possible in everyone’s scope.

To this effect, we support all people irrespective of their background to foster innovation both at an individual and organisation level. We leverage diversity of perspectives to co-create a meaningful solution. As we have grown, we have made it a point to employ at least 25 percent of women for a diverse representation across all roles,” says Saahil Goel, CEO and Co-founder, Shiprocket.

Building a one-stop-shop to create a smooth delivery experience requires an innovative approach. The team at Shiprocket is enabled with a culture and an environment to be able to work to the best of their abilities.

Inclusivity fosters innovation

A recent workplace analysis showed that more inclusive companies were 1.7 times more likely to be innovative leaders in their field. The leadership at Shiprocket firmly believes that inclusivity is not limited to hiring a gender-diverse workforce but also extends to giving voice and ownership to every employee of the company.

“Our leaders are very approachable for a quick check-in or brainstorming to support teams as required. Frequent All Hands meeting at an organisational and functional level ensure multi-way communication and that informed decisions can be made quickly and are delinked from the hierarchy; they can be made where the information lies,” shares Saahil.

The company at the HR level ensures hiring and empowering women employees for inclusive work culture, “We are an equal opportunity employer and all our policies, decisions, processes etc are gender-inclusive without any bias. We ensure that not only do we have a safe and culturally inclusive workplace but also actively mentor women employees on stepping up to senior leadership through our flagship program, ‘How Women Rise’. To ensure longevity of careers and provide work life cohesion, working mothers are supported with Flexitime and Work From Home as required and all women can take 12 period leaves in a year to get adequate rest, so they can bring their best self to work,” shares Saumya Khati, SVP, HR.

Having invested in consumer grade HR Tech has ensured a strong connected workplace culture that allows the team at Shiprocket to encourage creative performances and be innovative in the overall approach.

Upskilling while working

Nimish Goswami who is a part of the corporate development team shares that there is an opportunity to learn and upskill with each new project. “There is no dearth of opportunities at Shiprocket. I have been involved in various projects that are outside my area of expertise and comfort. Initially, I was sceptical of taking up these projects. But what is reassuring and rewarding is the fact that Shiprocket has a culture of appreciating the effort. And this gives employees the confidence to try out even crazier ideas that could potentially be big opportunities in future,” he adds.

To be future ready, Shiprocket runs an executive leadership development program for its senior leaders which is based on HOGAN and includes both group-level introspection and individual coaching sessions with a business coach. For mid to senior top talent, the company has a Leadership Excellence and Acceleration Program (LEAP) which builds leadership as a set of daily behaviours.

Suruchi who works as an HR business partner says, “Within a week of joining, I was a part of the LEAP program which enables leadership development at middle-level management. The program has helped me to a great extent.”

The company has also ensured Financial Planning awareness at an early career stage and the BYOP (Build Your Own Pay) plan that allows employees to opt for a flexible salary structure which enables them to plan for their life stage expenses, save tax, and increase their cash-in-hand pay.

Cross-team collaboration

Shiprocket believes in the exchange of healthy ideas to be able to develop state-of-the-art features. Manoj Kumar, Senior Director at Cybersecurity department says, “Majority of my work requires us to collaborate with various teams as cybersecurity requires contribution from everyone. The collaborative culture makes it easy to maintain cybersecurity hygiene and provide a secure ecosystem for our customers.”

Sreedatri, a management trainee at Shiprocket believes, “All the teams together make a product successful, it is not one man’s job and that’s where collaborations between teams and stakeholders create magic.”

The team at Shiprocket describes the overall work culture as healthy, interactive, and one that powers personal as well as professional growth. Apart from interesting work projects, there are weekly fun activities that help employees recharge and refresh and ensure the overall well-being of employees.