CB BureauCorporate social responsibility (CSR) was an alien term for the majority of Indian businesses until a few years back. The ‘term’ became a ‘concept’ over time, and is becoming a part of all organizations that are concerned about, and believe in, sustainable business practices. Apart from being environmentally responsible and fulfilling social obligations, corporate groups have started to look into the wellbeing of their employees.
Until a few years ago, by ‘wellbeing’ many companies only meant physical wellbeing and used to compensate for medical expenditures or medical insurances of employees. This approach is gradually changing as efforts are being made to ensure that each employee is motivated and inspired, and lives a joyful life. Starting from arranging for encouraging discourses by motivational gurus to making alterations in the work environment, to redoing the interiors as per ancient doctrines like Vastu Shastra, corporates are engaging in activities that seek to keep up the morale of their workforce. The idea is to relieve employees of pressure and stress in an escalating competitive environment and to create a positive work environment with affirmative life forces moving in and around the workplace.
Interestingly, making the office building Vastu-compliant – so that the building does not emanate negative energy – is one of the activities that are now being considered as a company’s social responsibility. The CSR heads at organizations have started to understand that their social or philanthropic activities outside the organization or in association with non-government organizations would not mean much if their own employees’ wellbeing is being compromised.
In the opinion of Vastu Guru Khushdeep Bansal , “Organizations are taking the right approach by bringing in more positive energy in their work environments and ensuring that each employee is rightly motivated. Nowadays, more and more organizations want to eliminate all those faults in office that can demotivate the workforce. Recently, I met a chief executive officer of a leading IT company who was willing to redo the entire office interiors as he believed that there was something in the office that made all the employees a bit lethargic. Also, the company’s human resource department was complaining of a high attrition rate. After inspecting the huge building I found that the colour schemes, especially the wall colours, were dull and lacked energy, because of which the employees felt dull. A little paint job and some energetic paintings in bright colours have changed the whole scene, though. The employees feel motivated, attrition rate has been zero since then, and the company has posted double-digit profits in the last quarter.â€
Bansal, who is the founder of MahaVastu, the contemporary way of following Vastu Shastra, says that the primary concern of companies is not how their business is doing, but how their employees are feeling at the workplace.
Several real estate developers have understood the concern of companies and they are ensuring that all their upcoming commercial spaces are in sync with the guidelines of Vastu Shastra. The developers are doing this for two reasons: first, corporate groups demand that their office be full of positivity and that the building should not emanate any negative radiations. The second reason, interestingly, is that they believe it is their primary responsibility to ensure that the occupants of their buildings live a happy and cheerful life. It is not just real estate companies who are embracing this line of thinking. Architects and interior design companies are beginning to get Vastu Shatra or Feng Shui experts onboard and they consider this as their CSR.
Bansal puts it across succinctly: “The developer’s job is not just to make a building and sell or let it, nor does the architect’s or interior designer’s work finish after creating a map or doing the interiors. Their job is to ensure that whosoever occupies and lives in the buildings that they have made should prosper and grow. People associated with the business of creating living or business spaces find gratification only if the residents of those buildings are in high spirits and feel positive within those spaces. It is here that people like me come into the picture. I only decode the logic that was scripted thousands of years ago in the doctrine called Vastu Shastra. Much like corporate houses, real estate companies or other service providers, I believe that bringing smiles in the lives of people I work with is not just my profession but also my responsibility. As I run my foundation like a corporate, it becomes my business’ corporate social responsibility as well.â€