The Christmas fever has hit India Inc in a big way. In offices all over, workstations are being spruced up with shiny Christmas trees. Cubicles are being decorated with mistletoe, holly, stars and streamers. Carols are being belted out and companies are treating employees to wine-and-cake dos and even special payouts. In a globalised world, Indian firms, including a widening pool of MNCs, are celebrating Christmas with the same fervour as their western counterparts.
As the festive spirit spreads, happy staffers are looking forward to upscale office Christmas parties. J. Karthikeyan, VP-consulting services of a top management firm, says, “The office is glittering with decorations and we’ve put up a huge Christmas tree. The entire staff will be treated to a special X’mas lunch and the highlight of the festivities will be employees showing their talent by singing and dancing. The holiday spirit is high!” Companies like Pamtel Solutions took its employees to a restaurant for a wine-and-cake Christmas party followed by a gala celebration with a fashion show and the works.
And to add to the high spirits, India Inc is bringing out attractive Christmas and New Year goodies. Top companies across sectors — FMCG, consumer durables, IT, financial services, pharma and automobiles — are providing generous payouts around this time.
It is speculated that Dabur is paying around 15 to 20 per cent bonus to its employees. The company’s performance-linked payout is made in April, when other employees also get bonuses. “We have kept the bonus the same for each for our employees in this category,” says a spokesperson from the company.
“The excitement is running high as we have our appraisal cycle which runs from January to December and thus the new increments and performance bonuses, if any, get announced in the first month of the New Year,” adds Dhruv K. Desai, VP- HR of Angel Broking.
In the auto sector, which has seen sales zoom over the last few months, a popular automobile giant plans to pay a bonus in the first quarter of 2011. Although the company spokesperson did not reveal the amount, a senior official said the bonus payout for a top performer is usually close to a month’s salary.
Employees couldn’t be happier. Anand K., a programmer analyst with CTS, bubbles enthusiastically, “Christmas at office is full of life this year. Each department has competitions lined up. At present we are busy with the cubicle decoration contest, where the best theme will get an award. We are going for the classic X’mas colours — white, red and green!”