LOKYATA
Fin-tech
LOKYATA
About Lokyata
Lokyata is a Fin-tech start-up company located in Washington DC, that assists people with their data-driven tools that can be used on their own or as a comprehensive platform which help automate lending workflows and process more loans, without needing more people.
Background
In the post-pandemic era, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the management at Lokyata to keep their employees uplifted and motivated. As a tech startup, there is a constant need for innovation and collaboration among their employees.
That being the case, the remote working system didn’t help their cause as work would take place from the comfort of their homes and laptop screens and people remained limited to their tasks. Leaving human interactions, to a bare minimum.
The Brief
The CEO and management team at Lokayta wanted a different type of program that would achieve multiple program objectives:
- Strengthen emotional and mental resilience for the unexpected circumstances of life
- Create a rejuvenated and refreshed attitude towards, work, family and personal life
- Build a deeper understandings and appreciations of colleagues leading to closer closer collaboration
- Shape the organizational culture and mindset
- Combine the right balance of content versus time available from participants
Our Approach
We first conducted a pilot program with the leadership team before the rest of the team. Only once did our program convince the CEO, COO, CTO and Head of Operations of Lokyata, did we decide to roll out our program for the rest of the employees.
“Personally, I found it invigorating. The program covers topics such as self awareness, pattern recognition, how to be more aware of one's own behavior, how one judges others. It was extremely helpful for me as it helped me look at myself, become more aware of myself and my own emotions and understand what others might be going through. I also received feedback from my colleagues that concepts such as Psychological Safety and Purpose over people, introduced by the program, really helped the management. We are a company where constant innovation is a necessity, even to survive. These topics helped my staff to be able to talk freely, avoid fear and talk about things with no fear of others judging them.”
Santosh, CEO of Lokyata
Customising
Our initial interactions with the team members one-on-one led us to understand that the employees needed:
- Techniques to help them make better decisions and maintain their mental health
- Guidance or a tool to handle the frustrations that come up during day-to-day work
- A desire for better connection/ bond with the team
- An assistance in managing emotions inside and outside work
- A need for balance between their professional and personal lives
- Tools for better communication between teammates
These insights helped us understand exactly what was required to be inculcated in our program for them to feel safe, secure and stable.
Since there was a mix between the more experienced team members and juniors it was a bit of a challenge to find a common footing. But the pre-session one-on-one helped us with enough insights to curate a program that covered the following:
- Increasing self-motivation by not worrying about the results of actions
- Improving the decision-making skills by letting emotions pass
- Developing an inner sense of purpose for consistent motivation
- Emphasized on the topic of ‘Locus of control’ to help participants ease internal pressure from situations they were facing
The Results
We always want to ensure that what we deliver as a program is helpful for people and can help them orient themselves to become more effective and content in life. We do this because we genuinely care and believe in our program, BEING YOU!
Following are the participants remarks of how the program started to positively change their approach towards life and work in a number of ways:
- Being less conflict orientated and aggressive when it comes to discussions or disagreements
- Being conscious to create more space for others, letting them speak, work, discuss everything that they need to without interrupting or without getting frustrated
- Being better at handling emotions and the ‘problems’ of work and personal life
- Being more responsive during discussions and interactions versus reacting
- Being appreciative towards themselves by giving themselves time and maintaining focus on what brings contentment/happiness to life & work
- Being at the forefront of a new journey of self-reflection & improvement
The program was enjoyed and appreciated by all team members. They really enjoyed the fact we were there with them, and our experiences brought to life the content and subject matter. They also remarked that this was a great way to come together. This combination of people would rarely speak together and everyone enjoyed the team spirit of doing something together with a different focus that actually works.
Given below are a few survey answers from an extensive survey we conducted:
- Majority rated the program as "excellent" or "good"
- All would recommend the program
- They thought it was well organized
- A majority felt it was extremely or very useful for everyday life
- A majority agreed or strongly agreed it will help them to handle everyday life
- A majority said it positively contributed to their mental well-being
- A majority said it helped improve their motivation levels
But that's enough from us, let's look at a few feedback quotes from the team members themselves:
"It was an interesting insight into one's own self, and at the same time, other people. The dissection of a problem into smaller subsets was interesting. Helpful skill!"
"I used to fall into conflicts in and outside of work. Now I am more positive. Giving compliments to teammates is creating better relationships"
"I enjoyed that we were all part of it together. I've learnt to listen more and give people the time to express"
"I enjoy the program a lot. As we all work from home, it's also good that we get to know each other better in our team through those sessions"
