It's safe to call our guest on this episode, a tech-savant. We welcome Nitish Mehta, Co-Founder at INTEGRTR.

Nitish was first introduced to the culture of work-life balance in his first job at SAP. Five years later in his career journey, he co-founded CashPositive (a fintech start-up focused on simplifying B2B credit transactions) and INTEGRTR (an enterprise-tech start-up simplifying HR-Tech integrations). Nitish aims at simplifying problems with the use of technology and is currently contributing all his tech and founding expertise to INTEGRTR. 

Episode highlights:

• How to build a positive work culture
• His thoughts on micromanaging
• Tips on designing a leadership self-reflection practice
• Workplace lessons learned from the employees during the pandemic
• Tips for managers to motivate and inspire their team for better performance

Episode Highlights 

1. Building the right work culture 

Culture is defined by the value system of founders and early team members. A positive culture automatically sets in with the right people who value the right things. Therefore, Nitish feels that companies should hire the right people for setting the right culture. 

2. Thoughts and views on micromanaging 

According to Nitish, if there is a need for micromanagement in an organisation, there is something wrong with either the people or processes. However, the CEO must be involved in micromanagement at the hiring level, especially during the initial days of the company. 

3. Creating a practice that reflects through leadership 

Leaders should take some time off and get into a zone where they can analyse things over time. Nitish gives an example of their annual company catchup where they look at their yearly achievements. Focusing on both the good and not-good part helps leaders strike the right balance in the organisation. For self-reflection, one must get inputs from the team and co-founders. For that, empowering the team to speak actively in meetings is important. 

4. Major lessons learnt during the Covid pandemic 

Adaptability and resilience played an important role in the early stage of the pandemic. It is because it impacted hiring and onboarding people for remote work. In the second part, working in a remote setup with people who have never interacted and met in person was challenging, according to Nitish. It provided new learnings to the company. People helping each other in the team was pleasant, according to him. 

5. Which is better: remote work or working from the office?

Nitish feels that remote work can be balanced with offline meetings. INTEGRTR is spread across two continents, and therefore offline meetups play a huge role in working things out. Employees love remote work because they can balance work and personal life. However, outdoor work learning is missed due to remote work. Non-remote setup encourages engagement and bond-building. Therefore, fostering engagement while working remotely is also essential. As a leader, one must empower the employees to grow and help others grow. 

6. Virtual platforms for engaging employees 

Nitish thinks that the video engagement platform helps employees get cues by visual apart from voice. Having an environment that fosters friendships and workplace bonding is essential, according to him. Virtual platforms are excellent tools in this regard.

Follow Nitish on LinkedIn

Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast Host: Ankita Kirad