Reliance employees can now study at Harvard or Princeton, hold on to job, pay, health benefits

Mumbai: For more than 24,000 employees of Reliance Industries, dreams of studying at Harvard, Princeton or any of the Ivy League colleges while continuing to remain employed at the company will soon be well within reach without the stress of worrying about health benefits coverage or a regular pay cheque. [caption id=“attachment_2584550” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani ushered in the open office culture with Jio late 2015/ Reuters[/caption] Reliance Industries executive director Hital R. Meswani unveiled this work-and- study push to the company’s 24.930 employees Thursday as an integral part of the logical continuum in the company’s “performance and reward” programme begun last year. Among the many highlights is that Reliance Industries will pay “up to 100 per cent of the tuition fees – 50 percent in the case of international colleges.” Employee remains on RIL rolls “What is more, during the sabbatical, the employee continues to remain on our rolls, drawing 50 percent of the salary besides other benefits,” a top Reliance official told IANS. As it sprints round the bend on its final stretch to launch Jio 4G services, Reliance Industries has energised its focus on new strategies to attract and retain high quality young talent. Jio leads transformation Jio headlined yet another attention grabbing change in the fag end of 2015 when the Reliance corporate culture took a giant leap forward with chairman Mukesh Ambani leading the top management’s move into a refreshing new open office, free of cubicles and the legendary plush, high powered corner office. Coming back to the new scheme, ”the benefit is applicable at more than 50 universities and programmes. These include Ivy League institutions like Harvard, Stanford and MIT and domestic ones like the Indian School of Business (ISB), IIMs and XLRI," Reliance said. Reliance has followed through on next steps after employees come back with new skills from their study abroad or in India. “The organization provides the incumbent a role commensurate with his or her enhanced knowledge at the end of study tour,” Reliance said — factoring in a well documented management issue of how to best use newly acquired skills and exposure of existing employees. Not just Ivy League Although this scheme unveiled by Meswani puts the Ivy League club and top Indian management institutes right on top, it also allows for employees to go forth as ‘lifelong learners’ by choosing programs that interest them or are relevant to their particular area of work. Reliance has extended a generous coverage for staff and their families both towards preventive care and treatment– with no limit on some categories, a company official said. “Employees, including their spouses, can get free and comprehensive health check-ups at top institutions including Sir HNH Hospital. The benefit fetches an exhaustive list of tests, and preventive check-ups at some of the most renowned health check-up facilities.” “Financial support to the members of a deceased employee’s family is also a part of this policy.” Employee security first For private sector employees aspiring to study while holding on to a job, it is often medical coverage that causes the most stress. Healthcare costs are routinely high in the Western world, particularly America, where even those covered by premium insurance end up paying huge amounts out of pocket. Reliance employees enjoy free consultation by medical specialists every week at select sites. Reliance says expatriates consistently rate “employee security” as their No 1 favorite employee benefit at the company, driven by services like 24X7 assistance to employees and their family members in case of any medical, accident, fire or security related emergencies. “The service which is currently provided in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane areas has many success stories coming from both domestic and expatriate employees,” says Reliance. IANS & FP Staff (Disclosure: Firstpost is part of Network18 Media & Investment Limited which is owned by Reliance Industries Limited.)