Ethnography as a tool

Background Challenge:

One of the leading manufacturing companies initiated a project “More to Life” in their townships. The  objective of the project was to create – an urban and modern “quality” life experience for employees and  the families living in the township. The townships are typically in the rural part/ up country locations,  where access to main cities may be difficult sometimes.  The township are designed for harmonious living  with nature, work and community like a cultural hub for the residents of the township. Facilities like Club  house with Digital theatre, Multigenerational Park, Housing with Ample Parking space for vehicles,  Medical facility including telemedicine, schools, Young Managers Accommodation, Shopping arcade with  hang out joints, temple, etc. were provided for. We thought we provided best of both worlds to our  employees- everything an urban lifestyle can provide along with the benefits of living in rural India i.e.  closer to nature, low cost of living, better work life balance etc.

I was a bit surprised to see a trend of a gradual dip in the engagement levels of employees living in the  townships. The underlying theme was “We don’t think we are cared for”.  Our first reaction was the  temptation to provide more of everything that was already provided but at an emotional level there was  also this unsaid disbelief - what more can we provide? I realized we asked ourselves the wrong question,  we moved from “What more can we provide?” to understand “What Care means to them?” in the first  place. This quest was instrumental to my decision to adopting ethnography and particularly “Journey  Mapping” as my primary tool of diagnosis.

Application:

I started with secondary research where I connected with psychologists and sociologists to understand  the concept of “Care- as a Human Need. The factors influencing one’s belief of being cared for/ about.  Understand the difference of how “Care” is interpreted differently in diverse geographies, generations  and cultures and the impact it has on productivity. Based on the secondary research I create my approach  note to design journey mapping and other projective tools. (Given the magnitude and complexity of the  assignment, we realized we needed a team of psychologists and trained researcher to do the journey  mapping)

We started journey mapping by shadowing representative population (employees across levels and age,  their spouse, children and elderly parents) throughout the day. The objective was to understand a day in  life of _____(Employee, spouse, children and elderly parents). Each individual was shadowed for 5 days  consecutively. We started spending time with each individual from 6:00am to late evening 8:30p.m. We  assured them the confidentiality in the process. Their activities, challenges, pressures, fears, demands  were documented. At the end of each day all of us shared our observations, debated and summarized our  findings. The findings were then projected on chart papers only daily basis.

We also in parallel conducted short diagnostics workshops where, for the children we used projective  techniques like Draw an Ideal Township and then we asked them to highlight what was missing in the  current township they were currently living. With adults we used one-on-one interviews (structured  interviews) to understand the day to day challenges. At the end of the entire exercise we created personas  for each of the population with their needs, challenges and fears.

Insight and Approach

Wow what a revelation this exercise was! The biggest insights was both the parties understood Care  Differently- We as employer assumed ‘providing infrastructure and latest facilities for their comfort was  Caring” But as an employee, the same was perceived as an entitlement and therefore a hygiene factor.  Based on their inputs we categorized their needs into 2 broad areas: - Hard Care (for e.g. infrastructural  changes like better connectivity with main cities- frequency of the public transport was very poor, or  medical facilities – Doctors on Call etc.) and Soft Care- emotional needs. This soft care stumped us- for  e.g. one of the townships due to geographical reasons was divided into upper and lower colony. Accidently  it was realized (through journey mapping) that all the senior official stayed in the Upper colony and the  lower colony employees thought this was by design. It is in this situation we realized how much perception  plays a critical role in “feeling of being cared for”. Everything that was happening in the upper colony was  assumed and perceived by lower colony to be of superior quality like Dairy products, fruits, vegetables  etc. provided.

We also figured given each life stage and roles our employees are playing their needs are different. For  e.g. the fresh graduates wanted a fast paced more active life for example places to go for clubbing or  informal young places to hangouts. There was a need to meet new people beyond work colleagues which  is townships can be a difficult proposition. There was also a perception that responsibilities of grades at  workplace was also extended to personal lives. Any social gathering the Head of the units and his wife  were always the guest of honor or always had the last word. This can be intimidating and limiting at some  points.

Based on these observations and insights, we created a customized solutioning for e.g. ensures the same  vendor provided groceries to both colonies. The solutions ranged from introducing youth related  entertainment facilities or increased avenues for inter townships interactions etc. We also had common  discussion with stakeholder to identify feasible solutions to the problems wherever we thought we could  not provide solutions the employees and their families were accommodative of the current situations. At  the end it truly turned out to be a CARE Project.


Ethnography as a tool Background Challenge : One of the leading manufacturing companies initiated a project “ More to Life ” in their townships . The objective of the project was to create – an urban and modern “ quality ” life experience for employees and the families living in the township . The townships are typically in the rural part/ up country locations , where access to main cities may be difficult sometimes . The township are designed for harmonious living with nature , work and community like a cultural hub for the residents of the township . Facilities like Club house with Digital theatre , Multigenerational Park , Housing with Ample Parking space for vehicles , Medical facility including telemedicine , schools , Young Managers Accommodation , Shopping arcade with hang out joints , temple , etc . were provided for . We thought we provided best of both worlds to our employees- everything an urban lifestyle can provide along with the benefits of living in rural India i.e. closer to nature , low cost of living , better work life balance etc . I was a bit surprised to see a trend of a gradual dip in the engagement levels of employees living in the townships . The underlying theme was “ We do n’t think we are cared for ” . Our first reaction was the temptation to provide more of everything that was already provided but at an emotional level there was also this unsaid disbelief - what more can we provide ? I realized we asked ourselves the wrong question , we moved from “ What more can we provide ? ” to understand “ What Care means to them ? ” in the first place . This quest was instrumental to my decision to adopting ethnography and particularly “ Journey Mapping ” as my primary tool of diagnosis . Application : I started with secondary research where I connected with psychologists and sociologists to understand the concept of “ Care- as a Human Need . The factors influencing one ’s belief of being cared for/ about . Understand the difference of how “ Care ” is interpreted differently in diverse geographies , generations and cultures and the impact it has on productivity . Based on the secondary research I create my approach note to design journey mapping and other projective tools . ( Given the magnitude and complexity of the assignment , we realized we needed a team of psychologists and trained researcher to do the journey mapping ) We started journey mapping by shadowing representative population ( employees across levels and age , their spouse , children and elderly parents ) throughout the day . The objective was to understand a day in life of _ _ _ _ _ ( Employee , spouse , children and elderly parents ) . Each individual was shadowed for 5 days consecutively . We started spending time with each individual from 6:00am to late evening 8:30p.m . We assured them the confidentiality in the process . Their activities , challenges , pressures , fears , demands were documented . At the end of each day all of us shared our observations , debated and summarized our findings . The findings were then projected on chart papers only daily basis . We also in parallel conducted short diagnostics workshops where , for the children we used projective techniques like Draw an Ideal Township and then we asked them to highlight what was missing in the current township they were currently living . With adults we used one - on - one interviews ( structured interviews ) to understand the day to day challenges . At the end of the entire exercise we created personas for each of the population with their needs , challenges and fears . Insight and Approach Wow what a revelation this exercise was ! The biggest insights was both the parties understood Care Differently- We as employer assumed ‘ providing infrastructure and latest facilities for their comfort was Caring ” But as an employee , the same was perceived as an entitlement and therefore a hygiene factor . Based on their inputs we categorized their needs into 2 broad areas : - Hard Care ( for e.g. infrastructural changes like better connectivity with main cities- frequency of the public transport was very poor , or medical facilities – Doctors on Call etc . ) and Soft Care- emotional needs . This soft care stumped us- for e.g. one of the townships due to geographical reasons was divided into upper and lower colony . Accidently it was realized ( through journey mapping ) that all the senior official stayed in the Upper colony and the lower colony employees thought this was by design . It is in this situation we realized how much perception plays a critical role in “ feeling of being cared for ” . Everything that was happening in the upper colony was assumed and perceived by lower colony to be of superior quality like Dairy products , fruits , vegetables etc . provided . We also figured given each life stage and roles our employees are playing their needs are different . For e.g. the fresh graduates wanted a fast paced more active life for example places to go for clubbing or informal young places to hangouts . There was a need to meet new people beyond work colleagues which is townships can be a difficult proposition . There was also a perception that responsibilities of grades at workplace was also extended to personal lives . Any social gathering the Head of the units and his wife were always the guest of honor or always had the last word . This can be intimidating and limiting at some points . Based on these observations and insights , we created a customized solutioning for e.g. ensures the same vendor provided groceries to both colonies . The solutions ranged from introducing youth related entertainment facilities or increased avenues for inter townships interactions etc . We also had common discussion with stakeholder to identify feasible solutions to the problems wherever we thought we could not provide solutions the employees and their families were accommodative of the current situations . At the end it truly turned out to be a CARE Project .