Challenge : 

 I work in the HR team of an airplane engine manufacturer . COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in a deep   contraction of commercial aviation with a prolonged recovery projected . Our most optimistic   prediction model says the air traffic would only get to the level that it was in Feb 2020 by quarter 1   2022 . Our airline customers have reacted with significant reduction in operations and new engine   deliveries that will extend into 2021 and beyond . To sustain in this crisis , our business had announced   workforce reduction across the globe . Most of our employees were seeing a cycle like this for the first   time and these global announcements were bound to take a hit on their motivation level . Also , with   the virus spreading all of us were forced to work from home , something that our employees had n’t   been used too . We had to look at a way that works in virtual world to navigate this situation while   ensuring our employees are engaged and we do n’t end up losing the employee skills which would be   crucial in pulling us out of this downturn . 

 •   Why I thought Design thinking was appropriate for this . I tried answering the 4 qs   mentioned in this course ( video lecture 5 week 1 ) 

 ( The problem was human centric , it involved understanding emotions that   humans experience during a crisis situation    We did n’t have a clear understanding of the problem , this crisis was diff from   the others the industry had seen before   The level of uncertainty was huge , various prediction models showed   different recovery cycles for our business and none of us knew when ( if ever )   we can get back to normal .   Lastly , we had very little existing data to refer , which could guide us as we   work on the plan . 

 Selection of the tool : 

 The tool I felt would be relevant was Storytelling . Storytelling gives life to strategy and makes   accessible to all ( video lecture 4 week 2   ) . We wanted all our employees to be involved in the process   of navigating this crisis and not see the strategy as a top down thing . We wanted our employees to   see the logic and feel emotionally connected to all the actions that we had to take to protect our   business .   Its been months of virtual story telling process following the 4 steps highlighted in the ( video   lecture 4 week 2   ) . 

 Application : 

 Step 1 : Helping our employees understand the current state of business 

 We had arranged for weekly calls which our business leaders had with the front - line manager and the   HR team , people who were the direct point of contact for all employees to continuously give them a   sense of where the business is going . These managers then had their flow - downs within the teams .   We also had monthly all employee calls to answer their questions . 

 Step 2 : Talking about all the people that are involved in the process 

 In our weekly calls , leaders video blogs we spoke about the insights that we were getting from our   customers and the support they wanted from us ; we also spoke about what we   were hearing from   our global counterparts and how they were looking at this problem 

 Step 3 : Creating a points of reflection by asking them questions 

 Through our different communication blogs we asked employees intriguing questions that like- 

 What   will   build   a   sense   of   confidence   in   this   uncertain   time ? 

 How do we keep the team motivated ? 

 The answers we got from them were pretty much inline with what we were thinking . They presented   us with various cost- out measure that the business could take . They wanted us to re - look at our   benefit ’s policy , exploring voluntary retirement schemes before we go for involuntary actions . 

 Step 4 : Presenting them with possibilities 

 We presented employees with the pros and cons of long term and short - term cost cutting measures   that had to be taken for the resized business to operate . My then employees were completely part of   the story . All of them felt that all of them were okay to give up a few of the benefits to save a a few   jobs . Based on the inputs from employees we revised few of our benefit policies ( not mentioning the   details of it due to confidentiality reasons ) . And this time did n’t have to convince employees why such   decisions were taken . 

 We continued sharing with all employees the amount of cost out actions that had to be done and what   was achieved so far . After a while most of our employees realized that workforce reduction was   inevitable , but we were India was able to much lesser no of layoff compared to other counties that   our business operates in because all the policy changes and other cost out actions that we took . 

 We also had all leaders and non - impacted employees helping the laid off employees finding new jobs   using their own contacts I different organizations . We have been quite successful so far in our efforts . 

 Insights : 

 The whole process of resizing the business for the future storytelling helped us staying connected to   our employees . For each action that we took they exactly knew why we did what we did and helped   us implementing those actions . This connection helped in keeping our employees motivated as they   were able to relate to the purpose . Mostly employees leave organizations when they do n’t see a clear   road ahead . This process helped us retain the employee skills that organization needed to survive in   future since all employees had more clarity on the process and criteria of layoffs . 

 Approach / Learnings : 

 Engaging employees with a compelling story and involving them in each step of executing a strategy   is something we took back from this experience which we will implement whenever we have to   implement any major employee related change . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Challenge : 

 I work in the HR team of an airplane engine manufacturer . COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in a deep   contraction of commercial aviation with a prolonged recovery projected . Our most optimistic   prediction model says the air traffic would only get to the level that it was in Feb 2020 by quarter 1   2022 . Our airline customers have reacted with significant reduction in operations and new engine   deliveries that will extend into 2021 and beyond . To sustain in this crisis , our business had announced   workforce reduction across the globe . Most of our employees were seeing a cycle like this for the first   time and these global announcements were bound to take a hit on their motivation level . Also , with   the virus spreading all of us were forced to work from home , something that our employees had n’t   been used too . We had to look at a way that works in virtual world to navigate this situation while   ensuring our employees are engaged and we do n’t end up losing the employee skills which would be   crucial in pulling us out of this downturn . 

 •   Why I thought Design thinking was appropriate for this . I tried answering the 4 qs   mentioned in this course ( video lecture 5 week 1 ) 

 ( The problem was human centric , it involved understanding emotions that   humans experience during a crisis situation    We did n’t have a clear understanding of the problem , this crisis was diff from   the others the industry had seen before   The level of uncertainty was huge , various prediction models showed   different recovery cycles for our business and none of us knew when ( if ever )   we can get back to normal .   Lastly , we had very little existing data to refer , which could guide us as we   work on the plan . 

 Selection of the tool : 

 The tool I felt would be relevant was Storytelling . Storytelling gives life to strategy and makes   accessible to all ( video lecture 4 week 2   ) . We wanted all our employees to be involved in the process   of navigating this crisis and not see the strategy as a top down thing . We wanted our employees to   see the logic and feel emotionally connected to all the actions that we had to take to protect our   business .   Its been months of virtual story telling process following the 4 steps highlighted in the ( video   lecture 4 week 2   ) . 

 Application : 

 Step 1 : Helping our employees understand the current state of business 

 We had arranged for weekly calls which our business leaders had with the front - line manager and the   HR team , people who were the direct point of contact for all employees to continuously give them a   sense of where the business is going . These managers then had their flow - downs within the teams .   We also had monthly all employee calls to answer their questions . 

 Step 2 : Talking about all the people that are involved in the process 

 In our weekly calls , leaders video blogs we spoke about the insights that we were getting from our   customers and the support they wanted from us ; we also spoke about what we   were hearing from   our global counterparts and how they were looking at this problem 

 Step 3 : Creating a points of reflection by asking them questions 

 Through our different communication blogs we asked employees intriguing questions that like- 

 What   will   build   a   sense   of   confidence   in   this   uncertain   time ? 

 How do we keep the team motivated ? 

 The answers we got from them were pretty much inline with what we were thinking . They presented   us with various cost- out measure that the business could take . They wanted us to re - look at our   benefit ’s policy , exploring voluntary retirement schemes before we go for involuntary actions . 

 Step 4 : Presenting them with possibilities 

 We presented employees with the pros and cons of long term and short - term cost cutting measures   that had to be taken for the resized business to operate . My then employees were completely part of   the story . All of them felt that all of them were okay to give up a few of the benefits to save a a few   jobs . Based on the inputs from employees we revised few of our benefit policies ( not mentioning the   details of it due to confidentiality reasons ) . And this time did n’t have to convince employees why such   decisions were taken . 

 We continued sharing with all employees the amount of cost out actions that had to be done and what   was achieved so far . After a while most of our employees realized that workforce reduction was   inevitable , but we were India was able to much lesser no of layoff compared to other counties that   our business operates in because all the policy changes and other cost out actions that we took . 

 We also had all leaders and non - impacted employees helping the laid off employees finding new jobs   using their own contacts I different organizations . We have been quite successful so far in our efforts . 

 Insights : 

 The whole process of resizing the business for the future storytelling helped us staying connected to   our employees . For each action that we took they exactly knew why we did what we did and helped   us implementing those actions . This connection helped in keeping our employees motivated as they   were able to relate to the purpose . Mostly employees leave organizations when they do n’t see a clear   road ahead . This process helped us retain the employee skills that organization needed to survive in   future since all employees had more clarity on the process and criteria of layoffs . 

 Approach / Learnings : 

 Engaging employees with a compelling story and involving them in each step of executing a strategy   is something we took back from this experience which we will implement whenever we have to   implement any major employee related change .
### Output: 