Over the past few months, we’ve been actively hiring for sales roles. Many of the new joiners have previously worked with blue-chip companies that follow employee-friendly policies. With an open mind and a progressive outlook, Cocoguru’s management is keen to adopt some of these practices. A few suggestions made include:

• Excluding daily allowance or food expenses from the employee’s Cost-to-Company (CTC)
• Processing salary payments immediately after the end of each month
• Excluding paid leave value from the CTC

The first suggestion—excluding food expenses from employees’ CTC—was implemented a couple of months ago. The second suggestion is being implemented now. The third is still under consideration.

Until now, salary payments were made on the 7th of the following month. The reasons for this delay were:

• Some employees would quit immediately after receiving their salary without serving the notice period. Retaining 7 days’ salary acted as a deterrent to such behaviour.
• Salary calculations and approvals took time. Although spreadsheets were used, data had to be gathered manually—such as attendance, commissions, and incentives.
• Delaying salary by a week reduced the company’s working capital requirement.

Going forward, we are making a shift by paying salaries to permanent employees immediately at the end of the month. This change is being made because:

• We value the loyalty that our permanent employees have shown towards the company.
• The company trusts them to act responsibly and professionally.
• It enables employees to meet their financial commitments a week earlier.
• Our salary calculation and approval process has become more refined and automated, allowing faster processing.
• The company’s improved financial position now supports the additional working capital needed.

However, employees who are still under probation will continue to receive their salaries on the 7th of the following month.