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Corporate Cafe                                                                    KEEPING
                                                                                                    PACE



             What are the primary operational and              focuses on their well-being and engagement with the
             logistical challenges?                            company. At the end of the day our riders are our first line of
             Last year, there was a pause in HungryNaki's      ground-level staff, and we rely on them to provide our
             operations for a brief period, and anything that   customers with the best services possible. To encourage that,
             begins after a pause comes with a set of          we have to holistically manage our operations so that our
             challenges. We need to ensure that an adequate    financial packages make sense for our riders.
             operational pace is attained. One of our
             prevailing challenges is meeting the              As a woman in a leadership position, how would you
             overwhelming rise in demands after                assess the current environment for women working in
             promotional activities. We are keeping a close    Bangladesh? Are there gender-specific challenges that
             eye on what's happening at the ground level       still exist in our corporate culture?
             because it's quick commerce and things can        If I look at it from our company's perspective, a significant
             change in a matter of seconds. As demand          number of our workforce are female employees, and we are
             usually snowballs beyond the predictions,         continually working towards building a diverse and inclusive
             maintaining the accuracy of demand forecasting    workforce. I think in the tech industry, we need more women
             is a lingering issue. There is no historical data   in the workforce because they bring in more diversity.
             that we can use for forecasting, as the market is   Moreover, female enrollment in the education sector is now
             so fluid and dynamic, that you have to adjust to   higher than it used to be a few decades ago.
             the changing scenario. It has shown us to think   However, a few things still need to be addressed in terms of
             both long and short term. We have to consider     career development for women. There is a need for structural
                                                               changes in HR policies regarding hiring women and retaining
                                                               them after marriage. Our government policy regarding female
             HUNGRYNAKI IS BACK AND                            workers needs to be reassessed and restructured as it was
             SCALING TO SERVE THE                              devised during the British Era and was primarily intended for
                                                               factory workers. Things have drastically changed; we have
             BROADER BANGLADESHI                               women working in different positions across various
             CONSUMER BASE WITH ITS                            industries. Therefore, it is about time a proper policy is
             NEW LEADERSHIP AND                                implemented which addresses women's issues in aggregate.
                                                               Furthermore, we see a significant drop in female employees
             GREATER OPERATIONAL                               after childbirth due to a lack of childcare facilities in the
             EFFICIENCY ACROSS THE                             workplace. Lack of proper childcare facilities is one of the
             BOARD                                             biggest impediments to the progress of women working in
                                                               Bangladesh. The corporate sector can start by providing child
 What’s the current scenario of the   into their busy lives. Therefore, the industry is growing with   care and other supporting facilities so that women can come
 online food delivery industry in   the combination of new and existing users.   the long term infrastructure and processes we   back and join because otherwise, we lose a lot of talent in the
 Bangladesh?   In short, the industry is evolving as a result of a shift in   need to bring on board, and the capabilities we   process. At the government level, there is a mandated
 We can dissect the online food market in   consumer behaviour regarding online platforms and   need to develop to ensure all facets of   six-month maternity leave which all companies have to
 Bangladesh into various segments. The   consumption. People are now accustomed to ordering online,   HungryNaki are working hand in hand.  comply with. Additionally, policymakers need to look at the
 entire ecosystem is the online   given the convenience. This trend will continue. There are   HungryNaki is scaling up to serve the broader   structural changes required to create an equitable workforce.
 environment, and within the online   multiple players, however, the market will consolidate as we   Bangladeshi consumer base with new leadership   In reality, there isn't any difference between men and women
 environment, there is another segment   scale up.  and greater operational efficiency across the   in terms of aptitude and attitude. They have equal ambition
 called quick commerce, which is   board. We anticipate that the demand for riders   and aspiration. However, what we have seen is there is an
 basically anything delivered within 1-2   HungryNaki has recently been acquired by Daraz   will rise significantly as we scale up. In terms of   issue regarding security.
 hours. From that angle, the online food   Bangladesh, a concern of the Chinese e-commerce   logistics, there are a few challenges. There is a   Both men and women coming from outside Dhaka face
 market has boomed. It was already   giant Alibaba Group. How will the change in leadership   demand-supply issue from a rider perspective   housing and safety issues. Most offices do not provide
 growing, but from 2020 the market has   impact its operations?  which we have addressed by facilitating a new   transportation to return home after work, so safety and
 grown at an astonishing pace.  There has been no change in the DNA or what the company   ordering system that ensures better visibility   security becomes a concern, especially for women.
 From a consumer angle, the pandemic   stands for. We want to provide food to the broader   and efficiency for the riders. From an interim   These are some of the things that policymakers need to think
 has catalysed the mass adaptation of the   Bangladeshi consumer base, and we want to partner with   perspective, the solution is to recruit more   about. Having said that, I will also add that the situation has
 ecosystem across various segments. It’s   restaurants and create a good working environment for our   riders. But HungryNaki always has fixed riders   improved a lot compared to when I joined the workforce.
 not just internet savvy using the   riders. The acquisition will allow HungryNaki to leverage the   in its paybook as dedicated resources. While the   Companies are now realising the importance of having both
 platform; the user base has expanded to   strengths and scale of Daraz and the technical knowledge a   market operates in a freelance model, we have   men and women in the workforce as different perspectives
 the mass population. Additionally,   global company brings to the table. We have the local insights,   continued to keep full-time employees as it   help provide holistic solutions. HungryNaki, as a company,
 existing users are increasingly   but to scale our operations smoothly and efficiently, we also   allows certain operational advantages. To   practices inclusivity and diversity. In terms of retention, we
 incorporating the use of quick commerce   have the support and technical know-how of Alibaba and   ensure efficient recruitment and retention of   will ensure that the structural scaffolding is in place to retain
 Daraz.      riders, we have devised a full HR policy that     our talent, irrespective of gender.



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