Good Business Lab

About us:

Good Business Lab is an independent, non-profit labor innovation company. We use rigorous academic research to prove that worker wellbeing programs have business impacts. We develop market-ready, scalable products capable of providing dual benefits to workers and businesses. Our goal is to disrupt the traditional notion of business and show that worker wellbeing can be a part of core business strategy, or in other words, a good business practice.

The founders of the lab are Ach Adhvaryu - assistant professor of business economics and public policy at the University of Michigan (www.achadhvaryu.com/), Anant Ahuja – head of Organization Development at Shahi Exports Pvt. Ltd. and Anant Nyshadham – also an assistant professor of business economics and public policy at the University of Michigan (www.anantnyshadham.com/).

We've been incubated at Shahi Exports - India's biggest apparel export house, and have conducted several studies in their sixty-plus factories in the past six years. In one study we found that the net return to the firm from training women workers in life skills (such as financial literacy, communication, and problem-solving) is 250%, 8 months after program completion. This program, called P.A.C.E. (Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement), co-created by Gap Inc., Shahi, ICRW, and Swasthi has been scaled at a global level to reach over 45,000 female garment workers in 12 countries. Some of our other partners include the Harvard Business School, University of Pennsylvania, and Humanity United.

Going forward, projects include looking at the migration experience and mental health of workers and how this is affected by pairing them with experienced workers from their region (through a novel ‘buddy system’), unlocking female labor through rural training centers, and how an effective grievance redressal system for workers affects their job outcomes. 

Role Summary

• GBL’s Design Associate will be responsible for developing design-led programs with existing and new stakeholders around GBL’s key research areas. 
• Prepare work, design cases and training modules by gathering information and materials.
• Generate clear ideas, concepts and designs of creative assets from beginning to end.
• The role will require imaginative, creative, and collaborative talent to identify design directions that meet research standards in an evidence-based research ecosystem. 
• The Design Associate will work closely with a growing team of economists, development practitioners, and labor industry experts.
  

The kind of work you might do in the role

   1. At GBL each one of us is involved in multiple projects and works efficiently trans-disciplinary collaboration

   2. You will be involved in doing research in highly complex ecosystems. We will collaboratively develop sustainable, scalable and replicable interventions. The nature of intervention can be:

• Digital or physical products
• Process design & innovation
• Systems and nudges for behavior change
• Service ecosystem
• Communications to convey our findings and value propositions
• Etc.

  3. You will get an opportunity to develop design cases and share them with a global community of development practitioners.

  4. Design at GBL is a growing vertical where we are developing design processes & strategies for a group of development practitioners, economists and labor-intensive industries. We would rely          on your design knowledge to facilitate this goal.

  5. Design experiments to test the impact of design interventions before it goes live in the Randomized Controlled Trial experiment.

  6. Create pitches for external design projects

  7. Lead internal design capacity building sessions through design sprints & workshops.

Essential

• Passionate about tackling complex social and organization level challenges.
• Hands-on experience of digital design & development.
• A graduate/post-graduate degree in design.
• Proficient in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign and Sketch.
• Expert level skills in Photoshop, InvisionApp, UXPin and other relevant design tools.
• A portfolio demonstrating your work and design research skills.
• Comfortable working with a wide range of stakeholders, including groups that may not have previous experience of strategic use of design in the VUCA (Vulnerable, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) environment. 
• Excellent interpersonal and written, visual, and verbal communication skills.
  

Length of Commitment: 12 months 

Location: Bangalore 

Remuneration: 9-10 lacs p.a. 

Start Date: July 2022 

What should you be comfortable with?

• A dynamic environment with competing priorities.
• Working in a team with shared responsibilities.
• Independently coordinating with coworkers to accomplish goals.
• Being resourceful in new environments and scenarios.
• Problem-solving in high-pressure environments.

How to apply?

Please make sure to include in your cover letter: a concise explanation of why you want to be part of the GBL Team, how your skills can support us in this role, and how this position can support you in achieving your career goals. 

Perks of working with us:
There are plenty of benefits at GBL, here are some examples:

• Flexible leave policy: Time away from work can be extremely helpful for maintaining a healthy work/life balance. GBL encourages managers and leadership to set the example by taking time off when needed and ensuring their team members do the same. We don't have a strict limit on paid leaves, only suggested ( extremely liberal) averages. 
• Flexible working hours: We recognize that a better work-life balance can improve employee motivation, performance, productivity, and reduce stress. The basis of our norms pertaining to this is a system of trust in each other and our common goals.
• Training and Development: GBL team members can set aside 10% of their work time / around 4 hours a week to improve their skills/knowledge on a subject that they think will help them perform their job better. There is a separate budget set out for this. We encourage all employees to focus both on technical and soft skills. We also facilitate employee mentorship programs.
• GBL Care Systems: As an organization, we are committed to ensuring the wellbeing of our team members and creating a thriving work environment- because that gives us, together, the best chance at achieving our shared mission and sparking joy at work. We do this by partnering with organizations such The Mindclan, Therapize among others for workshops and other wellbeing-related initiatives. 
• Growth-oriented review policy: To foster collaboration, we have adopted regular reviews and check-ins among team members. We see a manager's role beyond what is expected from them by conventional management thinkers. Apart from delivering high-quality work, managers are responsible for the holistic development of their team members. This can be achieved through practices inspired by coaching philosophy.
  
  

Additional benefits:

• Wellbeing budget: This includes an individual budget for each team member that they can claim reimbursement for things such as therapy, any physical-health related activity and home office setup. Additionally, there's a separate budget for Managers for care packages or any other team activities. There's also a budget for our People Operations team to organize team-wide activities or provide mental health services in collaboration with organizations like Therapize and Mindclan.
  
• Informal virtual and in-person hangs and activities!

Recent projects and blog posts:

To acclimatize yourself with some of our work, you can read our blog posts on Medium, and also go through our LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The process:

We are glad you’re interested in applying for this role!

After each step, we decide whether to invite you to the next one. Our interview process for this role has the following steps:

1. CV, Cover letter & Portfolio/Writing samples
2. First Round Interview
3. Take home assignment
4. Second Round Interview
5. Final Round Interview
   

Our commitment to diversity

GBL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, physical disability, or length of time spent unemployed. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We offer traditional monetary workplace benefits such as insurance and travel allowance. We are a young and growing company making us the ideal ground for team members to experiment, take on dynamic roles, and grow with us. We focus on happiness, output, and quality of work.

Note: By clicking on the 'apply for this job' button, you confirm that you understand and accept GBL’s Privacy Policy. You also understand that GBL has zero-tolerance against sexual harassment/ exploitation /abuse/misconduct ("SEA"). You confirm and declare that you have never been convicted by any court of law and/or you have never been subjected to any sanctions or inquiry or proceedings (be it disciplinary, administrative, civil, or criminal) arising from an investigation in relation to sexual harassment/abuse/misconduct or left employment pending investigation and refused to cooperate in such an investigation