At work beyond hours

Finance executive Aruna Mehra’s work timings are from 9.30 AM – 6:30 PM. The 30-year-old who works for a software services firm claims her days are lined up with answering cross centre calls, most of which happen post 6.30PM.

Moreover, there are days such as Mondays when she even reaches office an hour in advance to “put things in order for the week ahead.”

Like Mehra, Indian employees in general are (in)famous for working beyond official work hours. In fact, industry insights reveal that one in four professionals perceive they have very little time to execute tasks, thereby working post official hours.

The tendency to work beyond hours is so strong among both the employee and employer communities that unlike in the developed world, where workers leave office dot on time; Indian offices sometimes equate employees ‘leaving on time’ as being lethargic and not proactive about their work.

A Manpower Group study points out that Indian millennials on an average work 52 hours per week, against the 41 hours of Australians and the 44 hours of French millennials.

Working (beyond hours) is an outlook that most of us carry from childhood, which is the result of our upbringing, says Kamal Karanth A, co-founder, Xpheno, a specialist staffing firm. “During exams, as students, we received greater appreciation from parents when we stayed awake and burnt the midnight oil. We have carried that attitude to work. Also, many start work at the last minute when a deadline is approaching. This pushes us to work beyond stipulated hours,” says Karanth.

There also exist employees like copywriter Ramesh Khare, who feel ‘leaving on time’ is not doable if “you’re eyeing an increment or are looking to take leave. Staying long is an act of appeasement for the boss. And since none of the others at work leave ‘on time’, me being the first to head out can raise eyebrows.”

These attitudes of employees certainly work to the advantage of most corporations, who can get people to do more without paying them for every extra hour in office.

Arpita Kuila, head – human resources, NEC Technologies India, says that culturally, organisations are not really focused on the number of extra working hours people are putting in.

“If someone has done less than the stipulated work hours, that catches attention fairly quickly and corrective measures are taken. Longer working hours does not seem to catch anyone’s attention as people do not feel that this is something that is a cause for concern.”

Karanth says that organisations often appreciate people leaving on time, but have a soft corner for those who stretch and work late hours. “They end up appreciating those who work late. They implicitly encourage the stretch.”

Many employers feel with the rise in flexi-working, virtual offices and the gradual decline in the 9-to-5 work culture, ‘working hours’ as a concept is blurring.

Says Shantanu Das, chief human resources officer, Amway India, “In my view, the concept of work hours is passé. Technology has blurred the boundaries of working hours. Today, Indian organisations are moving towards a flexible work culture where productivity is no longer a linear function of number of hours clocked at the workplace. Instead, it is all about getting the work done regardless of where one is. Employees are accountable to their roles and it is the employee who needs to decide from where he/she needs to do his/her job in order to best perform the role. And in this context, neither the office timings nor a defined workplace matter.”

The employee perception of insufficient time to execute tasks, thus the thrust to work beyond hours, is “simply a case of poor time management”, say experts.

“Irrespective of the demands of the nature of the job, there are employees who manage their time better in the same workplace with better planning, sticking to schedules, greater focus to optimise the work stretch,” says Karanth.

Karanth says companies promote better management of work and home. “More established organisations, being better staffed, have proper distribution of workloads and more backup capability. While in the start-up space, many systems are lean and have little room or backup capacity.”

According to Das,  “Striking a balance between flexibility and productivity can add to the employee value proposition of an organisation.”

CLOCK & DAGGER

• Indian offices equate employees ‘leaving on time’ as being not proactive about work
   
• These attitudes of employees certainly work to the advantage of most corporations
   
• They can get people to do more without paying them for every extra hour in office