Given tight budgets and low headcounts, flexi-timings are not a great idea for startups
The debate over the pros and cons of a nine-to-five job vis-à-vis flexible timings is an old one.
Several large organizations in India, including IT majors, consumer goods behemoths, and consultancy firms, have been offering flexible working hours to their employees as part of their retention policies and with the belief that it increases productivity. Large corporations have the wherewithal to implement such policies. Can startups do that too? If it works well for big companies, can it deliver same results for small businesses?
Chetna Manglik, Regional Head (North) of PlugHR, an HR consultancy firm, shares the experience of a client who had to withdraw flexi-timings from its system as it created a lot of ‘confusion and contradiction’. She says that flexi-timings are usually helpful in a company where an employee is given individual targets to achieve. However, in the case of a group, it doesn’t work that well because somebody might come in early, while others late. “So in that case there is a communication gap, and as a team, they might get only three or four hours together. Hence, the whole idea of teamwork is defeated,” she adds. And since teamwork is vital for a startup trying to create a foothold in the market, the idea of flexible work hours may actually backfire.
The cost factor
Another reason why the company in the foregoing example chose to do away with the system was the resultant increase in costs. At a time when companies are adopting Darwinian tactics to dodge the effects of recession, this system may burn a hole in their pocket. Giving the benefit of flexi-timing to employees means the office has to remain open beyond the normal working hours. This translates into increased costs in terms of electricity used for lighting, air-conditioners, and servers. Also, one needs to have additional resources such as an HR person, an admin person, security, etc. to manage employees.
Manglik says some companies provide commuting facilities to their employees. When it is a big firm, even if 50 people opt for flexi-timing, it may be just 1 percent of the workforce. So for 50 people buses could be arranged. But in a startup there might be 50 people in total, and even if five opt for flexi-timing, it does not work as one might need to arrange separate cabs. Hence, the costs keep rising. She adds, “And if you do not provide this facility, it becomes a contradictory situation since the number of hours they are putting in is the same as other employees.”
Employee management
Besides these, you might need to hire an additional resource just to manage and monitor these employees, and also to track their in and out time. If you are a company that deals with providing services, this practice may not be beneficial. For example, if a restaurant or hotel employees are allowed flexi-timings, it is quite possible that without proper supervision, there may be times when there are no employees working during some hours. This might give the business a bad image.
| What is Flexi-timing? |
| It is the option to allow employees to work for a specified number of hours per day between office hours that are decided by the employer. This means that the in time and out time depend on the employee. |
| What are the disadvantages for startups? |
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Tracking employee output
Opting for flexi-timings requires a robust tracking system to monitor employee output, which means additional costs yet again. According to Animesh Dasgupta, Practice Head, Executive Access, flexi-timings work best for higher level employees. He says, “It requires maturity on the part of employees and understanding of the assignments from end to end. It can be built in organizations where the employees understand the significance of their outputs, which is very important.”
No for all Industries/job roles
In India it is mostly IT and consulting firms that have opted for flexi-timings. Explains Manglik, “It does not work well for companies that deal with machine-driven work; It only works for companies that are into mind-driven work.” Dasgupta agrees:“Flexi-timings prevail in sales jobs, especially field sales, which depend on the customer’s timings.” Another area where this is being practiced is in project-based work. Here, the employee timings are decided according to the project consultants’ timings.
Size of the firm
Flexi-timings work better for bigger firms, as they can afford to cough up the extra money required for additional resources. Says Dasgupta, “Big companies have the infrastructure to monitor employees. Flexi-timing is good only where the output is measurable, and big companies have the leisure of doing so.” Not only this, a startup has to have a higher employee utilization rate compared to bigger organizations. In companies that opt for flexi-timings, employee utilization is around 60 to 70 percent, while a smaller company has to have the maximum utilization of the skills of its employees. Therefore, this may actually prove to be disastrous in the long run for startups and smaller companies.
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written by surabhi, June 22, 2010
written by jaco, September 04, 2009
written by Anthony Balraj, September 03, 2009
Of course this works only with a high degree of maturity on the part of the employees and the trust of the management on the employees deliverability.
written by Manali Rohinesh, July 27, 2009
After dropping out of the full-time job scenario voluntarily, the only part-time or flexi-time options I was offered were as secretary/BPO worker/LIC/MF agent and other such similar positions. What a bore! The media sector is just not forward-looking and smart enough to hire the right people and fire the lightweights on their payroll who just occupy space - full-time - in their offices. I've been there and seen it all.
written by Chetna , July 24, 2009
People join startup for fast growth, challenge, recognition etc, but I think flexi timing will be the last option they will have to join or stick to a start-up
written by Shyam Unnithan, July 13, 2009
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