A matter of discipline

Varied Policies

The culture of working from home presents a rather problematic situation for most companies. On one hand, certain organisations — which face space constraints, for instance — might actually benefit from encouraging their employees to work from their own homes. On the other hand, there are certain issues, like self-discipline and monitoring, which also have to be factored into the equation.

   Companies which have experimented with the practice have both positive and negative feedback to give regarding it. Metrolife speaks to a few professionals to understand what their attitude is towards working from home.

On the whole, it would seem that companies discourage their employees from being absent from the office — both for fixed durations as well as indefinitely — unless in the case of an emergency. However, Aparajita, who works in the IT field, points out that many firms actually make concessions for women, since they have different commitments to juggle.

   “The firm I work for has a very woman-friendly work environment and actually provides some excellent options for working mothers. Since we do have commitments on the home front, they sometimes encourage us to work from home,” she says. “If my daughter’s day-care centre is closed, for instance, I might simply decide to work from the house. What’s more, it doesn’t have to be a one-off thing — the company doesn’t put any restrictions on us in terms of time — it’s completely my call,” says Aparajita.

But Kaushik, who works in the research and development field, believes that it isn’t so cut-and-dry. The attitude towards working from home depends largely on the industry one is working in. “In my industry, for instance, working from home simply isn’t feasible. There’s a lot of team work involved. It’s a very hands-on job profile, which requires a degree of experimentation — that sort of thing can’t be done from home,” he explains. Because of this, his firm strongly discourages the culture. “In other industries, it might be possible to work in isolation but not here. No one even broaches the subject,” he adds.

Policies on the subject vary within a particular industry as well. Sheela, who is in the human resource field, reflects that the attitude of a company is influenced by its age
and standing with respect to competition.

“Take a start-up — it’s very important for employees to be well-connected in that case. Most companies that are less than five years old tend to discourage working from home. After that, it might make sense,” she says.

Those employees who are allowed to work from home, though, are strictly monitored and assessed. “If someone wants to work from home because of some kind of emergency, the management will specify a period of time and ensure that
connectivity and productivity are good. Employees have to list out everything they’re going to handle at the beginning of the day and hand in a status report at the end. HR specifies certain guidelines, which they have to adhere to,” she adds.
This culture might be frowned upon, she adds, but technological advancements have allowed firms to ensure maximum productivity from the employees they make an exception for.

“For most of them, it’s exactly like being in office,” she concludes.