Me-time Friday? HR professionals, employees weigh in on the four-day work policy

ldquoAs a primary caregiver to my parents I take care of them when I get an extra day off I have also learnt to ride a bullet and started taking trips something that I always wanted to dordquo says Janani Narasimhan customer success director at Beroe Inc one of the earliest Indian companies to successfully implement the fourday work week policy even before the provision gained attention in the countryldquoItrsquos a great feeling to have an extra day in a week as one can plan things and enjoy the weekend Your morale is boosted and worklife balance is maintained It also helps many people to pursue their hobbies in real timerdquo Janani addsAt a time when over 3000 workers from 70 companies in the UK are undergoing trials for one of the biggest pilot schemes of working four days a week concerns about employeesrsquo wellbeing worklife balance and reducing working days have reignited the debate in India too While Indian companies like Beroe Inc and TAC Security have already introduced the policy a number of startups experimented with it during the second wave of the Covid19 pandemic for a month Though it was a temporary provision in any case there has been an increasing push to shifting towards a more flexible work culture rather than focusing on rigid working hoursSwati Nagpal who manages diversity inclusion at Cimpress India was able to pursue Masters in Business Administration MBA when the company rolled out a 45 working rule as a pilot programme in 2021 for specific departments The extra hours at hand along with the workfromhome provision left her with enough time to work towards her personal goals alongside professional objectivesldquoIt mattered more to be in a place where you are more relaxed I picked up personal hobbies such as painting and creating distil artwork at home Moreover there was no rigidity in terms of login and logout time All that mattered was whether one has completed the workrdquo she addsWhile the fourday work week rule evidently means more time for the employees to invest for themselves does it end up affecting the company goals The team leaders and workforce management professionals have a different perspectivelsquoOur employee and customer satisfaction scores shot uprsquoInspired by the Scandinavian workingstyle Beroe Inc a procurement intelligence company implemented the fourday work week policy in 2017 at a time when the company was undertaking multiple transitional processes in order to cater to employeesrsquo wellbeing without compromising on the organisationrsquos requirementsAnand Narayanan head of human resources and marketing at the company who also led the process says the organisation wanted to shift from the workhourled workforce approach to a flexible pattern where employees could come back relaxed and rejuvenated from an extended weekend This he says actually worked and the numbers proved itldquoAttrition rate has been negligible in the past five years Employee satisfaction score went up to four on five Productivity went up by 145 percent over those three months Customer satisfaction has also been at four on fiverdquo Narayanan statesAs someone who has been associated with the company for 12 years and has experienced the transition firsthand Narasimhan recalls initially there were apprehensions about leniency taking over employeesrsquo minds but there wasnrsquot a single instance where the company had to take any counter measures And the policy has continued for four years now Surely there can be Fridays where something needs to be done To tackle such situations different teams have devised methods to effectively complete the workldquoWe understand that this is a privilege that we have and we need to work harder to retain it Our pay and leaves were not at all affected So itrsquos a winwin situation for allrdquo she notesFor Ameya Sane too lsquoRecharge Fridaysrsquo at Cimpress India or working for half day on a Friday was about facilitating a break from mundane work for employees and helping them destress Additionally the flexible nature of their work enabled them to plan their schedule as per their suitability ldquoAlso its not really about the number of hours anyway Especially for the kind of work that requires a lot of your cognitive ability We wanted to further add on to the autonomy that give to our people to select their place of work select hours and even flexibility to plan a nonlinear work dayrdquo explains the human resources directorNagpal has been able to save a lot of time by not travelling to office The fouranda half working days provision has additionally helped her to fix a schedule and not spread the work for the entire dayldquoWhen you go to office you might procrastinate So I knew my timings and I stuck to it I think itrsquos a personal call also If you do not plan it might create a problem So a bit of discipline is also necessary with all the flexibility at handrdquo she addsIs it yet feasible for all Indian companiesIn February 2021 the debate on implementing fourday work week policy in India gained momentum with the Centre proposing new labour codes which provisioned companies to have a fourday work week But this comes with the condition of total 48hours weekly work being sacrosanct While experts have flagged concerns related to the legality of working 12 hours a day workforce management professionals highlight why it may not be a feasible option for all businesses in IndiaAccording to Narayan Bhargava managing director at Calibehr a business solutions provider company it is important to note that the countries which have adopted fourday working policy are already developed one whereas India still needs to catch up at many levels Given the need and requirement of different sectors in India the policy might work only for select companiesldquoWith limited commuting options with the employees extending work hours per day can add to the imbalance in their lives especially for those travelling from remote areas to the office This will infact have a counter effect on the productivity of the employeerdquo he addsWhile Narayanan agrees that the policy may not be the most attractive option for every sector especially those involving a large number of employees working onground for delivering different facetoface services he believes that it can be implemented in the IT and tech servicesrsquo companies and can be experimented without large scale changes in other companies tooIn a country where working for five to six days is a normalised working culture Hemant Sethi India head at British Safety Council says introducing a fourday week wonrsquot be an option for all employers or workplaces that even operate up to seven days a week However as there is some evidence to suggest that working fewer hours should not result in lower productivity there is no reason for it to not to be impactful in Indian companiesldquoIn some ways India has a longer road to travel with relatively modern work practices In a way potential positive findings from such initiatives and trials might normalise at least fiveday working week in Indiardquo Sethi adds