Flexi - Timing: Bane or Boon

After a late rising, good breakfast, and last minute touches to last night’s presentation; am on the way to office, swiping my card at sharp 9:00 A.M. For the whole department strength to grow full in size it would take another 1 hour. So it’s 10:00 A.M. and the department begins to start its operations, gradually picking on speed. But then an interruption comes in the form of a lunch hour at 12:30 P.M. For some the lunch hour begins at 1:00 P.M. Eventually after the break, work begins around 1:30 P.M. and now it starts growing in pace and by the time it’s 5:00 P.M. when work is at its peak of functionality; its time to head home. Some people stay back till 6:30 P.M. when the cabins are empty and the process to complete would require waiting for Mr. X, whose availability at the earliest would be the next morning at 8:30 A.M.

‘Flexi Timing is said to be the Future’, but does it fit well on all kinds of sectors and industries. For example a start-up IT Company cannot afford to get the concept of flexi-timing into its routine. It would be wasting a lot of its resources with the eventuality of staying up late and utilizing electricity, systems and supervisory issues.

Implementing Flexi Timing at manufacturing companies is another example of a misfit. By in large all manufacturing companies work in 3 shifts: Morning [6:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M.], Evening [2:00 P.M. – 10:00 P.M.] and Night [10:00 P.M. – 6:00 A.M.]. There’s a General Shift normally between 8:30 / 9:00 A.M. – 5:00/5:30 P.M. depending upon individual Company timings, where all the support functions and the Managerial level employees fit in.

Now majority of manufacturing companies are held by strong hierarchical ties, and not even a single paper can pass to a third level without bypassing the second level; whereby it’s scrutinized and only when satisfactory is approved for further flow of command/operations. Under such circumstances when Flexi Timing is implemented, there are some people who still prefer being at their seats sharp when the siren goes, and would look forward to getting home when the siren goes off again in the evening. Yet there is a large chunk that would prefer to avail such benefits, or to say the Managerial level would definitely pool in a ‘Yes’ for the concept. Such is the time variation that the Manager may end up swiping his card around 10:00 A.M., but that whole time between 8:30 – 10:00 A.M. would go waste, as it’s impossible to move any papers ahead or commit over any task. Just because the issuing authority isn’t present! And when the work does begin for the day; its time for lunch. Again the variation of flexi-timing and normal routine affects the lunch hour. There may be people who are done with their meals by 1:00 P.M. as per Company timings; however the Managers are entitled to have their timings extended by another half an hour. So in no case work begins before 1:45 P.M. after more than an hours break. Now the flow is catching grounds and moving at a fast pace; but it’s 5:00 P.M. and most of the clerical office bearers leave for the day, and other Executive band level employees and still other Managers who were among the ones that didn’t avail the concept. Left behind are hardly 30-40 of the employees all by themselves, who have the issuing authority in their hands; yet cannot, pass the paper to the next level as it needs some modification by some Executive or no peon is around to take the document across the building.

Now quite a few questions arise here:

• Does Flexi – Timing prove to be helpful in managing the tasks well?
• Does Flexi-Timing ensure output/production to full capacity?
• Is it cost-effective to let employees continue deciding their in and out timings?
• What about the man hours lost? How will it be recovered?
• How to minimize the authorizing gap between band levels if not altogether negate it; if such benefits do keep continuing?
• How to motivate employees who are demoralized with the pace of work and not getting rewarded for following discipline?
• How to engage employees who turn up early at their offices?
  

Yes indeed employee engagement has become crucial in these hours when bosses aren’t around, and employees are left to do anything but work. Many end up wasting time on unnecessary usage of internet, or in forming groups around the water cooler and chatting away. Spending time in canteens or roaming around shop areas becomes a routine.

The final question is “Does Flexi-Timing ensure work getting completed by the end of the day, or is it simply convenience at its best?” Work which cannot be completed within 8 hours of designated timing would not finish in another 1 hour without the proper team of employees. What fun in sitting alone in the cubicle and segregating tasks that cannot be completed before the next day and complying by the 8 hours shift of the flexi-timing accepted??