News Canada

Productivity over “present”

Trust between employee and organisation has always been a key component in company morale, but for millennials – a generation defined as “continual candidates” – trust is essential for staff retention.

This week, the Economic Times of India reported that more and more companies are incorporating these ideals. Organisations are developing systems and plans that will revolutionise ethics at work through placing trust at heart of their relationship with their staff. For example, some companies are doing this by allowing staff to manage their own work schedules. 

Other companies are going one step further. Moving away from a traditional attendance marking system – such as measuring productivity through hours spent physically at work and clocking in and out – companies are beginning to use a default system wherein employees are marked "present" on all days. 

Within companies using such as system, workers must only notify their seniors when they take a day off. This system is predicted to attract and retain millennials and we have to say, it just might.

We’ve spoken before about the millennial desire for flexible work environments and a good work-life balance; moreover, they value trust, transparency and the ability to work mobile. These moves echo their concerns and, as such, will be welcomed by those people joining the workforce.

One such pioneering company is Lenovo India. Lenovo has stopped measuring the number of hours its staff works per day, as they believe that by placing this trust in their staff they will, in turn, be empowered and enjoy a better work/life balance.  A happy team is a productive team, after all.

Lenovo HR Director Rohit Sandal said: "We have been trying for the last 12 months to make the company more millennial-friendly. One of the ways we are doing this is through a flex-at-work system. Employees can decide for themselves what timings they wish to maintain. Although for security reasons there is a punch-in at work, we don't track how many hours an employee clocks up. We want to operate on the basis of trust." 

Lenovo has created leave-management tools that update the system should an employee fall ill. In terms of holiday and planned leave, the employees are encouraged to upload the details earlier so that the manager and their team are aware and can reallocate work. Sandal also added that they have unlimited casual leave.

Elsewhere, RPG Enterprises has launched a similar system which works on the premise that people are honest. The digital attendance system automatically marked as “present.” The system is linked to the payroll and employees must notify their seniors about taking time off.

Here at GradLink we are excited to see new trends and ideas companies create in order to make their staff’s work and home life more rewarding. To see what companies we work alongside, check out our job listings today.