Is India Always ‘On’ At work?
Mumbai, 27th January 2020: Achieving the perfect equilibrium among personal, professional and family life has become a day-to-day task for the modern Indian workforce. The advancement of technology has addressed some of these issues by enhancing remote connectivity and accessibility around the clock.
The India @ Work report from global recruitment specialist – Michael Page India has identified various factors on how employees are dealing with demanding business conditions while making time for their personal life. This survey was conducted among 585 Gen-Y’s from varied sectors and senior levels across India.
In India, work-life balance plays a key role in employees’ performance at work and organisations have acknowledged this as an important factor in reducing the attrition rate. The report analyses how employees carve quality time out of their work weeks for family or to free up their mind to increase productivity.
The research indicates that apart from the scope of responsibilities and tasks in the workplace, other factors such as commuting, employee-employer relationship and flexi-environment all affect the productivity of the employees.
98% of respondents feel that that being on good terms with bosses and colleagues can improve productivity. Comparing workplace relationships, 77% regard colleagues as friends versus only 43% who consider their managers as friends.
Mobile devices such as laptops, smartphones and tablets provided by companies boast a positive impact. 37% spend time in the office scrolling through their social media feed. LinkedIn ranked as the most influential social media platform.
Expressing his views on work-life balance, Mohit Bharti, Regional Director at Michael Page India says, “The growing ‘always-on’ work culture among millennials has cost employees their mental health undermining the quality of work. Performance pressure and fear of losing jobs are the major reasons for extensive stress beyond work hours. Identifying multiple ways to address such problems has become critical for employees as well as organisations.”
Other highlights of the survey include:
Employees at work: As per the survey, an average 92% spend less than an hour on personal matters at work. 65% employees say they chat with family and friends on messaging apps and 27% send personal emails at the workplace.
Flexible work environment: 9 out of 10 respondents feel a flexible work environment is very important. 60% indicated it gives them better work-life balance, while 34% claim it increases professional productivity.
Relationships at work: Communication is a key aspect at workplace, and the results of the India @ Work study have verified that the better relationships are in the office, the happier and more productive employees can be. 1 in 2 reportedly speak with colleagues daily on personal matters of which economy and politics (46%) are the most common topics of interests followed by entertainment (26%).
Maximising work commute: The longer your commute, the less time for family, friends and wellbeing. 65% of the study state they spend an hour or less travelling to work daily and 76% believe work commute time is an important factor when considering a new job.
Work connectivity: 7 out of 10 felt that issuing devices which allow for remote working has a positive impact on work-life balance. 93% claim to receive a mobile device from work and 55% also use these for personal matters.
Employees are the most important assets of an organisation, therefore, “Several companies in India have started modifying their employee policies for a healthy work-life balance and controlled attrition rate. More than balancing, an integration is required between work and personal life in order to achieve higher productivity leading to a better outcome,” Mohit Bharti adds in conclusion.
