Emerging Trends In Work Culture in Indian Organizations
WORK culture may be defined as the rules/regulations, policies. Practices, traditions/rituals and values/beliefs of the organisation. We notice an increasing number of organisations who are doing away with the cabin culture. Open office layout ensures greater transparency of operations and facilitates easier communication among various people in the same location. This promotes a feeling of oneness and eliminates physical barriers. There are only a few cubicles which serve as conference venues with lesser disturbances, else; no cabins.
Today organisations have begun to lay greater emphasis on teamwork; you need to be effective in group besides being efficient individually. This fosters a We spirit and can often contribute to synergy which in turn can make the organisation more productive.
Cliches like The customer pays your salary are well accepted by most employees of the organisation. But unfortunately they find application only with goods services. Today organisations have widended the scope of the word customer to also include the internal customers viz the employees. Service orientation is being practiced by all departments. Factors like response time, quality of service provided, attitude to help and such are also assessed by the employees with respect to user departments.
Companies have now started to develop psychological contracts/relationships with their employees. Service Bonds are being gradually replaced by systems like stock options. This conveys the all important message of companies building up a permanent relationships with their employees. With this in mind companies are developing the vision/mission statements which indicates clearly the plans for the future. Company products ae given to employees at greater discounts, kith and kin of employees are provided employment, scholarships given to their children, all in a bid to build up a lasting relationship and ensure that every employee feels proud to part of the organisation.
In the Indian context the good old adage was All employees are equal but some are more equal than the others. This meant that executives and senior managers were entitled to better facilities at the workplace such as plush canteens. Comfortable luxury transport to and from work, pot tea and coffee, a peon at their disposal and such. With the increasing advent of open office system we notice that many organisations executives are encouraged to have their own personal computer. Further we have tea-coffee vending machines with executives helping themselves to it as and when they need, self-operated photocopying machines. Thus, the hierarchial formal relationships at work are giving way for more informal and self-dependent ways of getting things done.
Concept of learning organisation
Training programmes are being viewed more seriously by organisations. Initially a training programme was perceived as a holiday period break form routine work and a means to keep people occupied during preventive maintenance periods on the shopfloor.
Further training efforts of most organisations have been focused at the lower levels of employees of the organisation. An encouraging trend today is that organisations are now emphasizing upon training of employees at all levels. Training and development activities are aimed at increasing Learning experiences for employees such that it helps in both employee and organisation development. Some companies have introduced a statutory quanta of training programmes to be attended per executive per year. It is also an encouraging trend that organisations are trying to develop in house grammes for other employees. This attempt, besides helping reduce costs, would also make it more effective since internal faculty would be more aware of technical and functional aspects of their own organisations functioning.
Introduction of Flexitime Work
As against the conventional system where worker had to punch time cards on entry and during exit and staff/executives signed the muster, we have some other systems in operation. Some companies have electronic attendance systems where all employees irrespective of their position in the hierarchy clock-in and clock-out. Further in some organisations, flexi-time of a normal working the day of 8 hours is everyone is around; the remaining four hours could be determined by the employee as per his convenience.
An employee who clocks-in at 8-00 a.m. leaves at 4-00 p.m. and an employee who clocks in at 12 noon leaves at 8-oo p.m. There is flexibility yet a basic common time exists. This is really very useful because employee inconveniences such as travel time, peak traffic hours, household work an such can also be managed to some extent. In some computer companies executives and systems analysts are provided terminals at home which are connected to lan/Ethernet such that the employee could even work from home and clock-in the stuipulated hours of work on his terminal. This trend would usher in a pragmatic mode a of work where the actual contribution at work would be seen as more important and relevant than the number of hours spent at the workplace.
Focus on Performance Management
Performance evaluation has always been perceived as a fault finding exercise. Hence, employees look at it with a very negative outlook and find it a very uncomfortable ritual done year after year. An emerging welcome trend is that organisations are now looking afresh at performance appraisal. The focus now is on performance review with a developmental focus. It is being viewed as a tool for analyzing strengths and weakness of employees and further link it up to organisations are identifying training needs based on performance review and training is being viewed more seriously. Thus an element of objectivity has been introduced into the system of performance appraisals.
Increasing Automation At The Workplace
Another noticeable change at the workplace is that most organisations have increased their efforts at automation. The PC-Culture is pervading organisations, small and big. Initially computers were used only for purpose of accounting and report generation but today computers have become a way of life. Many executives have computers on their desks and use it for their dialy work, report generation, accessing information and analyzing data. We also notice that the conventional telephone exchange systems, cyclostyling machines, telex machines and such are being replaced by electronic, fax machine tea/coffee vending machines, paper shredders and so on. Many organisations are also moving towards paperless office by using E-mail, Local area Networks on the computer, and such high technology dreiven modes of communication between departments, units and locations.
The greatest advantage Indian organisations have derived out of increased competitiveness and global markets is the total committment to quality. Today the slogan is that quality has become a way of life and not an exception. Many organisations are even extending the quality concept to the quality of worklife for its employees. This includes quality of services like canteen, transport, comfortable facilities at work, good quality of stationery and so on. It is interesting t note that many organisations have adopted TQM as a tool to become more competitive. Many companies are also focusing on improving the after sales service provided by them to various customers.
Thus the emphasis is shifting towards quality assurance in every aspect of organisational life. Today, we notice, that many organistions are introducing changes in work culture such that openness, teamwork and employee development are being emphasized. Thus, productivity through people is the watchword organisations are following. Greater emphasis is being laid on developing work systems and practices that make work enjoyable and stimulating than restrictive and inhibiting.
Email- profmani@hotmail.com