Employees seek these 6 freedoms at their workplace

Workplace freedom means different things to different people.

Democracy and independence make for a successful organisation. As George Washington once said: “Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.”

The COVID-triggered work-from-home culture has given employees the time to pause and contemplate various aspects of work. For instance, if there’s anything that Antara Khaund, a PR professional, has learned recently, it is that work can be flexible and grounding in an equal measure, instead of the “redundant” process of logging in and out.

Workplace freedom means different things to different people.

Delhi-based software developer Ruchi Bhardwaj, 27, for instance, seeks independence from a blanket ban on workplace romance. She believes employees are mature enough to manage their professional and personal lives.

These freedoms are as important as meeting deadlines at work.

Several studies have indicated a clear case of mismatch between employee expectations and reality and India Inc is still hoping for ‘The Great Resignation’ to end. According to a report, 86 percent of employees in India may resign in six months re-igniting the concerns of a talent crunch.

On the eve of Independence day, Moneycontrol spoke to a cross-section of employees and HR leaders to get an idea of what freedom meant to them.

Freedom from micromanagement

Amit Chincholikar, Global Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) of Tata Consumer Products, seeks freedom from micromanagement, like attendance- tracking and time management systems, especially for office-based roles.

“Trusting your people is the core,” he says.

Agrees Raj Tanwar, Chief Strategy Officer and HR Head of HR tech company, Advantage Club.

He says corporates should make the workplace more flexible. Instead of time-keeping policies, like 9-5 or 10-6, flexible working hours and hybrid models should be the norm. They are the key to the future, he says.

In fact, Harry Chambers says in his book, My Way or the Highway, that 69 percent of workers consider a job switch because of micromanaging.

Freedom from taboos

New HR policies catering to the newer generation of employees are something that several businesses miss, says Umanath Nayak, Head of HR, Wakefit, a sleep solutions company.

For instance, sleeping at work has a long history of being a taboo. Nevertheless, breaking the stereotype, Wakefit launched the ‘Right to Nap’ policy which gives its employees the freedom to take a nap or ‘recentre’ themselves between 2 and 2.30 PM every day.

Freedom from prolonged response time

"Sorry, you have not been selected. The position has been filled, please don't give up and continue applying for jobs on our website!" is what Almira Tapal, a PR professional from Mumbai, received many weeks after her interview. In the meantime, she was already hired by a government agency as Awareness and Promotion Officer.

So, for Tapal, the one HR practice which is conventional and corporates should eliminate is the prolonged response time once the interview is done.

“It would be easier and less frustrating if the company sent an email that would let us know if we have the potential to be a part of the company or not,” she said.

Freedom from antiquated leave guidelines

When 26 years-old Shraddha Gupta, a Lucknow-based fashion designer, decided to go for the flexible working policy at her workplace, ironically she had to go through a bunch of inflexible formalities – like many terms and conditions, and a lot of approvals.

The same goes for leave policies as well. “Sometimes, it seems one has to be an HR expert to decode the real meaning of all the leave guidelines and the ways to adjust them across the calendar,” Gupta said.

As far as policies go, Sudeep Ralhan, CHRO of stock trading platform Upstox, believes antiquated leave and flexible working guidelines that look and read like insurance documents should be the first on the list to be simplified or just axed! (The quote by Shraddha elaborates the point that guidelines should be simply written).

Freedom from strict dress code policies

Companies should not ignore employees’ right of choice. Wearing a favourite dress, having facial hair or tattoos -- of, within the scope of sanctity – are individual choices.

“A majority of employees know and understand their responsibilities on how to dress for work and vary that based on the nature of work day/meetings etc,” Chincholikar of Tata Consumer Products said.

He wondered why organisations enforce something that questions that responsibility.

For instance, a former Ulta employee says she was dress-coded “for no reason” by her manager. Also, a Madhya Pradesh police constable was placed under suspension recently for keeping his hair and moustache long in alleged violation of service rules for uniformed personnel.

Freedom from age-old ways of performance management  

Organisations leveraging traditional performance management methodologies such as the bell curve distribution method need to seek independence from this, feels HR leader Pooja Madappa.

Organisations should shift to collaborative practices and goals that are mutually defined by the employee and manager (management by objectives) where employees feel empowered, she said.

Further, a lot of organisations have rigid policies, such as asking employees to stay in specific roles for a fixed duration of time as the eligibility criteria before taking up new roles. “This certainly must be made more flexible,” Madappa said.

However, employees and HR leaders echo the same thoughts that freedom and responsibilities go hand-in-hand. Everyone has to be aware that freedom doesn't allow employees to excuse themselves from the basic responsibilities at the workplace.

As Bob Dylan beautifully summed up: "I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom."