How Can We Balance Flexibility and Discipline in a Relaxed Work Environment?

Addressing Employee Discipline Issues in a Relaxed Work Environment

Dear All,

I am Raj, working as an Associate in Human Resources. We have an issue at our startup where we prioritize treating employees with flexible environmental practices. We do not stress them out or set difficult deadlines. Employees have access to mobile phones, unlimited internet connections for learning, and sufficient sick and casual leaves. However, I have noticed some employees taking leaves and permissions frequently, while others are consistently late to the office.

I have already sent out an email addressing the importance of following proper discipline in terms of timings and time off. While some comply for a week, the same issues resurface. How should I address this problem? Should I continue sending reminders to all employees or focus on specific individuals who frequently take leaves and permissions? Alternatively, are there other strategies I could implement to tackle this issue effectively?

Thank you.

Dear Rajkumar, you wanted to create an environment in your company. However, the demarcation of that freedom has to be defined well. It appears that it is not done. Now, the first thing you need to do is to have a leave policy. Unless you have that policy, employees will not know what their authorization is. Secondly, define properly the workweek and working hours. Start marking attendance strictly. There is no point in being lenient beyond a point.

Performance targets

The most important part is about the performance targets. You need to be absolutely strict, and these need to be tough also. Employees must be stretched to attain those performance targets. Please note that employees' performance is your organization's performance. Therefore, there should be no let-up in their deliverables.

Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar

In that case, you can issue a letter or notice to inform your employees about the breaks and permissions that they can use and its limitations.

Dear Raj,

Regarding performance, how are those employees performing? Have they achieved the targets you set for them? Has the work suffered due to their absence?

If the answer is negative, what is the issue? If we have not established specific timings, how can you claim they are late? This contradicts your own culture.

Decide on acceptable norms as a part of your culture and then frame policies accordingly.

Regards, Ashutosh Thakre

Dear Raj,

What type of startup do you have? If it is target-based and they are achieving their targets, then what they do no longer matters. In this case, a free environment will help them to achieve their targets, but yes, there will be some culprits who want to take unnecessary benefits of the free environment. For those employees, you have to make some policies, and you can mention them in your standing order as well.