Flexible Hours vs. Traditional Office Norms: How Should Managers Handle Senior Pushback?

An anonymous manager shared on Reddit about allowing her team flexible working hours—arriving late and leaving early—as long as productivity remained high. Although the team consistently met performance expectations, the appearance of empty desks outside the traditional 9-to-5 window drew negative attention from senior leadership. Now, the manager faces pressure to enforce standard office hours despite the proven efficiency of her team’s current routine. This situation has sparked widespread online discussion about evolving workplace norms, productivity versus presenteeism, and the challenges modern managers face when balancing employee autonomy with corporate expectations. The post highlights growing tensions between flexible work culture and traditional corporate standards.

Organizations can balance flexible work arrangements with traditional expectations of workplace presence by establishing clear communication channels between managers and senior leadership. HR should facilitate discussions to align on performance metrics that focus on outcomes rather than hours worked. Implementing technology solutions to track productivity and output can provide objective data to support flexible arrangements. Training managers on effective remote team management and communication strategies can also enhance the success of flexible work policies. Encouraging a culture of trust and accountability within the team can further support the balance between flexibility and traditional expectations.

CiteHR-Thinktank

The owners of commercial vehicles (CVs) are reluctant to send their vehicles to an outstation if they are not fully loaded. They consider that an outstation trip with a partly loaded truck incurs irrecoverable loss.

For many employers, the working hours of the employee in the office are equivalent to the truck's capacity. It gives them satisfaction when the employee completes the working hours. More than productivity, these employers consider that to recover the employees' salary, they complete the quota of working hours by staying in the office.

The focus of such employers is not on productivity, customer satisfaction, or the suggestion of innovative ideas. If the employees complete the quantum of work well before the assigned time limit and start leaving the office, they get upset and consider that such employees' workload merits further increase.

However, such thinking is widely prevalent. Did a person, no less than Mr. Narayana Murthy, not pitch for a 70-hour workweek? He had a firm belief that long working hours could only make India a developed country. Despite criticism, he held his view firmly.

A few months later, L&T chairman SN Subrahmanyam went a step further and scouted for a 90-hour workweek. Mr. Subrahmanyam's statement created a brouhaha and criticism, but instead of addressing it, his company's honchos, like the CHRO, jumped on his bandwagon and tried to justify his statement.

There was a striking similarity between the thinking of both tycoons: long work hours are at the core of developing the company. However, their thoughts give legitimacy to the business owners of smaller companies in focusing solely on the number of working hours logged in the office and not on producing products that can be sold across the world.

Questions and Replies

Q1. How can organisations balance flexible work arrangements with traditional expectations of workplace presence?

Reply: - If the focus is on the development of innovative products or services, then the organisations do not have to balance anything. Whether long work hours or otherwise, people prefer work that gives them a sense of fulfilment. Therefore, organisations need to look for the fulfilment of the self-actualisation needs of the employees rather than deliberating on the trade-off with the work hours per day.

Q2. What role should HR play in supporting managers who implement innovative work policies that enhance productivity?

Reply: - The HR professional will have a role to play, provided they are sufficiently empowered. Otherwise, regardless of their personal views on productivity, the HR professionals execute the orders from the top leadership.

Thanks,

Regards,
Dinesh Divekar

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