Going to office? Book your seat first
Led by the IT cos, sectors like financial services and retail are now experimenting with flexi-offices.
By Yamini Dhall and Amanpreet Singh , TNN |
NEW DELHI: Going to office? Call ahead and book your space. Sounds absurd, but this reality in downtown Manhattan is just about winging its way into India Inc. Offices are increasingly adopting the avant garde design concept of flexi-spaces in keeping with the changing work culture and spiralling realty costs.
| Professionals in functions like sales, marketing, client servicing, IT support and on-site project development are no longer chained to one desk. There are lockers instead of cabinets and time slots have to be booked for the mobile workforce. ICICI Bank, HDFC, IDBI and Sapient are few companies known to be putting the practice in place. At the second IDBI office in Jaipur, the actual space usage has decreased by almost 100%. It now supports double the business on half the floor size. |
Led by the IT and BPO industries, sectors like financial services and retail are now experimenting with flexi-offices. ICICI Bank, HDFC, IDBI and Sapient are few companies known to be putting the practice in place. Professionals in functions like sales, marketing, client servicing, IT support and on-site project development are no longer chained to one desk. Resources are shared, there are lockers instead of cabinets and time slots have to be booked for the mobile workforce of today.
ICICI Bank is experimenting with flexi-office spaces and is implementing it in a staggered manner. Ergonomics of a shared work space may be an alien concept in India, but it has been used successfully by BPOs where there are lockers for storage, no paperwork and no fixed work stations as people work in different shifts. It is a concept that is being replicated in the financial services arena. “It is in early stages yet and we are doing it selectively as it needs to be done well without causing any resentment,” says Ram Kumar, senior GM - HR, ICICI Bank.
Till recently, in India, a cabin or a work place was considered a status symbol. Besides, employees had an immense sense of attachment for their designated desk. The pin-up board graced with photographs, the desk heaped with paperwork and the office cabinet used more or less like a storage space — all are giving way to a paper-free, non-personalised work station. At the second IDBI office in Jaipur, the actual space usage has decreased by almost 100%. It now supports double the business on half the floor size, as compared to the first branch, which was about 10,000 sq ft.
“The new work culture has affected the way office space is planned, it has become flexible and compact. The focus is on quality, decor, power and IT back-up, smaller cabins and personalised work stations,” says Vijay Narain, director, VNA design team, a firm that provides office space solutions.
Sapient calls this phenomenon ‘hot-desking’. The senior management at Sapient India works in an environment without cabins and without segregation, moving across accounts, teams and projects. The management can also activate their phone extensions at whichever desk they sit to create this mobility. “This is a much larger phenomenon in our overseas offices, but it happens at the senior level in India as well,” says Preneet Bindra Sinha, senior manager, People Success, Sapient.
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