Why companies must tread carefully with employee issues

The 90-hour work syndrome has been the subject of extensive discussion over the past two weeks, following the chairman of L&T's statement that employees should work 90 hours per week. This statement faced significant backlash, with trolls flooding social media with criticism of this diabolical statement.

Reputation is a highly valuable asset that a company like L&T has spent years building and safeguarding. The reputation of a company plays a crucial role in attracting top talent, fostering a robust organisational culture, and creating a positive work environment—all of which contribute to driving business and achieving the organisation’s goals. 

Nowadays, potential employees visit various websites and conduct Google searches to learn about a company's reputation. Prospective employees may come across the widely circulated statement on the internet that encourages workers to come to work on Sundays instead of "staring at their wives" at home, potentially delaying or rejecting their decision to join a company such as L&T.

Even campus hiring will pose a challenge, given the rapid spread of news in today's internet-driven world.

How can this impact organisations, such as L&T or any other company that intends to mandate 90 hours of work per week? Here are some of the negative effects that will be experienced by the employees, potentially leading to a negative image both internally and externally:

First, it will affect employees' mental state and acceptance. We could potentially encounter a significant number of cases of mental illness, which in turn could lead to physical health damage.

• Competency and productivity will suffer. We may observe a decline in the effectiveness of the employees, and their motivation to come to the office may diminish.
• Employees will start looking out, and the attrition rate will climb.
• Campus hiring may not be encouraging, as many students would not be keen to join after hearing about the 90-hour-a-week news.
• Employees are brand ambassadors for companies; they can express their displeasure with the organisation to the outside world, including their family members.
• Working more hours may distract you, causing you to worry about your performance.
• The disruption of work-life balance could potentially strain your relationship with your family and children.
• You'll soon feel lonely because you'll spend most of your time working and leaving little time for family.
• Your business partners and vendors will harbour doubts about the organisation, expressing concern about its future and their own business growth within it.
• Will the company compensate the employees for the increase in working hours? Would it not cost more for the company?

I believe the management did not carefully consider the implications before openly discussing the 90 hours per week. Ideally, the HR department should have conducted internal research to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of imposing the 90-hour work week.

This would have undoubtedly provided valuable insights before launching a full-scale media campaign. HR could have also had closed-door discussions with external business partners to have their valuable feedback before thinking of the 90-hour week.

Any issue involving employees is extremely sensitive, particularly when it pertains to their efficiency and productivity at work. But the damage has already been done. So, what course of action should the organisation take to salvage the reputation of the company, which has been impacted over the last few weeks?

It will not be an easy task for the management to salvage the reputation that has sunk so deeply.

What steps will the management at L&T take to curb the negative reputation, given that high-ranking corporate executives are engaged in serious discussions at various meeting locations? Every social media platform is flooded with trolls and criticism from various thought leaders and business leaders from the industry.

This will not die on its own, and this will keep coming up as the social impact of this news was very severe. The question is, will the leadership at L&T issue a public apology?

(Our guest author, Ganapathy Viswanathan, is an independent communication & marketing consultant and Chief Mentor, Roarrr Media and Public Relations.)