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'In India, dating is a very personal thing.'
'If someone wants to go out on a date, s/he would prefer not to keep their manager in the loop.'
A Thai company is offering a unique leave policy to boost productivity among its employees.
The Whiteline Group, a marketing firm based out of Bangkok, recently announced six months of free Tinder platinum and gold memberships for its employees along with exclusive Tinder leave, encouraging them to go out and date.
'We are giving away six months of free Tinder Platinum and Tinder Gold to our employees and adding a new 'benefits of Tinder' leave,' Chonpapassorn Chanyachanwas, the company's human resources supervisor, announced on its LinkedIn page.
'Our employees,' the post specified only those who had completed their probation were eligible, 'can use Tinder leave for dating someone.'
To avail the leave, employees will have to provide a week's advance notice.
While the Internet is buzzing over the company's out-of-the-box idea, rediffGURU Rajesh Nair, CEO, TopGear Consultants, an executive search and recruitment company, explains why a Tinder Leave policy could be counter-productive and may not work in a country like India.
"The report mentions how the management overheard that one of its employees was 'too busy to date' and came up with the Tinder leave policy.
"The fact that the company's employees are not finding time to date indicates that the company needs to modify its working hours and leave policy.
"If you are not granting leave to your employees when they are in dire need or facing an emergency but granting Tinder leaves instead, it would look superficial.
"The management, I feel, should instead stand with the team when it is most required.
"In India, dating is a very personal thing; this could be true for those living outside India as well.
"Every company must treat its employees as adults. Here, the employer is trying to play God while subconsciously trying to control the minds of its employees.
"If someone wants to go out on a date, s/he would prefer not to keep their manager in the loop. But when you are offering Tinder leave as a workplace policy, you are basically telling the employee that s/he has to inform the manager if they want to apply for a personal leave to date someone.
"If I am going on a date, I would not want everyone to know about it," Nair reasons.
He explains that there are simpler, more valuable ways to improve employee productivity:
1. Be fair
You don't need out-of-the-box ideas to keep your employees happy. The best way is to be fair to them.
2. Practise empathy
When your employee is facing a personal crisis or a family emergency, be there for them.
This will bring you more loyalty than superficial Tinder leave policies.
3. Improve workplace timings
If you are a 9 am to 5 pm organisation, encourage your employees to finish their work and leave latest by 6.30 pm or 7 pm.
This way, they can spend more time with their family or doing what they love.
What your employees do after work hours is personal.
If there is a crisis at work that is delaying or extending work hours, you have to find a solution to fix that first.
