Employees misuse firms' facilities: Survey

Companies trying to cut down on costs due to rising inflation and overall economic slowdown need to check their expenses report.

Around 55.7 per cent of the workers had no qualms in fudging their cost details and almost 61 per cent felt that it is fine to take printouts and photocopies in offices for personal work, says a survey by TeamLease Services.

The fourth survey in the World of Work series tries to understand the changing scenario at workplaces in India. It says any company trying to tackle productivity issues needs to check internally. Around 63 per cent of the respondents are fine with doing personal work during office hours, says the survey.

The study titled Nothing Ethical about Ethics encapsulates views of the corporate workforce on workplace ethics across eight cities in India -- New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Pune.

The study commissioned by TeamLease Services and conducted by global research company Synovate in May and June, covered top 500 companies and had a sample size of 401.

Surabhi Mathur, general manager, permanent staffing, TeamLease Services, said, "The acceptable code of conduct in Corporate India is morphing from dogmatic thought police, whose card-carrying members were the HR department, to a more fluid situation that accepts diversity, relativity and materiality. Some people view this as devaluation, but companies are getting better at defining non-negotiable without interfering in trivia."

Nearly 62 per cent of the respondents were willing to use any means to get competitor information.

The study further reveals that Kolkata reacted strongly to unethical office behaviour, whereas the most lenient city was Ahmedabad.

While Mumbaikars would confront their co-workers directly for unethical behaviour, Ahmedabad believed in the indirect route, according to the report. Hyderabad and Kolkata insisted that leaders and managers should walk the talk on office ethics, with Hyderabad stressing on the need for frequent training on ethics in offices and by increasing open lines of communication.