Quality output is more important than working overtime

ICICIBank over the last few years has been driving hard a culture among its employees of not working beyond the contracted hours except in special circumstances as it is a productivity killer, says executive director K Ramkumar. "But a culture takes time to change and we need to do better," he adds. While most companies in India have a stipulated work hour (on an average 8.5-9.0 hours), when asked if more number of hours spent at work means people are more productive, the answer from the top human resources experts was an unequivocal no. There could be times when one needs to push the envelope when the turnaround time is steep and when one needs to spend a few hours more. However, doing it on a sustained basis does not necessarily mean high productivity, say HR experts.

Read the Economic Times news report here.