There is a difference between Flexibility and Discipline

This topic is based on my personal experience with one of the organizations I worked with.

As a person I give lot of importance to the word discipline. Our earlier generation were having more disciplined approach towards life. This is very much visible in their day to day actions. Discipline in life gives lot of benefits; it brings dedication, sincerity in one, resulting into success in long run.

Flexibility is equally important in life. A material with rigid frame work breaks easily then the one having flexibility. It implies in the life as well.

However it is very important to understand the difference between flexibility and discipline.

 As we all know, now a days’ most of the organizations provides flexibility to its employees. In this employees can come to work anytime as per project necessity and have to clock in required working hours everyday.

As a HR with my personal observation I noticed that lot of people were not clocking in required working hours, because the piece of work they were responsible to deliver, does not require them to clock in required working hours on day to day basis. Result of this, People working into the projects where they have to put extra working hour’s, gets dissatisfaction in them, when they see other people leaving organization even before completing required working hours.

When this thing was brought into the notice of management, they were kind of OK with this behavior as long as project is not suffering and this thought was in mind that we should stick to the working hour flexibility that we provide. It took me lot of time to explain management that this not an attempt to withdraw any flexibility benefit that we provide, but to make people realize that they have to utilize this benefit in disciplined manner.

Coming to work as per project necessity is fine, but it is equally important to fulfill day to day working hours. If the project work does not require stipulated hours of working and billable hours to the client are also less, however people need to understand that they are not paid on hourly basis and the available time can be utilized in productive manner by doing additional things like arranging knowledge sharing session, training session, team building activities, project processes improvising activities and several other activities benefiting organization and individuals associated with it.

Any benefit provided by organization should be utilized by its people in disciplined manner. Coming to work as per project requirement is flexibility, but leaving organization without fulfilling required working hours in productive manner is indiscipline. It is the duty of managers to assign work in such a manner that there resource are productive for the organization; equally it is the duty of all individuals to have a disciplined approach to work. This will only leads towards betterment of oneself and success.