The Economic Times

Title : If You Can't Curb Them, Let Them. Startups Turn Pro-staff
Author : VASUMITA S ADARSH
Location :
PUNE
Article Date : 08/14/2014

Young firms provide easier & speedier access to shopping sites to boost morale
While most companies try their best to block distractions at work, startups are experimenting with
employee access to online shopping sites and other fun measures to make the environment more creative
and friendly.
For instance, hiring portal Jombay has introduced a shopping lounge to enable employees to shop on
e-commerce sites during set working hours. Others, such as HelpShift, are allowing employees to
participate in designing the office space and decor.
It started with a Skype message on my screen, with a team member asking my opinion on a dress and
realising later that it was posted on the wrong window, said Mohit Gundecha, CEO and cofounder of
Jombay, an assessment and analytics platform in the space of recruitments and profiling. My immediate
reaction was to block these e-commerce sites in office to save the distractions and potential drain in
productivity.
Gundecha, who realised that his team spends around 40% more time on ecommerce sites like Jabong
and Myntra than on Facebook, decided to experiment by throwing open a shopping lounge for half an
hour everyday where employees can shop and chat about the latest on ecommerce sites.
The time helps team members bond with each other, and there is also a lot of informal learning, said
Gundecha, who has also introduced the idea of selfies and groupies time once a week. I have been
surprised at the results.
HelpShift, a startup that provides mobile customer service software and in-app helpdesk for customers
has also set up a cre ative work atmosphere at their workplace.
We want employees to be in an atmosphere that encourages lateral thinking as startups are more about
innovating constantly than meeting targets, said Baishampayan Ghose, cofounder and CTO of
HelpShift. Besides encouraging varied tal ents of employees, Ghose also invited his team members to
give ideas for redecorating the office.
The team brought in their own interest to the office decor, and since some employees like Lord of the
Rings characters, we got an artist to make Lord of the Rings posters on our office walls.
A recently conducted study by the University of Cincinnati finds that online breaks help boost employee
productivity. The study was conducted af ter extensive interviews with 33 professionals from varied
industries For Saurav Mishra, cofounder of product development consultancy Webonise Lab, a rock
solid team becomes more crucial than the product itself.
The world over, startups are banking on their team to innovate and without the team being cohesive,
the venture isn't going to work in the long run. Webonise has lounges, dormitories and play stations for
the team members.
Besides this, we encourage them to shop online, as part of a learning experience.
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Shirish Deodhar, cofounder of Sapience Analytics, which provides tools to companies to measure and
improve employee productivity, said work-life harmony rather than just work-life balance is the key.
With technology, sometimes it is easier to unwind right at work, and finish some personal errands too,
said Deodhar.
Companies who ban shopping sites or social networking are doing so with a misplaced attitude.
Manish Singhal, founder of Let's Venture, said an open atmosphere is needed where employees have
freedom and a responsibility quotient to know their role. Blocking sites will not improve productivity,
but will rather result in employees distracting themselves with chatting with colleagues or through other
means.
vasumita.adarsh@timesgroup.com




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