Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A tech company that prides its culture on not burning out its employees.
Wait… you… you haven’t heard that one before?
In the fast-paced world of software development, stories about bosses finding ways to keep workers in the office at all hours is generally the norm in recent years. So 21-year-old Tanvi Khandelwal, a human resources specialist at India’s SoftGrid Computers, told NBC News it was something of a shock when the message popped up on her computer screen near the end of the workday.
“Warning!!!” it reads. “Your shift time is over. The office system will shut down in 10 mins. PLEASE GO HOME!”
“While I was surprised to see such a message on my computer system, I believe that a healthy work-life balance is very important,” Khandelwal said. “I am a social worker, as well, and such work culture allows me to engage in those activities after my office hours.”
SoftGrid’s CEO and co-founder Shweta Shukla told NBC News that she and her partners made a conscious decision to make a healthy work-life balance important.
“Coming up with this solution was a shared thought process amongst all the partners,” she said. “Since the pandemic, we have all been facing issues with working overtime and missing out on the social parts of our daily lives, like quality time with our families and loved ones.”
They also thought the computer screen warning every day was “more fun and engaging than an email or memo.”
After a post about the daily message went viral on LinkedIn, SoftGrid received some pushback from users who discussed how a hard stop time to the day could lead to more pressure to meet deadlines.
“This pop-up message is not an ultimatum,” Shukla said in response to those concerns. “It serves as a reminder for our teammates, and with a simple restart, they can get back to work if required.”
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