Name: Ume Laila

Student ID: 19P00024

Project 2

Report of interview: Flexible Working Arrangements (FWA)

Section: MBA 2/ A1

Date: 12/10/2020

Submitted to: Dr Aamir Khan

The Interview

The interview began with me introducing myself to the interviewee and the telling about the
theme and purpose of the interview.

The Interviewer (TI): Thank you so much sir for giving me the time out of you’re busy
schedule.

Hassam Rasool (HR): No, No. It’s completely OK, as we had also gone through these phase of
student-life so I completely understand students worries. (He said it with an acknowledging
smile)

TI: Sir, Could you please tell me more about yourself and your work.

HR: My name is Hassam Rasool. I am senior field sales executive in the CCI Company
appointed in Chichawatni. CCI Company is a joint venture of Coco-Cola, it is dealt by Turkey
and it is operating in 11 countries including Pakistan.

TI: What is your perspective of flexible working arrangement? What are needs of FWA?

HR: Well, COVID has played a bigger part in making us understand this FWA. Since I am a
sales manager so there was a no concept of sales person to work from home earlier. But now I
think FWA is part of the new normal now. CCI Company is a multinational company so it was
very strict to follow all the guidelines of WHO, employees were given much relaxations and the
company tried its best to save all its resources during COVID times.

But now as the COVID has begun to cease a pressure on the sales and the company overall has
doubled to achieve sales targets, to complete the pending works and to earn revenues to cover-up
the damages made during COVID.

TI: What was the concept FWA before COVID in your company?

HR: Before COVID there was no concept of FWA in our company. COVID started this FWA’s
implementations but now we are again back on fields and offices after the lockdowns has lifted.

TI: Was there no FWA for the women working in your company as well?
HR: Yes, women avail all there ethical rights e.g. maternity leaves and parental leaves. Our
company allows leaves in case of emergency for both genders but there was no concept of
working from home in pre-COVID times.

TI: What do you think how long lasting would these changes in the working system due to
covid-19 be?

HR: Laila, you would be astonished to listen that far before corona times our HR department
gave us a case study regarding shifting sales force on online. Purpose of that case study was to
give an idea that now everything is being sold over the internet even a cold-drink. Main idea
behind this concept is how any company can work with less man-power and less resources. Any
company’s whole game is to earn profit (he chuckled), so even before Corona concepts like these
FWA and working with minimum resources and cutting down offices expenditures were being
pondered upon. Now COVID has given practical demonstration of how some departments can
work perfectly fine at home and with less head counts hence this would definitely affect future
working and structure for such departments.

TI: Deriving from answer, which are these departments you are referring to would be most
affected due COVID?

HR: You might know that there are two main divisions of departments in any company. One is
support department e.g. dispatch, finance, HR, also marketing, this support department has been
affected the most. But when we talk about functional departments e.g. sales, engineering there
isn’t much affected. As we are moving on automations, on machinery and on technology with
the same ratio man power is being cut-down and definitely this is adding on to unemployment as
well. For example: In our production house previously there were 150 staff but now there are
only 50 and production output is still the same as before. The company is increasing its door
steps facilities but decreasing its manpower. Our Turkish headquarters are looking forwards to
the ways in which they can have their office-staffs especially HR, finance people and even sale
force specialist to be working from their homes for less no. of hours and for less salaries. Many
employees in my company are looking for new jobs (he frowned). But luckily for sales force
team threat is little less, as throughout the world- US, UK, ASIA markets are very much
developed and so much is shifted to technology- still it has been proven that sale force is
something that unless the sale person with its all team go into market, the sales couldn’t be
properly executed and sales target couldn’t be achieved.

IT: Does these FWA have impact on people salaries and promotions?

HR: (He chuckled) As I have told you employees around me have started looking for other jobs
as they have realized that their current jobs are at stake. Definitely this has adverse impact on
salaries and also the company is paying them for less no. of hours than they were being
previously paid for 9-5 job.

IT: What are the difficulties to implement FWA with reference to your job and overall in
Pakistan?

HR: Difficulties were there as internet connections would go down sometimes. These
implications are limited to Pakistan, as 4G technology which is new Pakistan and you just find
strong internet connections in metropolitan cities but in many backward cities there are no 4G
connections and not even 3G, so people working from their being in their hometown faced many
implications. But in abroad e.g. if you go back 30 years in UK 4G, 5G internet connections were
still there. Luckily, we see now this culture of working online has developed in universities and
in MNC.

IT: Sir, what about health concern regarding the increased screen times? And was it difficult to
manage family and simultaneously work from home?

HR: Health issues due to these increased screen times were obvious like eye strains, backaches.
But in practical life you become somehow habitual of it as in offices employees are accustom to
have this much screen-times.

But yes working from home was difficult in the sense that kids were at home and as well as other
family members. So you know it becomes embarrassing sometimes like when you are attending
a meeting and your background voices, of kids’ yelling and family members talking, interrupt.
One has to instruct them repeatedly to keep quite. (He laughed).

IT: How is productivity link with FWA, Positive or negative relationship? Before COVID-19
perspective and post COVID perspective?
HR: If I speak of myself, during COVID times I would visit the office twice a week to deal with
my emails, also I spend 2 hours managing my labor and I also visit the field in my distribution
region as the need be. So sale department was the only department that wasn’t completely
restricted to work-from-home because sales can’t think of survival without market. So for the
days we compromised the field work we suffered losses, our market share & volume went down,
and our market presence went down. It is just like as you are not going to the institution then I
am sure your learning is 80% of what it could be possibly on the campus.

For the support departments e.g. HR, finance, marketing there isn’t much effect on productivity
as people are working fine homes but as the result these support staffs suffered the major
decrease in their headcounts.

IT: Now should the organizations work with all fixed timing (9-5) employees or with all FWA
arrangements or with the combination of both?

HR: Combination would be best. But my personal take would be to leave it to the employees. As
long as someone is being consistent in delivering results, then it shouldn’t really bother whether
an employee is working from home or office. It’s the results that matter at the end

IT: How beneficial and troublesome is FWA for employees? So at which employment stage
(hierarchy level) FWA should be provided?

HR: And I think FWA would be very suitable at Mid-Management level. FWA is beneficial for
the employees only for the short-run, in the long run it is not.

I finished the interview after expressing my great gratitude to the interviewer for his time and
valuable output.