Our standard operating hours are 9.30am to 6.30pm with a one-hour break in between.
However working hours are a tricky topic, because over the years we’ve all been conditioned to the idea of the nine-to-five or the ten-to six being the ‘ideal’ work time. Which is fine, as long as that’s what works for you—but for every individual who revels in a ‘no emails after 7pm’ edict, there’s a working parent who would rather be sending emails after 7pm because they want to pick their kids up from school early and hang out with them, or someone who simply works better later at night or early in the morning.
So, first, we want you to find out what works best for you. Then, have a conversation with your team lead and figure out what works in yours, your teams’ and our client’s best interest. We will try our best to display a certain amount of flexibility. After all, it's in our interest that we get the best version of you.
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A foundational principle that we believe in at Talented is for all of us to get our work done without the need for any follow up. We think it’s the best way to reaffirm our commitment to each other and to show that we respect each others time - time that can be spent on creativity.
You do not owe the company any more than 8.5 hours every week day, so we limit ourselves to it as best we can. Keeping a check on our hours at work forces us to prioritise the work that really matters. A healthy amount of sleep and a rich and rewarding life outside of work should not be wasted for a few more hours at work. Fun fact: our most frequently used agency motto is, ‘Do great work. Get great sleep.’
There are occasions where teams or individuals need to work off-hours on client calls, pitches or on quick turn-arounds. This time should not be more time you’re putting in addition to your normal working hours. Team leads and the Talent Experience & HR teams will follow up with you to take compensatory time-off to make up for the additional hours you put in during the week. We expect you to take the necessary approvals from your manager to make it seamless for the rest of your team before doing so.
As much as we can, we encourage all teams to schedule any client meeting to start latest before 5pm or to end before 6pm.
Some of us choose to work beyond these timelines, but you are not required to be available to respond to any work related calls/messages/emails beyond the official work-hours. Please set your official Google email signatures with your working hours of the week.
All meeting invites are to be held on Google calendars (physical or virtual). Please edit your calendar settings with your working hours updated so that invites can be scheduled for the time range only. You will need to update your holidays/leaves on your calendar as well.
Currently, we don't keep track of individual work hours through time sheets or any other mechanism. We trust you to make the best of your day. So don't worry if you hit the gym or get a haircut during classic 'work hours'. Have a word with your team lead and those who rely on your availability. If you’re considerate of their schedule, we’re good.
Your team leads however are part of an ‘anti-timesheet’ exercise which they conduct every fortnight with HR & the agency co-founders. The anti-timesheet shifts the responsibility of time-keeping from employees to their managers unlike in most organisations. It becomes the responsibility of your manager to keep a special eye on any individual who is noted to be spending more than regular time on work projects during that 2-week period. Two consecutive instances of such are yellow-flagged and a course correction discussion is initiated with the HR team. There may be many reasons for this discrepancy in time, but a discussion is raised regardless.
Life happens. Your pet is suddenly sick, your car broke down or you’re simply not feeling it for the day; events that may need your immediate attention. Have a word with your team lead and those who rely on your availability and we leave the rest to you.