Professional

Not a Family, Not a Machine Either

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Happiness is Infectious – it rubs off on you too

Very very personal & respectful response to a LinkedIn post that started off saying “Your workplace is not a family, and calling it one is emotional manipulation. You didn’t sign up to be anyone’s work sibling, therapist, or parent. You signed up to do a job with adults, on a team, with boundaries. Stop normalizing guilt trips disguised as culture and start building teams based on respect and professional trust. Because healthy workplaces don’t need fake family slogans to keep people loyal, they earn it.”
I was shocked beyong my wits since it was not just the way I navigated my life in workplace. Probably it is a cultural thing. And I have no intention to push this article as a prescription but only general thoughts on what I have learnt over 38 years of my career. A few years back, I also have written about a personal journey of turning around a sick company into a going concern. You can read it here Happiness is Infectious

Workplace cannot be treated like machine because human beings spend most of their waking hours at work. Expecting people to turn off emotions completely for eight hours every day leads directly to burnout, quiet quitting and deep isolation. When employees are forced into hyper transactional environment, they constantly feel like walking on eggshells. This environment destroys psychological safety, stopping people from sharing creative ideas, taking necessary risks or voicing genuine concerns. Real productivity comes from warmth and trust, not from cold contracts. This what for me is how a family would be. No cold contracts but warmth and trust.

Work is such an essential and integral part of our lives, deeply touching our families and personal wellbeing. Beyond being critical for career growth and financial security, good office culture naturally extends into powerful support system for life outside work. In my own professional experience, workplace has provided incredible strength during personal challenges, proving that work life and personal life cannot be compartmentalized into rigid boxes. When organization supports its people during tough times, that care positively impacts entire household and creates deep sense of security. This what for me is how a family would be. Supporting each other when you hit a rough phase.

An efficient and happy workplace contributes directly to overall wellbeing of individuals while driving massive business growth. When people work in supportive, positive atmosphere, their mental health improves, stress levels drop and overall health remains strong. Happy employees are naturally more creative, collaborative and resilient when tackling tough market challenges. From business perspective, positive culture reduces expensive employee turnover, lowers absenteeism and boosts daily efficiency. Clients and customers also prefer dealing with happy, motivated teams, which directly drives revenue and long term corporate success. This what for me is how a family would be. Looking forward to spending an useful and mutually beneficial (emotionally too) association and make everything we do a shared success.

Furthermore, strong professional relationships act as major driver for career mentoring and skill development. When workplace is purely transactional, senior leaders rarely take personal interest in guiding juniors, and knowledge sharing gets blocked behind rigid boundaries. Healthy human connections encourage natural learning and organic team problem solving. People naturally work harder for team they respect and care about, whereas transactional setup causes top talent to leave for slightly better pay elsewhere at very first opportunity. This what for me is how a family would be. Not quit at slightest incentive and prioritizing being and belonging to each other.

When professionalism turns into emotional detachment, workplace becomes lonely and cold. Nobody enjoys working next to robotic teammate, which makes daily work feel far heavier than it actually is. Relationships built purely on transactions cut both ways. If company offers zero personal care, employees will also never offer single extra effort beyond basic job description. True loyalty, extra effort and initiative are always built on mutual human connection rather than just monthly paycheck. This what for me is how a family would be. Remaining connected to lively and non-mechanical humanoids all 30 days and not just on the days when I receive my paychecks.

At same time, workplace does not need to become family or bring in family type drama and boundary free expectations. However, empathy and understanding must be at very core of every professional team. Humans are emotional beings with unique personalities, personal struggles and unexpected life changes that define everyday reality. Treating every single interaction like cold business deal completely ignores this basic human nature. When managers and colleagues fail to factor human characteristics into daily work, workplace becomes lifeless space where nobody feels safe or valued. This what for me is how a family would be. Where we are total human beings, with feelings and emotions, not just a pair of hands.

Showing simple empathy when someone faces tough day or supporting team member through rough patch is not about turning company into family. It is simply about recognizing that we are humans working with other humans. Stripping away all human comfort under excuse of pure business turns work into lifeless grind that no one can enjoy, while mutual understanding is what keeps team strong, motivated and truly productive. This what for me is how a family would be. Being there as a support system in good, bad and ugly times.

TRY! THIS WORKED FOR ME EVERY SINGLE TIME FOR 91200 WORKING HOURS

From Attappady to Conference Room – Inspirational Journey of Neeli

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Memorable and Inspirational Journey
Cartoonised from Original Photographs using Gemini

Last Sunday, I walked into a humble but cozy home in Bengaluru for a birthday lunch. My host was a young girl from the 2016 Government of Kerala sponsored batch, a group of over 200 tribal youth brought down from remote forests of Attappady to be trained as Electronic Technicians. She now shares this home with five of her classmates from that very same batch, a visual treat when I saw how far they have all come together.

Over lunch, memories came rushing back. She recalled her early days in the city, intense culture shock, daunting language barrier, and overwhelming urge to pack her bags and run back to familiar sanctuary of the hills. She reminded me of how I had refused to let her give up as it was during my tenure as head of the training institution, deploying every method from firm discipline to patient counseling to help her navigate those initial hiccups.

Her gratitude was not just for a career or monthly paycheck, it was for dignity and security it brought her family. With tears in her eyes, she shared a moment that meant more to her than any corporate milestone, the day she was able to take her ailing mother to a proper, well-equipped hospital for treatment, stepping away forever from a thatched hutment that passed for a clinic in their native forest.

Her journey from a quiet, hesitant girl in the woods to a thriving professional in the heart of India’s tech hub is a story of grit, transformation, and unshakeable resolve.

When Neeli first left her hamlet in 2016, morning mist hung low over dense forests of Attappady. She had never stepped out of the hills, had worn only traditional attire, and spoke a native tribal dialect mixed with broken Malayalam. The world outside was a myth she had only heard of until a government sponsored skill development drive brought her batch down to Bengaluru.

The transition was brutal.

The bustling metropolis was an alien planet. For Neeli and her peers, primary hurdles were not just circuit diagrams or soldering irons, they were foundational lifestyle shifts. Structured environment demanded strict personal hygiene, formal attire, and relentless punctuality, concepts entirely foreign to life governed solely by sun, moon and seasons.

Compounding the struggle were ingrained habits. Weaning the group away from routine tribal addictions required immense patience, firm counseling, and constant monitoring. Language felt like an insurmountable wall. Technical terms in English sounded like noise, and even basic daily communication in the hostel was a battle. Many in the batch wept in silence, paralyzed by homesickness and culture shock, ready to pack their bags and flee.

Neeli almost broke too. But every time she felt like giving up, she remembered her mother working tirelessly under harsh sun back in Attappady, struggling just to secure two meals a day. Neeli’s resolve was not built on ambition for personal fame, it was forged in a quiet promise to give her mother a dignified life.

She decided to fight.

When training hours ended, while others rested, Neeli stayed back. She spent hours in front of a mirror, practicing basic phrases to overcome her language barrier. She adapted to disciplined routine, taking pride in her clean uniform and sharp presentation. She picked up soldering wire, studied circuit boards until her eyes burned, and slowly began grasping logic behind electronic components.

Her quiet determination did not just change her, it inspired the rest of her batch. Seeing her dedication, others found their footing, shedding reluctance and leaning into discipline required to succeed. By the end of the rigorous program, Neeli was unrecognizable from the shy, hesitant girl who had stepped off the bus months earlier. She graduated as a skilled, confident technician.

Her real trial began when she secured placement at a top French multinational electronics manufacturing firm. Stepping onto a high-tech shop floor filled with state-of-the-art machinery and strict global standards, she faced a whole new level of pressure.

Yet, grit honed during her training days paid off. She moved up from assembly line operator to taking on complex technical responsibilities. Her sharp eye for quality, unwavering work ethic, and ability to bridge communication gaps earned respect of both her peers and management.

Today, Neeli works as Line Manager at that French multinational, directly leading a team of technicians and engineers.

The girl who once struggled to speak outside her forest dialect now leads operational stand-up meetings. The family that once survived on daily wages in the hills now lives in comfort, supported by a daughter who refused to let her background define her horizon. Neeli’s journey stands as living testimony to what pure resolve and a daughter’s love for her mother can achieve.

PS:

I respectfully acknowledge the role of Visionary Kerala Bureaucrat Shri Subaiah Sankaran, IAS (Click for his LinkedIn Profile) in shaping destiny of thousands of unserved sections of the society. It was his idea to ensure sustained livelihood for the community through Skill Training, instead of propping them through Dole.

Name of the trainee changed to protect her identity

Grandpa Bought It, Dad Built It, I Sold It, Good Luck Kid!

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Red soil of Jamshedpur carried fragrance of hot iron and honest sweat when old Gurdeep Singh laid foundation of Swadeshi Steel. Gurdeep spent young years saving every single rupee, skipping meals to purchase tiny plot near Subarnarekha river. He worked alongside handful of blacksmiths, forging simple tools with relentless dedication to quality. Workers ate together under shade of banyan tree, bound not by contracts but by deep mutual respect. Town knew that metal from Gurdeep’s foundry would never bend under pressure because founder put his heart into every blast of furnace.

His son Harpreet turned small workshop into towering industrial titan. Harpreet possessed vision of architect and stamina of bull, erecting massive chimneys that painted sky with gray industrial plumes. Under his leadership, factory expanded across acres, supplying steel beams for bridges and railways across country. Harpreet walked shop floor daily, greeting seasoned workers by name and ensuring that core values of safety, honesty, and legendary quality remained untouched. Swadeshi Steel became beating heart of town, supporting hundreds of local families and earning unshakable trust across market.

Tragedy struck when leadership passed to grandson Vikram, who returned from fancy foreign business schools carrying deep disdain for traditional ways. Vikram viewed moral values as slow outdated liabilities standing between him and quick wealth. He cut worker safety budgets, replaced high grade iron ore with cheap filler materials, and silenced veteran managers who dared to object. When quality ratings plunged and debts piled up, Vikram did not try to fix core problems. Instead, he sold ancestral controlling shares to ruthless private equity firm, pocketing quick fortune and abandoning loyal workforce overnight.

Steel Magnates to Street Beggars

Decades later, ghost of ruined enterprise hung heavy over cold rusted gates. Asset strippers had gutted machinery, sold off land pieces, and left entire community shattered. Today, Vikram’s young son stands in line outside those very gates among crowds of hopeless laborers, begging daily wage contractors for single shift of heavy lifting. Hot sun burns down on broken signboards as great-grandson of pioneer searches for work on soil his family once owned, fulfilling ancient warning of lost values and ruined heritage.

When orders flooded in initially despite lower quality, Vikram mistook this quick cash flow for strategic genius. He failed to see that early sales were driven merely by novelty and lingering prestige of his family name, not by any real value in his cheapened product. Temporary spikes in success often blind leaders into believing they have conquered market, when in truth, short-term hype can never replace deep structural strength. True sustenance only comes when roots run deep into uncompromising quality and trust, making organization resilient enough to weather shifting trends rather than collapsing moment initial curiosity fades.

Swadeshi Steel stands today as a stark reminder of the age-old Scottish proverb: the father buys, the son builds, grandchild sells, and his son begs. Sustainable growth is never just about balance sheets, bottom lines, or quarterly metrics on Tally software. True organizational legacy rests on the invisible bedrock of foundational values- integrity, trust, and human connection, that built it in the first place. When modern enterprises abandon these core principles in pursuit of hyper-growth or reckless reformation, they strip away the very soul of the brand. Beyond spreadsheets and profit margins, a brand lives in the hearts of its workers, its community, and its patrons, and once that trust is broken, no amount of financial engineering can buy it back.