Humanising Workplace

Not a Family, Not a Machine Either

EnsuresLeave a comment
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

Success Needs Soul to Survive

Ensures1 Comment

I received a longish query about my LinkedIn Profile Headline  Spiritualising Work and Humanising Workplace. Reproducing it verbatim below:

Mr. Suresh, your striking headline resonates deeply with me, though I’ve faced challenges applying these principles in a competitive corporate environment, specifically when met with pushback for suggesting that traditional practices like meditation can enhance individual contribution. I would appreciate your perspective on whether spiritualising work is primarily an individual journey or a systemic corporate responsibility, and how one can demonstrate that a humanised workplace fosters sustainable high performance rather than trading off efficiency for metrics. Given our current cold, data-driven landscape and the rise of automation, what practical first step do you recommend for a leader to begin spiritualising their team’s view of labor, and how can we effectively keep the human element at the center of corporate strategy?

Though I am no expert to prescribe, I can only write about my experience on this and what worked for me. Everyone’s journey is unique and we need to find our paths. I have only tried to practicethis aspect as a Mission and can discuss what it really means to me. BTW! this has been my Linked In headline for nearly 10+ years. Here we go….

For many of us, life is split into two boxes. One box is for office, bills, and worldly objectives (ambitions, growth, money etc). The other box is for temple, meditation, or prayer. We often think that being spiritual requires sitting in silence on a mountain, far away from the noise of a busy market or a demanding boss.

But this division is unnecessary. Spirituality is not an escape from life, it is a way of living life more deeply. In fact, our entire professional mission can be summed up in one powerful shift which is my Headline on Linked In: Spiritualising Work and Humanising Workplace.

Working Happily instead of Working for Happiness

Bringing Soul to the Workspace

Work is where we spend most of our waking hours. If we keep spirituality separate, we are essentially living biggest part our lives in a soulless vacuum. In Indian tradition, concept of Karma Yoga teaches us that work itself can be a form of worship.

When we focus on Spiritualising Work, we perform task with full focus, honesty, and without being obsessed only with result. Software engineer fixing bug with total integrity or teacher helping student with genuine care is doing something deeply spiritual. We don’t need to quit job to find peace, we need to bring peace into job. Instead of working for Happiness, work Happily

Power of Human Connection

Often, corporate world feels like machine where people are just numbers. This is where second half of the journey comes in, Humanising Workplace. Spirituality in office is not about chanting, it is about empathy. It is about seeing colleague as human being with fears, dreams, and family, rather than just resource or rival or just as a pair of Hands.

By treating people with dignity and kindness, we turn cold office environment into space of growth. This is not just soft skill as many want to describe, it is Hardest and much needed Skill , it is highest form of spiritual practice in modern world. No, it is not a theoretical or Ashram stuff. It is easy to practice and I see it done in many successful enterprises

Worldly Challenges as a Mirror

Our professional journey provides the best lab for spiritual growth. It is easy to feel peaceful when sitting alone in a quiet room. Real test of our character happens when:

  • A project fails at the last minute.
  • A colleague takes credit for our work.
  • The market goes down and stress levels rise.

These worldly moments are mirrors. They show us where we are impatient, where our ego is too big, and where we lack balance. Instead of seeing office politics or financial stress as distractions from our spiritual path, see them as the very tools that help we grow. An umbrella can protect you from sun and rain, but if you develop the ability to withstand the heat and cold, whether an umbrella or other protections doesn’t matter.

Balance of Dharma and Artha

Many Jigyasus (seekers) think that chasing wealth or making money (unless it is printing your own currency) is vulgar. In Indian Philosophy Purushartha (Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha)  talks about four fundamental goals or purpose of human life. It suggests that a balanced and fulfilling existence requires pursuing these four pillars in harmony, rather than focusing on just one. Spirituality is not to advise one to ignore wealth or success. Concepts of Dharma (duty/righteousness) and Artha (prosperity) go hand in hand. We can strive for a promotion, buy a house, and provide for our family while staying grounded.

The secret is detachment, which doesn’t mean we stop caring. It simply means our internal happiness is not a slave to our bank balance or our job title. We should drive the car, the car should not drive us.

Integration is the Goal

Spirituality is simply the quality of our consciousness. If we are kind, mindful, and ethical while navigating the real world, our worldly journey becomes our spiritual journey. There is no need to wait for retirement or a pilgrimage to start.

Integration of work and individual

Every email we write, every meeting we attend, and every challenge we face is an opportunity to practice being a better version of ourself. When we commit to Spiritualising Work and Humanising Workplace, life stops being struggle between work and soul and becomes one beautiful, continuous flow. It is about wearing a formal 3 piece black suit as comfortably as wearing a white Kurta and Pyjama.

I would prayerfully like to acknowledge the source of this power I developed over a period of 25+ years – Pujya Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Founder of The Art of Living

What I have practiced with great success in major part of my 38 year old career so far, is to mirror what I learnt from observing what Pujya Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji of Art of Living has been saying and doing. Though these may not be the exact words, I have reproduced from the notes I have been keeping since 1998 (and in far greater depth and details from 2000) in my own words. If there is something awfully distant or erroneous (literally or philosophically) fault is mine.

Pujya Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Time is not linear. It is circular. What goes around, comes around. Do good to the world and good comes around many folds, it is just a matter of time. World is unthinkably infinitely good to us than we are to the world.

He has often spoken about how the banana of spirituality is hidden inside the peel of religion, it is the core essence that makes life work. In worst of situations (there is never dearth of it that is thrown at Gurudev on every second basis, He has shown us ways to do it, by being an example Himself. He says, Worrying doesn’t make any difference, but working does, spirituality gives one the strength to work. Spirituality is not a retreat into laziness or escaping responsibilities. Instead, it is the energy source that allows you to work harder and more effectively without getting burnt out. In one of His talks on business ethics in a WFEB conference, Gurudev highlights that intuition, getting the right thought at the right time, is the secret to success. He explains that spirituality clears the mental cobwebs, allowing a professional to access their intuitive faculty. When you Spiritualise Work, you aren’t just being good; you are becoming sharper and more creative because your mind is calm.

What I loved the most in this context and has worked for me very well is what he has said on the Human aspect of work life. In every meeting or talks, Gurudev emphasizes that the spiritual bond we share as a human family is more important than our professional identities.  He says, True leadership stems from recognizing the human element behind every workplace label, moving past titles like difficult boss or lazy subordinate to acknowledge individual stresses. By replacing rigid hierarchy with a friendly, empathetic approach, leaders can effectively humanize the environment and build genuine rapport. Ultimately, while rules may curb negative behaviour, it is a broader spiritual outlook that cultivates the inherent goodness required for a truly harmonious office culture. That in real is Humanising Workplace for me

He compares the modern workplace to a pressure cooker. Meditation and breath (Sudarshan Kriya) act as the safety valve. By keeping your inner space clean, you ensure that you don’t bring the stress of the office home, and you don’t bring the ego of your position into your human relationships.

Finally, Gurudev describes spirituality in the workplace as Equanimity. He says that Success is a smile that no one can snatch away. Whether you win a contract or lose one, staying centred is the highest spiritual practice. Spirituality brings a sense of commitment and a work culture. Taking responsibility is a vital component for any company’s progress.