Another dead in their early thirties, Anna Sebastian Perayil having worked for EY for about a month as a chartered accountant has raised pertinent questions on the Indian workplace culture. Anna’s mother, Anita Augustine, said she died due to work stress emphasizing the fact that work pressure really costs young people their dear lives. This heartbreaking incident is the call for organizations to wake up in India and think about the health of their employees including their mental health.
The Nature and Reality of Young Professionals
We cannot consider Anna’s case as an exception of the rule since the trend observed is being increasingly reported in different industries involving youth employees. New graduates in many organizations start their working life with enthusiasm and immense motivation to perform their best but get trapped in organizational culture that celebrates excessive working. The pressure that comes along with the goal can result into anxiety, sleepless nights, and lot of stress –AL of which is unique among young and energetic workers.
The former CEO of HCL Vineet Nayar expressed this issue more passionately by saying that this is systematic and that companies are taking advantage of young employees. Several organizations justify long working hours as for training or preparation for real life experience A number of effects arising from such practices are today noticeable. The World Health Organisation recently reported that people working for more than 45 hours a week are at a 35% higher risk of stroke and a 17% more likely to suffer heart diseases.
Introducing the need for change across the organization.
After the tragic death of Anna Dizon, the Chairman of RPG Enterprises, Harsh Goenka came up with six strategies that respond to the issue of having a healthier workplace environment. Another reason that can be extracted from his speech is the necessity of changes that affect the employees’ health.
Mental health programs and workloads that are realistic and can be effectively accomplished
The first process is included in the strategy of Goenka is to launch the mental health programs along with the initiatives to devise comfortable workloads. Companies have to realize that one cannot separate physical and mental wellbeing when it comes to their workers and that with the help of effective preventive measures, the satisfaction level and efficiency rates will surge. Employers need to make provisions like counseling, seminars, stress management and others that will enable workers to address their issues at the place of work.
New Employee Training: Structures of Mentorship
Mr Goenka was in complete agreement that organizations should implement the concept of mentorship and how this was especially relevant given the current status of some employees in relation to the new entrants into the market. These initiatives could help young persons into employment to transition more smoothly into workplace and be provided with the necessary tools for socialization into the organizational culture. Through mentoring, new employees can learn from senior colleagues and therefore reduce stress levels from loneliness and isolation at the workplace.
A drive towards the change of the cultural attitude of people on overworking
Particularly assuming, one of the main ideas, which Goenka proposed to his colleagues and the company’s management, is a new organizational culture that would minimize the glamorization of working overtime. For organizations, it is about time they elevated the meaning of success and doing away with the traditional perceptions of working harder. So, companies should work on adopting efficient and productive strategies and on providing boost bonuses for the accomplishment of the set goals as opposed to paying the employees for the number of hours they worked. : This process can potentially reduce the levels of burnouts and out rightly design a healthy work culture.
Open Channels for Communication
It is equally important to encourage employees to come forward with their complaints without being punished for their feedbacks so that appropriate measures can be taken before getting out of hand. There should be clear channels of communication at workplaces to ensure that every employee is free to air their difficulties and pains if they have any and seek help if any is needed. This may result in improved staff satisfaction and employer-employee relationships and thereby make staff feel that they belong to a certain group.
Accountable Leadership
The middle clinical concept that is leadership totally influences the culture related with the workplace. Goenka’s case entails style of leadership that requires leaders to be held to account for the working environment of an organization. Managers and supervisors should learn signs of stress and burnout of their teams then advise them to take time off and take care of their health. Such a proactive approach can therefore go a long way in enhancing the satisfaction, hence the retention of employees.
Promoting Work-Life Balance
Last, Goenka spoke more specifically about organizations encouraging a proper demarcation between work time and an employee’s free time. Managers should ensure that their companies are having strict policies in regard to ceasing business at appropriate times to allow the workers freedom of relaxation or taking their earned time off. Organizations can also influence the culture in such a way that may enable employees to balance their time effectively and hence be more productive at work.
Conclusion
The fatal accident that happened to Anna Sebastian Perayil should act as a sort of wake-up call to spur demands for change in the Asia’s workplace culture. Action taken by business leaders must be to place policies that can improve the health, as well as the mental and physical wellbeing of the employees. This paper will discuss the six-step plan that has been outlined by the Harsh Goenka of the anger management plan for creating healthier employment workspace. Coping with such problems entails the development of organizational culture that fosters the workers while at the same time promoting more productivity with time. It is time to act – and we fight for that no more young professionals have to die to rid the work environment of the toxic culture.
