'Family Life Is As Important As Work Life'

'You have to have commitment to both, but it has to be done at the individual level.'

The McKinsey Health Institute's 2023 survey conducted among 30,000 employees in 30 countries around the world found that Indian employees reported the highest level of workplace exhaustion at 62%, followed by Japan at 61%. Switzerland reported the least level of workplace exhaustion at 22%.

The highest rates of burnout symptoms was in India at 59%. Younger workers between 18 to 24, employees from smaller companies, and all workers who are non-managers reported higher burnout.

In September 2022, when Genius Consultants Limited conducted a survey on 'Workplace stress and its effect on Employee mental health', it discovered 100% of participants said that workplace stress had an adverse effect on mental health.

77% of the participants confirmed that work related stress induced anxiety and depression. 82% of the participants also said they suffered from health issues like immunodeficiency disorders, gastrointestinal disorders.

In another survey Genius Consultants conducted in September 2023, they found that 71% of employees believed discrimination and partiality by the managers created workplace toxicity.

"The three reasons for workplace exhaustion and burnout are lack of a proper regulatory mechanism, high personal ambition and then, of course, we are a developing country," R P Yadav, founder, chairman and CEO, Genius Consultants, tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.

• PART 1: Why Indians Suffer Work Burnout

Many reports say that marriages are breaking down among those working in the IT industry because of there is no work-life balance. How can they balance work and personal life?

If the general divorce rate is 1% in India, it is 8% to 9% among those work in the IT and ITES industry. But 92% are not getting divorced. It means 92% have found a way to balance work and personal life.

Individuals have to realise that family life is as important as work life. It is not that it's not possible to maintain the balance; it is possible. You have to have commitment to both, but it has to be done at the individual level.

Is it in the start-ups and small companies that employees are exploited more? Or, does exploitation happen in large companies too?

Burnout of employees is more in the smaller companies and start-ups. In start-ups, every aspect of the company is in the formative stage. So, everybody has to work really hard.

When I started my company, I used to work 10 to 12 hours every day. We would not have reached this level, if we had not worked that hard as a start-up.

I remember I used to leave the office at 9.30 pm every day, and the other employees used to leave at 8.30 pm. It was a normal practice in those days. That was because as a start-up, we could not employ more people.

But today, I see that everybody leaves office by 6.30 pm-6.45 pm. I also leave by then. We can afford to do that now.

In larger companies, there are fun times, celebrations, etc under the HR and staffing welfare policies. But in a start-up, you cannot form such policies as the only motto then will be work, work and become a bigger company.

Do you feel we need stricter labour laws to prevent employees being exploited?

Labour laws are already there. But I am sorry to say they are not being followed up. They are not regulated. So, what we need is a regulatory mechanism.

Labour laws are followed up more on the basis of complaints. If there is a complaint, they are questioned and asked to pay a fine. So, they pay the fine and carry on as usual.

In telecom, mutual funds, banking, etc. the regulatory mechanism is strictly implemented, and the fines are in crores. Recently, a public sector bank was asked to pay a fine Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion).

You need that kind of fine and regulatory compliance in this industry also. Then, all the companies will be forced to work as per the norms whether it is the number of working hours or creating a healthy work atmosphere or giving all the benefits including leave to the employees.

There is a central rule for leave and also a state rule for leave, and there is a shop and establishment timing. But how many follow them?

IMAGE: R P Yadav. Photograph: Kind courtesy R P Yadav

The Microsoft Work trend index also found that 57% of employees in India felt overworked....

It is true. Our survey also found that employees felt overworked.

The genesis of overworking is because we are a developing country.

We take a lot of work from other countries, more than what we can do, particularly in the IT and ITES companies.

When you work for international companies, you need to do the work on time. So, your team is pressurised to finish the work, and that is the reason for the burnout of employees.

So, do you feel as long as India is developing, this kind of employee burnout is bound to continue?

In my opinion, this is bound to continue although it has improved a lot in many big companies. For example, they switch off the light so that nobody works from the office after the stipulated time.

It is also true that these days, work continues even on the go and even when you are at home!

I would say, the three reasons for workplace exhaustion and burnout are, lack of a proper regulatory mechanism, high personal ambition and then, of course, we are a developing country.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com