What Does Pratik Vaidya, MD & CVO Has to Say On Toxic Work Place?
Contents News/Article Date: 9th June 2023
Relating to which Act: The Indian Constitution grants the Central and state governments the powers to enact laws to protect the employees and foster a professional work environment. Based on the industry, nature of the work, number of employees in the company, location, and more, there are various legislations like the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 (ID Act), Factories Act 1948 (Factories Act), and Shops and Establishment Acts in relevant states (S&E Act).
Applicable to which State: Acts and Rules are applicable to all States
Type: Telegraph News Report
Pertains to: Establishments and Employees in all types of Organizations running businesses for profit or non profit
Relevance of this news : Karma Management Global Consulting Solutions Pvt. Ltd. one of the top 5 labour law consulting firms in the country, has recently hit upon yet another significant milestone in the journey of tying up SUNDEEP PURI ASSOCIATES AND ADVOCATE, where both these Firms have formally joined hands together to collaborate and create a bigger alliance by scaling up its business on Pan India basis and Internationally to give greater reach of its services together, to its hundreds of clients all over.
Sundeep Puri & Associates (SD Puri& Co.) with 55+ years of existence and helmed by Adv Sundeep Puri & Adv Ravi Paranjpe is one of the largest retainer firms in India specializing in “Employment Laws” advising Corporate Sector. The Firm boasts of some clients being associated since the last 55+ years and majority since last 30-40 years. They have extensive experience in counselling Foreign MNCs and Indian MNC Clients having multi-locational Factories &/or Offices Pan-India on a daily basis on a wide range of “Employment & Labour” issues, keeping in view the cultural diversity of the workforce such as Acquisitions, Mergers, Consolidations, Reductions in work force, Maintaining union free environment by not undermining the principles of collective bargaining & also preserving operational flexibility in unionized settings, providing tailor made models for conflict free productivity that is conducive Industrial Environment, as also in respect to applicability of the various labour laws. They believe in Solution oriented Practical Advice backed by Law.
On the other hand, Karma Global since 2004 is backed by 25 years of prior experience since 1979 , operating on Pan India basis and Internationally in Americas and EMEA, helmed by Pratik Vaidya , is a leading giant in payroll management, compliance and governance, human resource services, professional employment staffing and on boarding, recruitment and talent acquisition, advisory and consultations thereby offering a plethora of services with quick turn-around solutions including in-house flagship AI/ML based tech solutions so as to help organizations of different types and stature to perform better in Human Resource ensuring Risk Management, Compliance and Governance across Environmental, Social and Corporate laws and grow bigger
And in this instance : Video Highlighted HDFC Toxic Case – Pushpal Roy has become a household name for all the wrong reasons over the past few weeks. The viral video of the senior official of a leading private bank has sparked talk about toxic work culture and abusive managers, with many confessing they have had similar experiences in the workplace.Regardless of profession, most netizens agree that everyone has had to encounter at least one Pushpal Roy in their lifetime!
Subject: Abusive work culture is common, but there are ways to handle it, say experts
Appended is the complete news item
What Does Pratik Vaidya, MD & CVO Has to Say On Toxic Work Place?
Abusive work culture is common, but there are ways to handle it, say experts
Source: Telegraph
Corporate counsellors say toxic work culture and abusive bosses can create immense damage. Anirban Bhowmick, a practising psychological counsellor, said workplaces have a profound impact on employees. “A person is spending eight hours in the office. If the place is hostile, it will have a huge impact on the person. Often people undergo extreme stress, depression and some may start behaving with others in the same manner,” said Bhowmick.
Asked to elaborate on the causes of being abusive, he said primarily there are two reasons.
“Either he/she has experienced that kind of behaviour since childhood and is repeating the same cycle. In this case, the person doesn’t know any other way to address a difficult situation other than being abusive or aggressive. Probably, he/she was subjected to the same type of behaviour and is repeating the same with others,” Bhowmick added.
The second reason is pressure from the management. “The person might not be abusive by nature, but is unable to handle pressure from his superior(s). So, he is reacting in the same way with his colleagues,” said Bhowmick.
Handling the situation
Toxic work culture and abusive superiors may also result in lack of recognition, favouritism, unhealthy communication, and gossip. Toxicity at the workplace also includes bad leadership, poor management skills, a loosened code of conduct, and a lack of communication.
Sharmila Mukherjee, a practising psychiatrist, said the first step to address such a situation is by starting positive communication. “Talk over your concerns with your boss in a non-threatening and professional way. Some managers might not be aware of just how toxic they have become,” said Mukherjee. Simultaneously, collect proof of such behaviour and make complaints if things get worse. “Be logical in every step you take. Ask your boss the reason for such behaviour and desist from gossiping about your boss to other employees. Finally, try to put up a positive attitude,” Mukherjee added.
Pratik Vaidya, MD & CVO, Karma Global, a staffing & compliance organisation says that it’s necessary to have a workplace redressal committee within the organisation. “Generally, big organisations do have such a committee. The employee can approach the HR and complain of misconduct of the colleague and that can be recorded,” he added.
Workplace grievances are inevitable and as I know , any unattended grievances are like loose cannon balls in a ship – unless managed well, they can wreck the ship.
I feel that a clear, transparent, quick, robust and confidential grievance redressal system should be maintained and managed in the workplace which can bring in harmony and which gives the employee the confidence of a grievance reedressal mechanism that will deal with his or her problem justifiably.
In a recent session conducted on Employee Relations for a leading manufacturing company in India, some of the important causes for employee grievance issues include unclear organisational strategy, adhoc / inconsistent decision making, trust deficit, inability to resolve issues effectively, unempathetic approach, lack of transparency, insufficient communication, low level of engagement with employees / union members, and inability to manage expectations, amongst others.
In India, certain central and state specific labour laws require the employer to adopt certain grievance redressal mechanisms at the workplace. This is so required to pre empt certain situations going out of control, and if it reaches the media, then the name getting maligned is certain where reputation built over the years, leads to slander and loose talk in the society and market place.