In recent years, the IT industry has faced a concerning trend: burnout among professionals is accelerating. This isn’t just a personal issue; it presents significant challenges for companies striving for productivity and innovation.

You know that intangible vibe that makes some workplaces feel like a family reunion while others feel more like a dentist’s waiting room? So, what’s the secret sauce behind building a culture that people actually want to be a part of?

In the early 18th century, the German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was credited with inventing calculus. But when Isaac Newton asserted himself as the father of calculus in 1704

When it comes to organizational culture, there is probably no company that comes to mind more than Zappos. They are so committed to preserving and nurturing it that culture-fit is given 50% of the weightage among all other factors in their interviews.

In 1954, a young girl was born to a teenage single mother in Mississippi. Her childhood and younger days were tough—the family didn’t even have running water or electricity.

A few weeks ago, the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) announced that a total of 85 candidates had been offered salary packages greater than Rs 1 crore, which was much higher than the 25 such offers last year.

On 19th May 1904, the legendary Jamsetji Tata passed away. His final words to his son, Dorabji, about managing the Tata empire were, “If you cannot make it greater, at least preserve it. Do not let things slide.

A few weeks ago, the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) announced that a total of 85 candidates had been offered salary packages greater than Rs 1 crore, which was much higher than the 25 such offers last year.

In many parts of Urban India, life is like participating in an extreme obstacle course, where finding a decent maternal hospital for delivery is the first level, followed by an epic quest for an education leading up to ‘a good job’,

Christina McMenemy was a regular customer at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, which she used to visit during her annual conference trips to Blissdom, Nashville. She was fascinated by the alarm clock in her room,

In college, I was a part of the event organizing committee. Those days, everybody sent everything out in the form of postal mail. That meant you had to do a lot of stapling before the mail could go out. It almost always caused a jam in the stapler.

In 1888, an American entrepreneur called George Eastman founded the company we all know as Kodak. Incidentally, the word ‘Kodak’ was made up by George Eastman and has no meaning

In an African fishing village, a young Harvard MBA on holiday was strolling on the beach when he came across an old fisherman relaxing in a hammock, watching the sunset.

In 2007, Tata Chemicals had set its sights on developing a project on the edge of Lake Natron in the Rift Valley, Tanzania. The company planned to set up a soda ash facility jointly with the Tanzanian government and had signed a memorandum of understanding.

Who hasn’t heard about ChatGPT ! Overnight, one seemingly innocuous AI application transformed the way companies do business, hire people, make presentations, develop strategies and products… the list goes on.

When someone talks about a job description, what comes to your mind? Here are some options that you may not have considered.

You may not be acquainted with the city of Stoughton, Wisconsin. Yet, it is one city that is responsible for what is most probably a part of your everyday rituals.

In the 1984 movie The Karate Kid, a teenager named Daniel LaRusso gets beaten up by a local bully. Taking pity on his condition, his apartment’s handyman, Miyagi-san takes him under his wing.

In the 4th century BCE, Aristotle said, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

Naturally, because he is the co-founder and CEO of Salesforce. What is less known about him is that he started his software career when he was barely 14 years old and sold his first piece of software, ‘How to Juggle’, for $75.

The Tata Administrative Services or TAS are the elite managers in the entire Tata family. At the induction ceremony of the newest batch of TAS joiners was present the Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata, multi-billionaire scion of the Tata empire.

Did you know that Mark Zuckerberg draws a salary of $1 per year? It’s a different matter that, based on his other sources of revenue, he is the 16th wealthiest man in the world.

Naturally, because he is the co-founder and CEO of Salesforce. What is less known about him is that he started his software career when he was barely 14 years old and sold his first piece of software, ‘How to Juggle’, for $75.

There are innumerable stories about JRD Tata, the founder of Air India and several other legendary institutions. According to one such anecdote, JRD was once stuck in traffic on his way to a meeting.

In 2009, the world was shocked by the passing of a young, dynamic man who was smart, intelligent, ambitious, and at the helm of a top IT company. Known for his regular exercise regimen and meticulously chosen diet, he would never miss his gym schedule. And yet, he succumbed to a heart attack at just 42 years.

Lots of jobs, multiple offers in hand, and a sharp rise in salaries—life was great for the tech sector, and employees were on a roll until about the middle of 2022. Then, global macroeconomic trends changed.

Oprah said about Maya Angelou, “She was there for me always, guiding me through some of the most important years of my life. Mentors are important, and I don’t think anybody makes it in the world without some form of mentorship.”

In 1981, a New York editor asked two business journalists, Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz, to write a book called The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America.

In the early 1980s, Dietrich Mateschitz, an Austrian businessman, was severely jetlagged after a flight to Thailand. He was advised to try out a local brew, Krating Daeng, and miraculously, his jetlag was cured. Invented by pharmacist Chaleo Yoovidhya, the brew soon found its way to Austria.

In the 1980s, two young sparks founded an innovative IT firm in the US. After the usual round of startup struggles, they managed to find some traction. While their achievements were impressive, their top management, however, was not too convinced about the youngsters’ capabilities to run the company.

When it comes to corporate icons, there is no one quite like Steve Jobs. He famously asked the CEO of PepsiCo, John Sculley if he wanted to “sell sugared water or change the world.” Sculley accepted the challenge and together, they seemed unstoppable and set out to change the world.

When I started off my career, I had a manager who used to keep talking about the Pareto Principle—also called the 80/20 rule. He would say that 20% of the people do 80% of the work in any project.

Recently, I heard a podcast where the speaker shared a story on organizational values. He was working as a quota-carrying sales representative in a pharmaceutical company, which had integrity as one of its primary values.

With Travis Kalanick as its former CEO, Uber experienced significant corporate culture challenges in 2018. There have been allegations of misogyny, insensitive and prejudiced Uber drivers, and underpaid employees.

If you’ve ever quit a job, you’ve probably been asked this question: “On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied were you with your role? Can you briefly explain your rating?” I bet you were stumped and just typed some random answer and left, right?

When I was in college, the IT sector was in its nascent stages and had just about begun to boom. For anyone on the non-medical side of studies, it was practically compulsory to start learning programming languages.

In recent years, wellness has become an increasingly important barometer of employee engagement. Maybe you already knew this, but what you probably didn’t know is just how startling the numbers look.

They say that the world is divided into two types of people—those who love mathematics and those who hate it. I am firmly in the second category but there is one equation that I came across and has stuck with me down the years, even today.

Have you ever been in a paradoxical situation where, for instance, your business is booming but that turns out to be a challenge? Well, that’s exactly what’s happening at Zuci Systems, which has been growing at breakneck speed in the last few years.

Have you ever had a casual coffee chat that changed the path of your life? Well, that’s precisely what happened to me during a seemingly ordinary conversation with Vasudevan Swaminathan and Anil Kumar Sannareddy .

I participated in a panel discussion some time ago, and I recall the event for the organisers’ thoughtfulness. Prior to the panel discussion, all panellists were handed a set of 10 core questions to “prepare” and “come.”

My first lesson on stress came to me quite early in life. When I was in school, I was talking to my friend’s father about the upcoming exams. I casually mentioned that I was stressed, thinking about the exams. He began asking me questions about stress, which I did not understand.

Now think about how many times you’ve heard an HR person say, “We have X number of people with skills in Y and Z technologies. They want to go to the US and work.

If you’re a smart, young graduate and are given two options, which one will you choose?

Most nations were unprepared to deal with the pandemic when it first appeared in March 2020. Locking down everything was the only option at that point to stop the COVID infection from spreading.

When it comes to recalibrating or redefining hiring trends for a specific scenario or situation, things can get tricky.

Consider the following situation: A fresh engineering graduate appears for an interview at a company that’s looking for programmers.

I’m guessing everybody has, at some point in time, created a to-do list. Some do it regularly, and some reserve it only for critical tasks.

Introduced in the early 1980s, the T-shaped employee stands for someone who is both a specialist and a generalist at the same time.

Recently, one of the more progressive schools in my locality hired a marketing consultant to develop its vision statement. She had two options: to drive this top-down and organize

Nelson Mandela famously said that he learned leadership from his father, by attending village meetings as a child. His father was the chief, and always spoke last.

What is one thing that is common to all your employees? Is it your company culture? Is it professionalism? Is it your company’s values? A common goal?

If you work in the IT industry, skill gaps are a part of life. Every single day, I come across resumes that “kind of” meet our requirements. Candidates who just fall short of exactly what we need.

This fascinating anecdote was shared with me by a senior leader who recently joined Zuci Systems. Maybe we find some inspiration out there.

In the Netflix miniseries, The Billion Dollar Code, a team of multi-faceted individuals work against a tight, 1-year deadline to develop a revolutionary software product.

Believe it or not, why a great employee leaves and what must be done to retain them is often a mystery for most organizations.

At 3 am on a weekday, I received a call from a close friend of mine. Naturally I was quite worried, and wanted to know if something was seriously wrong.

Very often, the reason why rockstar employees choose to quit is just this: the lack of a defined career path. To begin with, let us see how experts define what a career path is.

Many years ago, a friend in a managerial position had this conversation with his boss during his appraisal discussion.

It doesn’t have to be any of these. However, recognition on the grand stage and at jamborees may help. Employee recognition must be a continuous process. So, let’s look at some simple yet cool ways to build employee engagement through recognition:

What is Employee Engagement? Are we talking about a bunch of group activities that people do? Or are we talking about outdoor activities that organizations plan once a quarter?

What’s the connection between employee engagement and business success? Here are some interesting statistics.