There’s been a lot of attention and discussion related to the unfortunate recent death of an employee in a large company in India, related work environment and practices. The fact that this is being shared, discussed heavily on social media and the media, indicates this topic has touched many people deeply.

* As business founders, leaders, managers and HR professionals, it is important to be proactive in ensuring healthy work environments in your organisations. This includes the focus on work, organization culture, policies and practices, leadership behaviors, health and wellbeing of your team members.
* All of you have important, shared responsibilities which impacts lives of your employees and their families.
* Doing nothing or staying silent never helps and most times, silence encourages toxic behaviours. Psychological safety is a core element of a healthy work environment. At a minimum, it is critical to initiate constructive discussions/dialogues with the long term interest of your people and sustenance of your organisation in mind. Do not brush the uncomfortable discussions away. Start with few fundamental steps that may hold high impact and visibility. Figure ways to manage stress proactively, actions to take when the red light indicators show up (they will show up in some form). When groups of managers and leaders work collectively with their support teams, get support and help (internally or externally), things will improve.
* In larger companies, it’s easier to lose sight of individual cases and stay hidden. The stress threshold levels can be different for individuals. Team members play a key role here in identifying, awareness and support.

Don’t let toxic elements/aspects linger and grow till it becomes too late.

For many leaders and organisations, the key learning here is to be proactive and not wait for worst case scenarios (irrespective of direct or indirect causes) to play out.

On the other side of the coin, many professionals and companies have high ambition and drive (that’s normally the path to quick growth) but that needs to be balanced with the constant reminder that the work is similar to a marathon, not a sprint. One needs to be prepared for the marathon. The growth process, and speed will be continuous and one needs to adjust the pace. Companies always are in a race to keep growing. The alternative is gradual decline. It is very important for the individual employee to be equally focused and responsible for safeguarding one’s own health and well being – to ask for support when needed, get help and figure ways to stay healthy physically and mentally. If the organization culture is not supportive, find personal ways to stay healthy. If that doesn’t work still, it is completely okay to find another workplace that works better for you.

The role of leaders in ensuring a healthy work environment is critical.

Chairman of multiple companies, and former CEO Douglas Conant recently said, “Surprisingly, I find that I cannot say it enough.”
…” leadership comes from within, from our humanity. We cannot be “artificial” in any way in our leadership; we must be authentic, true to ourselves, and true to the people with whom we live and work.”

There is a need to reaffirm, remind constantly about the fundamentals of a healthy workplace, and the critical role of positive, healthy leaders. When people spend most of their lives at the workplace, that could make a huge difference.