Cos pushing workers very hard can't sustain pace; different mindset needed: Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu

Amid an intense debate in India Inc about high stress at workplaces, Zoho CEO and Co-founder Sridhar Vembu has said companies that push workers "very hard" will not be able to sustain the pace and advocated that a "different" mindset is needed to build long-term and sustainable organisations.

In an interview to PTI, the billionaire businessman and social entrepreneur said burnout, loneliness post-migration to big cities, long-commutes and stressful work conditions are throwing people into "a very big pressure cooker" like environment.

Vembu also spoke at length on why he believes big-tech companies must be regulated, and emphasised the importance of 'standards' in preventing the creation and rise of digital monopolies.

A case in point is messaging services which operate in silos, he said and questioned "(when) email is not a monopoly, why should messaging be a monopoly".

On the issue of workplace stress, Vembu said, while he has put-in 27-28 years and is raring to work another 28 years if possible, he is certainly not in favour of reckless pace of work that leads to burnout, either for himself or his employees.

"I have been around 27-28 years, and I want to work another 28 years, if possible, but that means I cannot burn myself out. I don't want any of our people to burn themselves out," he added.
His comment assumes significance in the backdrop of the tragic death of a young employee at one of the prominent consultancy firm that led to social media outcry and triggered intense debate in corporate India about high-stress at workplaces.

That and other incidents over the last few weeks have brought into spotlight the issue of social and mental wellbeing of workers, and the importance of work-life balance.
Vembu said that depression and burnout are real issues, and emphasised the need for a "balance". Any company pushing employees very hard cannot sustain its pace in the long-term, according to him.

"And then there is a second factor. We are bringing young people from various places, smaller towns into big cities. And the first problem is, of course, loneliness. They come into the workforce, lonely. And we see this problem ourselves... We have encountered this. The second thing is, of course, commuting, and 1-2 hour commute is now becoming increasingly the norm in our cities, Bengaluru being a classic example," he said.

As loneliness, long commutes, stressful work conditions take a toll, excessive workloads just makes matters worse.

"... So you already have loneliness, long-commutes, stressful work condition... So, you are throwing people into a very big pressure cooker, and very tragically, some people break, other people are broken," he said advocating the need for companies to diversify and create a presence in smaller towns and cities.

"I believe that is why we have to diversify geographically. Every activity should not be at one place and we have to think differently about how we build long-term companies," said Vembu, who is known for his zeal for rural India, and whose technology company Zoho works on the philosophy that world-class products can be built anywhere.

On India's Digital Public Infrastructure or DPI, Vembu termed it a "shining success story".

"India has emerged as a very strong player in this area. In fact, we are a global leader in this. I don't believe any other country has this much DPI investment going on, and these many standards coming out... Be it ONDC, the health stack, and all of that. And in this, we are leapfrogging much of the developed world," he said.

DPIs are also critical in preventing formation of monopolies, as it controls standards.

"As an example, of where a standard is not yet there... Messaging platforms don't interoperate with others. On the other hand, emails interoperate.

"Technically, it is possible to interoperate, but it is right now under 'lock and key' by proprietary players. The government could force this open by mandating it... That you want to operate in India, we want messaging standards. I would strongly support it, because there is no reason for monopolies in these," he said.

He further noted that "So standards are very important. DPI is playing a vital role. We are very happy to play our part in that."