Three tragic deaths. Three employees from prestigious organisations—EY, HDFC, and Bajaj—succumbed to work-related stress. These aren’t isolated incidents; they’re flashing warning signs for every employer in the country. The message is clear: this obsession with productivity at the expense of well-being is literally killing people.
Work is important, but so is life. And until organisations wake up to this simple fact, the bodies will keep piling up. Employees must be happy. Not as a “nice-to-have,” not as some feel-good HR initiative, but as a non-negotiable. Employee happiness is the bedrock of business success, and any company that doesn’t get it is on borrowed time.
Here’s the truth that no one wants to hear: happy employees are less stressed. Less stress means fewer health issues, less absenteeism, and a healthier bottom line. You can’t build a winning culture when your people are dragging themselves into work every day, stressed out of their minds. You can’t run a marathon on a broken leg, and you can’t run a company on a broken workforce.
The fallacy of ‘fun’ workplaces
Somewhere along the way, we’ve been sold a lie—that employee happiness can be achieved with ‘fun’ activities. Office ping-pong, birthday cakes, and quirky team-building exercises. Stop kidding yourselves. ‘Fun’ isn’t the antidote to burnout. In fact, it’s nothing more than corporate theatre—surface-level fluff that insults employees’ intelligence. Fun at work is fleeting; it doesn’t address the fundamental issues dragging people down.
Real happiness at work doesn’t come from icebreakers and happy hours—it comes from feeling valued, heard, and supported. Employees are tired of being pacified with pizza parties while their real concerns are ignored. It’s time for leaders to wake up: employees don’t need forced fun; they need a meaningful work environment that respects their humanity.
Happiness = Productivity. It’s not rocket science
Let’s get one thing straight: happy employees are productive employees. And if your workforce is miserable, your business is bleeding money. Research from Oxford University reveals that happy workers are 13 per cent more productive. That’s not just a morale boost—that’s a direct hit to your bottom line. The flipside? Disengaged, unhappy employees cost the global economy a mind-blowing $8.8 trillion annually. Yes, trillion with a ‘T’.
This isn’t complicated. People who are happy at work take fewer unnecessary breaks, are less likely to be distracted, and are more motivated to hit their goals. Compare that to a workforce of burnt-out zombies, struggling to keep their heads above water. The message should be clear: joy isn’t just a perk—it’s a productivity strategy. Ignore it at your peril.
A culture that’s obsessed with numbers is a culture destined to fail
The relentless pursuit of numbers—KPIs, quotas, revenue targets—has turned workplaces into pressure cookers, and it’s only a matter of time before more lives are lost. According to the Happiness Research Academy, a staggering 70 per cent of India’s workforce is unhappy. And this isn’t just bad news for employees—it’s bad for business. You can’t run a successful company on fear, stress, and burnout. If you try, you’ll end up like every other shortsighted business: in crisis mode, scrambling to understand why your workforce is crumbling.
Some might dismiss these tragic cases as anomalies, claiming the employees in question simply ‘couldn’t handle the pressure’. That’s an easy, dangerous cop-out. This isn’t about personal weakness—it’s about a system that dehumanises people and treats them like cogs in a machine. The EY case, in particular, has shined a glaring light on just how toxic this system has become. And make no mistake—if your organisation is pushing people to the brink, you’re next.
Purpose: The missing ingredient
If you want to make your employees happy, give them purpose. It’s that simple. The best companies—whether it’s in the military, healthcare, or even startups—understand this. People don’t want to clock in, grind away for hours, and go home feeling like they’ve achieved nothing. They want to feel like their work matters. This is especially true for Gen Z, who are now flooding into the workforce and have zero tolerance for meaningless corporate drudgery. You won’t keep them with big salaries alone—you have to give them a reason to care.
Companies need to rethink their approach from the ground up. Every single employee should feel like they’re part of something bigger. It’s the job of leadership to communicate this purpose—and that’s where HR and culture officers need to step up. If you make people feel like cogs in the wheel, don’t be surprised when they show up with zero passion and a 9-to-5 mentality.
Flexibility is the new currency
Let’s talk about flexibility—because it’s not just the future, it’s the present. In a global survey by Cisco, 82 per cent of employees said the ability to work from anywhere makes them happier. This isn’t rocket science. Flexibility isn’t just about where you work; it’s about when and how you work. If your company is stuck in the rigid 9-to-5 model, you’re suffocating your employees, and worse—you’re losing out on their full potential.
And let’s be clear: flexibility should not be reserved for only a handful of roles. Every company, in every sector, needs to reimagine flexibility, because autonomy drives happiness. It’s that simple. When employees have the freedom to manage their time, they perform better. You can’t just pay lip service to flexibility—you need to build it into the fabric of your company culture. This is how you unlock a high-performing, happy workforce.
Loneliness: The silent killer of workplace happiness
Another major issue that’s rarely discussed but is killing workplace happiness? Loneliness.
Gone are the days when people built lasting friendships at work. Shorter tenures, the rise of remote work, and constant reshuffling have left many employees feeling isolated. And if employees can’t trust or connect with their colleagues, you can kiss any hope of happiness goodbye. Only three in ten workers today have a close friend at work. The rest? They’re operating in silos, struggling to form meaningful bonds.
Workplace politics, lack of trust, and alienation are breeding grounds for unhappiness. And the more disconnected employees feel, the more disengaged they become. The solution? Encourage real, meaningful interactions between employees. Stop forcing people to socialise at awkward team-building exercises and start creating an environment where connections can happen naturally.
The bottom line
Let’s stop pretending that employee happiness is a fluffy, feel-good concept. It’s not. It’s the foundation of a successful business. Ignore it, and you’ll end up with a workforce that’s disengaged, overworked, and in the worst cases, irreparably harmed. Allow your employees to recharge, give them autonomy, and most importantly, give them purpose. Only then will you truly unlock the potential of your people—and by extension, your business.
The companies that will thrive in the future are the ones that recognise happiness isn’t just a perk—it’s a strategic imperative. So, ask yourself: are you going to be the leader who champions a culture of joy and purpose, or the one who oversees a workforce on the brink of collapse? The choice is yours, but know this—if you choose wrong, the consequences will be devastating.