Akshat Malik, founder of ClickOnCare is an unwavering inculcator of the No Sir No Madam concept. He conceptualized ClickOnCare from his one-bedroom apartment in Bengaluru in 2013. ClickOnCare delivers healthcare and personal-care products to your doorstep.
Akshat is a Master of Business Administration and specializes in Finance from Christ University, Bangalore. He headed the sales team at ING Vysya Bank as a manager before the inception of ClickOnCare.
Furthermore, a National-Level Shooter, Akshat comes from a defense background and spent most of his childhood, moving across the length and width of the country. This helped him to get acquainted with different cultures, traditions, and salutations used by people around. Indeed, not much has changed, he shares.
His organization follows the ‘No Sir No Madam’ principle, promoting the freedom of thoughts, which is the very essence of their culture. However, the employees at ClickOnCare have a choice of addressing Akshat or their colleagues by first name. He states, “I have given the liberty of not sticking to formality to the employees. Everyone has a role to play in this organization, and everyone deserves equal respect.”
Therefore, providing this unique flexibility to his employees has benefited his organization in a positive way. This makes the employees expressive and encourages them to speak their mind.
Moreover, he adds, “I remember leading a group of technical interns from Manipal University, Sikkim. The interns were well focused and knew their work. However, it took a great deal of effort to get them accustomed to the no salutation concept. I had to think of ways to make it easier for them to adjust themselves in the company and calling out seniors by first name was one of the steps.”
Eventually, the interns realized the importance of this concept. It improved the chain of communication and helped Akshat to get their opinion on the project.
According to Akshat, the perception of applying Sir/Madam to address someone needs to change. Several American MNCs have already implemented No Sir No Madam initiative in India. In fact, using Sir/Madam to address each other is taken as an offense there. Many Indian MNCs follow a similar trend.
Therefore, on contrary to present common misconception in India, the first-name practice does not kill respect for your seniors.
Individuals with blue-collar jobs are impacted the most by Sir/Madam taboo. They feel inferior and lack the courage to believe that they can do something better in life.
He believes that a change can be brought about only from the grass root level. Akshat indicates that an American School in Delhi follows No Sir No madam culture. In this School, everyone has to address each other by his or her first-name. Even the students do not have to use Sir/Madam, while addressing to their teachers.
Akshat concludes by suggesting that this remolding needs to be brought about straight from schooling years. Furthermore, parents need to educate their kids on how authority is different from respect. They should be open enough to talk to their kids about how to speak with others. This beautiful start of equality among all should be implemented by everyone.
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