Gaurav Goyal, Co-founder at Cashcow seconds the No Sir No Madam cause.  Cashcow provides on-demand banking services directly to customers at their doorstep.  It has a certified financial advisor to handhold the client’s financial journey.  It solves the problem of selecting the right service from amongst the various banks.

He has also been a founder of Homescart and co-founder at NextGenQuant.  After graduating from IIT– Delhi, he has worked with Rubique and Samssara Capital Technologies LLP.  He expresses that No Sir No Madam is an interesting initiative since it has taken up a pressing issue.  Gaurav states that –In Cashcow, we did address each other as Sir/Madam.  After hearing about No Sir No Madam cause, we implemented the first-name culture.

He opines that, first-name concept has made workers feel personally involved and satisfied with their work.  This has significantly created better productivity and working conditions in the organization.  Since barriers to communication are removed, there is a level of attachment within the company.  Gaurav explains that employees are now more professional and dedicated.

He also talks about governmental offices and associated issues.  Having visited many times for his work, he has experienced the authoritative behavior of the government employees.  Gaurav depicts “Here, addressing someone as Sir and Madam denotes respect.  So, if you call them by name, they infer it as disrespecting.  However, most of the time, this unnecessary respect encourages extortion.”

Therefore, he suggests that refraining from the practice of Sir/Madam can bring down corruption and red tapism.

He also hopes everyone should provide equal mutual respect to underprivileged such as watchman, driver, etc. The job profile should not be the barometer to give them the respect they deserve.  Gaurav adds on this note, –I find it very awkward when an old driver is required to address his employer’s family member as Sir/Madam.  A kid, who might be 40 years younger, is being mentioned as Sir.”

Now days in India the distance between powerful and weak is growing.  This leads to social injustice.  People feel neglected.  Hence, their efficiency goes down.  We need to remove job role discriminations from our society to minimize the building gap. 

Gaurav indicates — In a recent event at his company, a driver was the guest of honor and handed over one of the awards to the awardees.  Such small initiatives will add up to bring social parity.  Likewise, the first-name culture can be one of the tools to bring this missing inequality in India.

Gaurav compares his experience while he was in France for three months internship.  “I find the atmosphere at the western educational Institutions totally different.  The students address their professors by first name.  I observed the bond between a teacher and a student was very friendly and professional.  I also felt much at ease discussing with my mentor.  However, somehow this professional and candid communication at Indian educational system is missing. “

He suggests the No Sir No Madam culture should be imbibed at educational institutions.  They form the foundation of learning and shape the mindsets of youth.  Adapting to new culture at teenage will bring it in their habit to refer people by first name.  So when they start working in corporate, it will be a normal routine for them to dialect without Sir/Madam.

He signs off by quipping that the workplace should be a fun and connecting environment that does not discriminate on any basis.

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