Niharika Bhargava, Founder of The Little Farm Co. ardently upholds No Sir No Madam doctrine. The Little Farm Co. provides a healthier option to consume preservative free foods, vegetables, and spices.
Niharika has received her master’s degree in marketing strategy and Innovation from the esteemed Cass Business School, the UK. She has worked for companies, including EAFT Technologies India Pvt Ltd and Edelman. Niharika quit her job to follow her entrepreneurial aspirations, and that is how The Little Farm Co. was institutionalized.
She believes in treating everyone equally, hence Niharika set up a hierarchy-free No Sir No Madam edict in her organization. Niharika opines — a salutation ridden workplace environment helps the flow of ideas.
As employees are not afraid, they express their views and critique ideas of their seniors. Whereas, if you see a traditional company, the junior employees have to follow any orders given by their seniors.
She continues “I work with people who are much older than me. I perceive as we are working towards the same goal, we are at par. I even request the farmers we work with to address me by my first-name. As we all are equal human beings, I do not see why there needs to be any discrimination between us. Although, I am happy that the Sir/Madam culture is slowly being got ridden off from MNCs and startups in India.”
It is not required for any person to address the bureaucrats with any formal greeting. The office-bearers are still carrying the colonial hangover, where everyone compulsorily had to greet the Britishers with a salutation. We, as a society, need to abolish Sir/Madam formality, if we want to progress collectively as a country.
She has studied abroad and found it appalling when her professors would inform the students to address them by their first-name. She shares — “Since our schooling days, we have been instructed to follow Sir/Madam diktat.
Even in colleges, where students are learning to be a professional, have to adhere to salutation mandate. Whereas, abroad there is no such compulsion and this enables the students to learn better.
Niharika perceives No Sir No Madam habit will be easier to implement if the top-level executives decide to instill in their office and organizations. She winds up quoting “Treat everyone equally.”
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