Two employees at the workplace.
Mr. Sunil: Smiling, cracking light jokes, greeting people, even remembering your pet’s name.
Mr. Manish: Serious face, walks like he’s carrying the weight of the world, works late, rarely smiles.
Now, guess who gets called “hardworking” in the next performance review?
If you said Manish, congratulations. You’ve cracked the corporate code. You have also uncovered why we’re all quietly miserable.
And poor Sunil? He gets the dreaded label: “Nice, but…” (That but could carry a truckload.)
Soon he’s dismissed as “not serious enough” or “time-pass.”
This is where the slow poison begins. The message spreads like a virus: If you want respect, look exhausted. Bonus points if you complain loudly when someone asks, “How are you?”
A few months later, HR notices: “Everyone looks miserable. People don’t talk. Energy is dead.” HR runs an “Employee Satisfaction Survey” (that nobody fills out honestly). The results come back, and they’re… concerning.
Morale: Low.
Engagement: Falling rapidly.
General vibe: “Sunday evening anxiety , which is continued from Monday through Friday.”
And now comes the magic solution: “We need Employee Engagement Initiatives!”
So begins the ritual— Zumba sessions, pizza parties, meditation apps, a “Wellness Committee” and what not….
And of course, the posters: “SMILE! IT COSTS NOTHING!”
Irony, right? We first punish people for being happy, we kill happiness and then we run Engagement initiatives to bring happiness back.
But here’s the truth:
Happiness didn’t vanish because we forgot to throw parties. It died the moment we made people feel guilty for having it.
No app, no workshop, no poster can fix that—until we stop equating misery with dedication.
So maybe, just maybe… Let Sunil smile without suspicion. And let Manish go home on time without judgment.