The 2^nd edition of HyWe, the Happy Workplace Conclave held at Hyatt Centric, Bangalore on 6th July, 2018, covered a wide range of issues concerning employees’ wellness, health and happiness. The topic seemed to resonate with almost everyone. More than 120 delegates from across the industry, big and small, including MNCs, academia and start-ups thronged the venue to listen to thought leaders on the art and science of creating a happy workplace.

Harish Bijoor, the famous Brand Guru and the Founder of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., in his inaugural keynote address said, "The key basis for a happy workplace is Integrity." According to him, a Happy Workplace is a function of its intent and he called upon organisations to honestly ponder and introspect - How clean is your business; How many people you have bribed before starting your business; and How many people you continue to bribe to run your machinery?

Earlier, in his introductory speech, Mukund Trivedy, the founder of the HyWe initiative quoted the disturbing trend of stress and unhappiness at workplace. Quoting leadership guru, Simon Sinek, he called upon organisations to move from head count to heart count. According to him, a happy workplace is an entity where employees work with grit, respect, and dignity. He wondered, “How many organisations are there where employees are allowed and encouraged to ask tough ethical questions?”

Sharing her concern for the wellness of employees, Leza Parker, CEO, SC Beauty Network Pte Ltd, Singapore, a global technological firm said, "We must remember that the employees work for their family.” She substantiated her logic with what she practices in her own organisation, “We make our employees work only from Monday to Thursday." The idea is to allow the employees to spend quality time with their family so that they come back completely refreshed and motivated on Monday. B.K. Kulkarni, Life and Business Coach, Gopalakrishna G Gubbu, CEO, Cloud HR Consulting Services and Pradeep Sreekanthan, Business Consultant as the moderator were the other speakers of the session.

Speaking on the topic, ‘Be the Change You wish to See’, Sangeeta Chacko, Head of Corporate Communications, Percept Media, elaborated on the three Golden Rules of Ethical Leadership; Self Awareness, Self Reflection and Self Regulation as tools to practice self-leadership.

Physical fitness, mental clarity, and emotional stability are the key constructs of a healthy work environment. This was the crux of the panel discussion on the topic - Impact of Work Environment on Employees' Health - A Cost Worth Avoiding. Smitha Murthy, Vice President, Corporate Programmes, Art of Living, Bina Mirchandani, Happiness Mentor, Anish Philip, AVP - People Function, Mindtree and Seema Ahuja, VP & Global Head of Communications of Biocon were the panelists.

In another panel discussion, the speakers were unanimous in their view that the employees were a powerful force in building the online reputation of an organisation. “The role they can play will, however, depend on the maturity and the lifecycle of the organisation.” Bikram Walia, Director, HR, Amazon India, Tina Mansukhanai Garg, Founder & CEO, Pink Lemonade Communications, Jessie Paul, CEO, Paul Writer, Sujit Patil, Head of Corporate Communications, Godrej Industries and Melissa Arulappan, Head - Corporate Communications, IQVIA were the speakers.

A unique highlight of the conclave was a session conducted by the up and coming stand up comedian Comedy Wala Amar. He interspersed his session with jokes and anecdotes to drive home the key theme of happiness at workplace. He concluded his session with a serious message, “Be yourself and do what want to do.”  

Human Capital was the media partner and Goonj, the Delhi based NGO was the NGO partner.