Strategy And Planning

Hidden fragility of ‘friendly’ workplaces: Why Indian leaders must rebuild the feedback contract

December 21, 2025
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I observe a leader engaging her diverse team around a polished table, fostering trust and collaboration in a bright, modern office. /> In their October 2025 article ” and=”” are=”” at=”” building=”” business=”” but=”” candour=”” captionrendered=”1″ company=”” consider=”” contradiction:=”” culture=”” data-src=”https://etimg.etb2bimg.com/photo/126104787.cms” does=”” encourages=”” exists=”” feedback=”” feedback.=”” giving=”” harvard=”” height=”442″ highlights=”” honest=”” loading=”eager” many=”” not.=”” organisations=”” paradoxically=”” poor=”” receiving=”” revealing=”” review=”” src=”https://hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com/images/default.jpg” that=”” themselves=”” warmth=”” width=”590″></img></p> <p>This paradox is not abstract. It is the daily hum inside our rapidly scaling Indian organisations where infrastructure is more accommodating, perks are more inclusive, and team relationships feel more relaxed than ever. Yet beneath this surface hospitality lies an archetype of leadership that is still fundamentally directive. Recognition flows downwards like a ceremonial offering. Praise is rationed. Visibility is gifted, not earned. Employees receive their name being mentioned in a monthly meeting or WhatsApp group as if it were a relic from a sacred past they must treasure for future inspiration.</p> <p>Recent Indian research confirms this cultural tension. Aon-NASSCOM’s 2024 Talent Pulse reveals that 74 per cent of employees hesitate to seek feedback, primarily due to fear of a negative perception or misinterpretation of their intentions. Deloitte India’s Workforce Experience Report (2023) notes that while employees rate their organisations high on community and collegiality, they rate them low on clarity. An ISB Centre for Leadership study (2024) reveals that Indian managers consistently postpone difficult conversations, hoping relational warmth will compensate for developmental gaps.</p> <p>The problem is no longer interpersonal; it is structural. The psychological contract that once defined corporate India—loyalty traded for stability; deference traded for advancement—has dissolved. Employees now evaluate work through a psycho-economic lens: How visible is my contribution? How predictable is my growth trajectory? How transparently does my leader communicate? Friendliness without feedback does not satisfy this evolved calculus.</p> <p>Hierarchical cultural norms add another layer of complexity. Indian employees, socialised to respect positional authority, often refrain from seeking clarification, and many managers still equate distance with professionalism. Leaders worry that too much transparency may dilute authority, or that generous appreciation may overshadow their own visibility. Employees, in turn, often misinterpret active feedback-seeking as a form of political manoeuvring.</p> <p>But the evidence paints a different picture. A 2024 McKinsey Asia report found that teams with high communication transparency demonstrate 35 to 40 per cent greater adaptability and significantly higher intra-team trust. Great Place to Work India (2023) observed that organisations that practise frequent micro-feedback-quick, specific, behaviour-focused-enjoy a stronger sense of fairness even in high-pressure environments. And MIT Sloan’s global studies consistently show that leaders who give regular, specific feedback are viewed as more competent because attentiveness signals mastery, not weakness.</p> <p>Neuroscience brings further clarity: timely, specific feedback activates cognitive reward pathways that enhance learning, risk-taking, and resilience. For Indian organisations hungry for innovation, this is strategic leverage, not soft psychology.</p> <p>The challenge, then, is not intent but architecture. Leaders often express the desire for open communication, but systems rarely support it. Feedback remains episodic, ceremonial or reactive rather than developmental.</p> <p>To shift from episodic to embedded feedback, <b>organisations need three cultural pivots</b>.</p> <p>The first is <b>observational leadership</b>. Managers require the skill to notice micro-improvements, invisible contributions, and emerging strengths. This is not emotional sensitivity; it is performance literacy.</p> <p>The second is <b>modelling curiosity</b>. When leaders actively seek feedback, it normalises the behaviour for the rest of the organisation. A simple question- “What is one thing I could have done better this week?”-has cultural impact far beyond its modest phrasing.</p> <p>The third is <b>integration into work rhythms</b>. Feedback must become part of project debriefs, sprint retrospectives, cross-functional huddles and weekly check-ins. When feedback becomes habitual, a culture stops depending on individual leaders and begins to sustain itself.</p> <p>For India, the implications are significant. With a young, aspirational workforce; accelerating mobility; and a market where employee expectations outpace organisational readiness, the cost of poor <a href=feedback culture is steep: disengagement, ambiguity, performance drift, preventable attrition. The upside, however, is transformative.

Organisations that cultivate feedback-rich cultures achieve more than better performance. They restore the broken psychological contract by replacing opacity with clarity and silence with dialogue. They build workplaces where employees feel guided rather than judged, recognised rather than selectively acknowledged, and informed rather than left decoding managerial reserve.

Kindness without candour is no longer enough. Indian organisations must evolve from friendly to forthright, from warm to aware, and from symbolic recognition to daily developmental dialogue.

Leaders who adopt feedback as a steady discipline—not a quarterly ritual—will shape the organisations that not only grow, but endure.

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed are solely of the author and does not necessarily subscribe to it. will not be responsible for any damage caused to any person or organisation directly or indirectly.

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