How startups like Fabfurnish, Inshorts & others help employees deal with work pressure

The young and restless ecosystem is turning dreams into nightmares. A Psychologist says the number of patients from startups has gone up two-fold in the last six months.

Three weeks ago, a 29-year-old IIT Kanpur graduate - co-founder of a technology-based ecommerce startup - walked in for therapy at a clinical psychologist for substance and alcohol abuse.

"He was under immense pressure from the investor to deliver and this made things go awry between founders. He broke down completely," said Sunil Mittal, a psychiatrist at Cosmos Institute of Mental Health & Behavioural Sciences (CIMBS).

In Bangalore, a 26-year-old employee at a food-tech startup that scaled up too fast horizontally, saw that the company had just laid off several employees, one of them being his close friend.Worried, he sought help from YourDost, a platform that allows users to connect with experts to discuss personal and professional issues.

He was low on confidence and on the brink of quitting, though he loved working at the company and was one of its first employees. While he didn't get fired, things took a toll on his health and productivity.

It's become "cool" to work for a startup in the past two years or so, but work-life balance remains largely elusive. Clinical psychologists suggest that startups need to be more human and understand that their profit and loss centres, expansions and shutdowns impact real humans who are not just replaceable with numbers and bottom line.

An uncertain and volatile environment, all-time high pressure to perform, exit of high profile executives, has driven startup employees to the brink.

The young and restless ecosystem is turning dreams into nightmares. A Delhi-based clinical psychologist says the number of patients from startups has gone up two-fold in the last six months.

"Depression is widely prevalent across startups. The glamour is fading away and it is a reality check for most entrepreneurs. Also, not many can handle multiple roles in a startup, making it difficult for them to survive," said Archana Bisht, director, 1to1help.net. This is especially true for those looking for short term gains.

Startup YourDost has seen a surge in queries from stressed people. "Funds are drying up. These companies are literally looking to 'load shed' their employees to correct course. This is adding to the worry of employees; some of whom feel the employers' vision isn't clear," says co-founder Puneet Manuja. "This is a quick hiring and firing business and that is bound to cause stress."

Up to 85% of YourDost's target or audience is 35 years of age or less - including college students and working professionals.

"We've seen both leaders of startups and those who are working in that ecosystem equally stressed. Every vertical related to startups is stressed," says Shipra Dawar, founder and chief executive officer, ePsyclinic. com, which offers online mental health counselling in India.

They see one set of people answerable to investors and another set whose entire career is at stake since they've moved in from high flying corporate jobs.

"Startups are pressured all through the year and across the board. A decade ago, we were seeing that there was more pressure on student population. Sadly now, 30-somethings are being pressured and India is seeing career competition like never before," Dawar said.

Little surprise then that talent is taking flight. "Two of 10 people in startups are looking at an exit due to work pressure," said TeamLease cofounder Rituparna Chakraborty.

Sumit Jain, partner at Kalaari Capital, categorises people leaving startups into two. Those who have taken calculated risks and subsequently returned to the corporate world and those lured into the startup ecosystem because of the buzz and strong funding environment, but without the necessary risk appetite or profile.

People in the first category always have a Plan B. "When their startup did not meet the expected success or validation, they realised that they are happier in more stable and structured corporate jobs and leave to find one."

The founder of a Bangalore household services startup is surrounded by friends who have had to shut shops. "A failed venture does take a toll on founders but there is a lot of learning too. One has to be brave to turn into an entrepreneur and even braver to face the consequences."

It is not just the anxiety to raise funds but also fear of failure.

The number of patients from new age technology sector has gone up at National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) too. "Definitely, there is a rise of patients from technology over the last year or so," BN Gangadhar, director of NIMHANS, told ET over phone.

Dealing with stress

According to Ankita Dabas, co-founder of FabFurnish.com, the mantra to keep stress at bay among her colleagues is to have open dialogues. "We have constantly kept an open dialogue with our employees through one on one sessions and town halls. This helps address any concerns they may have."

Another startup, Inshorts, follows various measures to sustain a stress-free environment - ranging from spread of couches at office to sleeping rooms to Xbox playstation. Every Tuesday, Inshorts has a dedicated fun hour to foster interaction among team members. "We organise a team party at a pub/lounge at the end of each month, so everyone gets to know everyone else in an informal setting," says Azhar Iqubal, co-founder of Inshorts.

Ahmed Aftab Naqvi, chief executive of Mumbai-based social media agency Gozoop, which has 200 employees, says it has a 'Cheer Me Up' platform. An assigned 'happiness officer' spreads cheer in the office if employees are having a bad day on account of something as small as traffic. Sometimes, they even encourage forced shutdowns around 6 pm, telling people to go home.

At the corporate office of Chaayos, you can bring your pet to work. Every few days, a furry, friendly golden retriever comes to mark his attendance. Although this modern day tea shop's HR head Ripudaman Gill says Chaayos has a very demanding work culture, there are ways by which it is looking to manage stress. It has initiated a programme called 'Pug Marks,' which helps employees understand how they will grow, what their timeline is and what will result in lateral and or vertical growth.

They also have a 'My Mentor' programme, which rather than just firing employees, helps managers assess them and discuss how they can grow. This creates a culture of managers taking responsibility of those aren't working at their potential.

source: techgig.com