The people I clash with most often in organizations are not engineers, designers or product teams. It’s HR. Let me be clear that this is not a critique of individuals, but a critique of systems.

I understand why strict rules exist as companies need structure. Policies create consistency and without frameworks decision making may become unfair, thus companies go into chaos. HR systems are designed to protect both the organization and its people. But somewhere along the way, many workplaces have stepped into an imbalance. We have built systems that protect processes more than they protect people.

The Global Experiment in Work Culture

Having worked with teams across different regions, I have seen how different cultural approaches work for long-term retention. One model that consistently stands out is the European approach to work. It is something that many organizations admire from a distance but hesitant to adopt:

• Fewer working hours
• Greater autonomy
• Strong boundaries between work and personal life

The average European employee works around 37 hours per week. Boundaries between professional and personal life are respected. Most importantly, productivity is measured by results and not by how long someone remains visible in their work.

In many Indian workplaces, long hours of working are often seen as a badge of honour. There exists many assumptions such as:

• Long hours = dedication
• Burnout = ambition
• Micromanagement = leadership
• Availability = loyalty

Employees regularly exceed 49 hours a week and these longer hours do not automatically turn into high productivity. Late nights and weekend work are normalized. Saying no is often interpreted as a lack of commitment. Taking time off can come with guilt or worse.

What Needs to Change from Both Ends

1. Policy With Empathy

Transformation must happen at both structural and cultural levels. Policies must adapt to context and evolve with workforce realities. Empathetic policy design does not mean the absence of rules. It means designing rules that allow flexibility, performance systems that reward learning and collaboration and not just for the outputs.

HR teams play a crucial role in this transition. They can become architects of progressive workplace models rather than building rigid systems by bringing empathy into policy design and advocating for employee well-being. This is not a battle between founders and HR. It should be a collective effort to modernize how we define work.

2. Leadership With Trust

Poor leadership cannot be compensated with any policy. Good leadership sets clear expectations, provides resources, removes obstacles and trusts people to deliver results. Micromanagement is absent there. When leaders monitor every task, decision, and hour, employees stop thinking proactively and start waiting for instructions. This leads to the quiet disappearance of innovations. Engaged employees are more productive, more innovative and more likely to remain with their organizations.

When people know what success looks like and are trusted to reach it in their own way, performance improves.

3. Measuring Outcomes

Confusing effort with impact is one of the misunderstood habits.

If someone can deliver exceptional results in fewer hours, that is efficiency and not a problem. Organizations need to shift what they reward. Instead of celebrating long working hours and constant availability, we should start rewarding for:

• Impact
• Quality of work
• Innovation
• Collaboration
• Problem-solving ability

Fear vs Choice

At the end of the day, it comes down to one question: Are people showing up because they want to or because they are afraid not to?

Fear-based cultures rely on surveillance and pressure. They may function, but they never fully flourish as they do what is necessary to stay safe and not what is possible to excel in their field.

On the other hand, trust-based cultures create space for ownership. When employees arrive willingly motivated by respect rather than fear they bring creativity, energy and commitment to the table.

The transition from control-based management to trust-based leadership is not simple. It requires rethinking long-standing assumptions about authority and performance. Effective leaders in today’s workplace act less as supervisors and more as facilitators.

Younger generations entering the workforce prioritize purpose and balance alongside compensation. Companies that fail to adapt may struggle to attract and retain top talent. Moreover, innovation thrives in environments where people feel energized and valued. Burnout cultures may achieve short-term gains, but they rarely sustain long-term excellence.

Building Teams That Last

As a health tech founder, I realized that the strongest organizations are not the ones where people work the longest. They are the ones where people feel respected, trusted and heard. Because no policy or system can compensate for a culture that forgets the people it’s built on.

When employees arrive willingly motivated by trust rather than fear they bring creativity and commitment. When they show up out of obligation alone, organizations receive only a little of their potential.

By aligning policy with empathy, leadership with trust and productivity with outcomes, organizations can build teams that are not only effective but enduring.

So, what kind of team are you building?