The latest gossip on the IT-insel world has been what? No prizes for guessing. Stress of course. And the recently released Harvard Business Review has made it all the more clear that stress ‘needs’ a handling. It cannot be dismissed as a mere gimmick or fashionable gossip. It needs to be addressed. If the review were to be believed, stress has a direct effect on an employee’s productivity. Ofcourse, the doctors have been telling us since long that it severely affects our health.

So what’s so much to discuss? Well for one ALW has been following quite a few tips that the Review has recently posted. First, the Review cautions against worrying alone. Instead, it suggests, an employee must talk to peers or someone he/she trusts. Share the burden by talking. And that’s what we do at ALW. Our team members and seniors are like a family. We can spill our heart out to anyone around and this keeps us going through a rough day.

The Happy Working or the Hi5 initiative of ALW has been making a positive difference towards creating a stress-free environment. The latest offering is to bring smiles on everyone’s face. The HR cell recently invited childhood pictures of employees to be submitted at the cell and displayed. The most interesting part was guessing as to who was who. The exercise eventually burst into a riot of laughter as team members cracked jokes about childhood. It was almost unbelievable as to how a little thoughtful deed could make everyone’s day.

ALW work culture has yet another characteristic that sets it apart. We believe in logical analysis of things instead of getting too personal with work. What Harvard has suggested now, we have been practicing for ages. This means that one can easily avoid or beat stress if he/she gets the facts right. Often our worries our not logical. They stem from incomplete pieces of information. At ALW, we never believe anything at first sight. We always try to find out the what, where, when, why and how of a situation to avoid stress later, something that the Review also suggested.

Lastly, ALW team is a happy team. Why? Because we accept disappointments the way we celebrate successes. We usually let it go when it is gone. We don’t regret or worry about it. For us, every experience is a learning experience. And so there’s nothing like a failure at ALW.