Professional Approach- India vs Abroad

Debaters, I've never worked in India myself so I am not exposed to professional life much…so I am posting whatever I know from Bollywood movies and some from what I've heard from friends…

I have seen that in India employees are expected to do more than their job duties. e.g. in movie and TV show they show that if you are a boss you kind of rule your employee like assistant is expected to bring coffee/tea for boss or sometime help him/her with her personal things related to home. Like we see copps in India expect "havaldar" to get grocery for their home etc.


I've been working in US since last 7 years and I have not seen anything like this here. My boss makes his own coffee and cleans his own desk. We don't call them as "sir" but just by their name rather than giving them any salutation no matter how old they are or if he is President of a company. I am not expected to do anything more than my job description and salute my boss. I really like this approach here.

Wanted to see what individual have to say and if you agree with me or disagree about Indian Employer lacking professional appraoch.

wht u've seen is mostly only in movies- u need first hand experience to be able to judge the difference in india and abroad

Originally posted by: NeetikaNath

wht u've seen is mostly only in movies- u need first hand experience to be able to judge the difference in india and abroad

NeetikaNath, what you said is because "I" told u that i m putting this statement only on limited experience... !! I am not judging anything I am sharing my views and I would like to know what debators have to say on this. It's totally okay to have different views, but plz share your views and give examples or something.

sowmyaa, it is nothing of the sort that is shown in the movies. I have worked in India for 1 1/2 yrs and atleast in the Private sector, i don't think that you have to do more than ur job duties. I was never asked to bring tea or coffee or any personal stuff. It was a very professional environment just like here but yes there are differences. We were supposed to add some kind of salutation (madam, sir etc) for our seniors , did not have a separate phone (it was shared), not much exposure to internet (but this is almost 11 yrs ago). But now i have heard that the environment back in India is very professional. I am not sure about the Government sector ..

Hi Soumya , i've worked in India for 5 years . And never in the U.S but i get a good idea of the work culture in the U.S while discussing and observing my husbands work style .

The fetching Coffee /Tea and doing personal work for your boss happens only in Mom & Pop businesses !! It doesn't happen in any proffesional work culture like a MNC or a large Corporation that that is trying to adopt a proffesional work style !!

As for what i feel is ONE HUGE difference in the U.S work style and India is that in India although we are so family oriented as a culture , but when work is concerened i've noticed we often DO NOT know how to draw a line and stop working . The Indian bosses often do not have respect for the home life and expect you to work round the clock !! You are expected to compromise your home life and devote that time to work and Office .You are not supposed to make "excuses" about personal issues and take time off ! There is NO demarcation for the Office hours and off hours !!!!!

While in the U.S , the Americans know how to work during Office hours and unwind post office hours .One thing i've noticed is an Average American knows how to have fun - Golf , sports , hiking ,picnics . The bosses expect you to respect their personal time and will respect your personal time . They do not demand that you should compromise your personal time for Office time .

While i am able to observe this difference in my husbands work hours while comparing them to India . In India , it was almost like every executive competed to spend more time in the Office . The longer you could stay ..........more impressed your boss got and recognised your hard work !!

While in the U.S all that matters is "meet your targets " and you will be rewarded . As long as you are meeting your target it doesn't matter what time you leave Office . You may even leave in the afternoon to play Golf( that seems like one worthy cause to most Americans 😆 😆) But the bottom line is bringing in bussiness and meeting your target !!!

Thanks anju..actually i got this from JJKN where Jassi gets coffe/orangejuice for armaan sir...and then the way they treat chaprasi in offices...am not sure exactly what chaprasi has to do but he is ordered for every thing 😕

Aparna ur very right i've personally oberved american boss giving importance to your family life. Sometime they really appreciate that you dont work too much and get family life. Infact, I had resigned after I had my baby and then one day I got call from my vice president saying we want you to join the work and you can decide what time you want to work. I used to work in eveing so i dont put my daughter in day care and after my husband comes andwhen no one was at work..i was all by myself. But my president talked with me and told me that he was impressed the way i give importance to my family and I was stunned hearing this. I think you are right about executive competition where reward is more when you stay more at work.

Also ma'm and Sir calling is common in Offices . But i worked in a Hotel Industry and we called our bosses and seniors by Mr. XYZ and MS.ABC or Ma'm. And while i was a school teacher we called seniors by ma'm and Sir . (Although i always found that weird after quitting the Hotel life) 😆

Sowmyaa, Jassi was a secretary so she used to bring juice and all..but still I am not sure if doing personal stuff is part of a secretary's job or not. I agree with you Aparna, Americans do give importance to family life..My employer is so understanding and I can take days-off / work from home when I really need to. Whereas in India I was working more than 10 hrs a day. I was expected to keep working and my mom used to be so pissed-off that she called up my boss and kind of scolded her. 😆

Bringing Juice /coffee tea in where i worked in India was the peons job !! I don't recall our Office secretary ever doing these jobs Although we(Managers) did occasionally use our Office boy/ peon to do our personal work like pay a bill or pick up laundry ( that too after we buttered him , spoke to him sweetly and tipped him a little )