Happy at work! Celebrate Friendship’s Day with Balaji and Sunil

Happiness and work are two words that sound quite oxymoronic. But when you see Balaji and Sunil simply having a really intense discussion about their work schedule, you can say for sure, that happiness and work can co-exist. Because they are friends at work.

What makes us happy? A philosophical question that keeps all of us awake at night at some point in life. How to keep employees happy? A question that has been often debated by the HR leaders. Yet stories of happiness at the workplace seem to be around us. When you have people around you with whom you can share your problems, it has a positive effect on the health and happiness of the employees. Despite the new normal, our breakneck advancements, jam-packed schedules and invasion of technology in our lives, the basic requirement or core need of humans remains the same.

Regardless of the environment, after shelter and food, we need deep human relationships to remain happy. As work-life balance for an employee continues to be a hot topic of discussion amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, work friends continue to play a critical role. Researchers have already observed that deep friendships are directly related to a long-term successful career, improved health and happiness. Work friendships make employees feel safe and they also help us achieve more.

We at Cadila Pharmaceuticals, cherish our bonds and this Friendship’s Day we celebrate some friendships on our campus that have blossomed over the period of many years.

Some say friendships that stick are those which are built over a shared interest. The story of Balaji and Sunil is similar to that. They have been friends for the last three years. They were introduced to each other while representing Cadila Pharmaceuticals in a Cricket League Match for Pharmaceutical Industry professionals. They grew stronger as they started connecting over similar interests such as sports, cycling, etc. They are almost inseparable now and can often be seen sharing a joke together.

“One of the best parts about our friendship is that we both are spontaneous. 2 years back during office Diwali celebration, we decided to participate in ethnic dress competition. Since we were dressed so similarly, they introduced a new category for us and we won the prize! We are now often called twins due to that incident” Sunil recollects amusingly. Incidents such as these keep bringing them together.

“Even though we are from different fields, Sunil from Purchase while I am a core event management professional, we often share our work woes. Whenever I’m stuck at something, he helps me out and vice versa. We provide each other the perspective from a third person, and it often helps us look at the problem differently. After all, isn’t it what we all need? A friend to pick us up when we are down?” Balaji adds.

They both share the opinion of having a close friend in the workplace. “When we spend nearly 10 hours of the day in our workplace, it’s important to have a friend who can keep our morale high. This helps in boosting the confidence level ultimately resulting in better output at work. But this is not just restricted to work, we constantly motivate each other to remain healthy.”

Having someone by your side, motivating and advising, just makes it easier to wade through life. There is a very simple, no strings attached feeling of joy in such relationships, and it lets you remain yourself, while you still grow and improve together. Happy friendship’s day to all the work friends!