‘Document everything’: Employee shares blunt tips to survive India's corporate world

Navigating the corporate world in India can be a challenging experience. One corporate employee, who worked within this system for years, has compiled insights and advice to help others regain control over their careers. "An Indian corporate handbook: What I’ve learnt from my four years at corporate career advice," he titled it in a post on Reddit.

The first advice he gave was to never consider anyone your friend. "There are only people you don't dislike and some you do. You can only "trust" someone if there is no conflict of interest between you and that person. You can also choose to trust them if they have incentives tied to your progress/condition," he said.

Next, he explained what he considered was the role of HR in a company. "The role of the infamous Human Resource (HR) is not to aid you in your time with the company. It's to protect the firm from any negative impacts you may open them up to. As long as your interests align with the firm's interests, HR will back you," he added.

Read the full post here:

The employee offered more blunt advice for all corporate workers: "Nobody cares for you or treats you like a human being. Be it health issues, family issues, or personal issues; their top priority is to resolve dependencies and get the machine running again."

He listed tips to make sure that your work is noticed. He told employees to work smart but appear like they are working hard as well. "If you work smart around an issue and can finish it in 2 hours as opposed to others finishing it in 6 hours, sit on the work and hype it up to your reporting manager as hard work. It's all about appearances and perceptions," he added.

'Document everything'

He also suggested to keep maximum face-time with the managers and take credit for your work. His third advice was to keep documentation of important conversation. "In case s**t hits the fan, 9/10 times the situation turns into a witch-hunt to pin the blame on someone. Having documentation and evidence can protect you from any grizzly events," he said.

He also warned employees to remember how their actions can be perceived. "If you want to leave work early or for some reason skip on a task. Drop hints about some medical or personal issue that has been bothering you. Be aware of the perception/image you put across to your team members and managers. The reason may not be legit. But the perception or your image should show some story that supports your actions," he added.

(Also read: Company restricts employees to 2-minute toilet breaks during allotted time slots)

The "handbook" divided social media users, while some found it pretty useful others called it to cynical. "Thank you for using stereotypical corporate jargon for writing a long post with content that pretty much everyone is already aware of," said one user, while another wrote, "You seem to have not worked in good places … or have been an underperformer and been overtaken by better people than you. Your post reeks of bitterness," he said.