“You can say ok sir”: Text exchange between manager-employee sparks workplace culture debate
An Indian manager’s outlandish text exchange with his employee has sparked viral reactions on Reddit. Apparently, the manager was offended when the employee did not address him as “sir" while informing him of the sick leave he intended to take.
According to a report by Hindustan Times, the manager also had issues with the language used by the employee, while there was nothing rude or cavalier about it. Posted on Reddit, the text exchange sparked a discussion on workplace culture in India that is bound by conformity and hierarchy.
What was the text?
The debate picked up when the employee informed his manager that he was unwell.
The message read: “Good morning. I wanted to let you know that I am feeling a bit unwell today due to an upset stomach – probably from something I ate yesterday. I’ve applied for leave on the [redacted] app and informed [redacted] also,”
“Need only today’s update… Yesterday is gone” – replied the manager.
When the employee apologised and sought clarification about his text, the manager replied: “I don’t need anything related yesterday [sic].”
His unclear messages left the employee in confusion, and he again asked for clarification, which was met with a different response.
“If you’re here to work.. You should be punctual and do your duty. Plan accordingly. Next week onwards prepare the…” – replied the manager. The rest of the message was redacted to maintain confidentiality.
To this, the employee replied, “Aa okay” – which again annoyed the manager.
He told his employee to “reply in a good manner”, to which the employee replied: “I’m sorry but may I know what did I say with no manner”.
“You can say ok sir,” explained the boss, implying that he wanted to be addressed as Sir.
“And you have to inform me… not let me know,” he continued. “Try using good words when communicating to a senior manager,” he added, despite the fact that his own messages were full of grammar and syntax errors.
The rest of the messages continued in a similar vein, with the employee insisting there was nothing wrong with his messages and the boss disagreeing. “You don’t know how to inform in a polite way,” the manager said at one point during the conversation.
He also gave an example of the way the employee should have framed his message, according to him. “I want to inform you sir…” the boss wrote as an example of what he should have written.
How does Reddit react?
The screenshot was posted on the popular ‘Indian Workplace’ Reddit community, where users quickly concluded that the manager's primary grievance stemmed from not being addressed as ‘sir.’
“Depends on how fragile the 'adults' you're working with. Unpopular opinion, but I'd say to observe and use sir when you notice other people using sir, ma'am in emails. It's not worth it picking these fights with such people,” one user commented.
Another wrote, “Never understood this sir/ma'am culture in some Indian companies.”
“I've worked only in MNCs since the start of my career and still do, and the only managers who like being called sir and ma'am are the ones in India,” a user pointed out.
Several others echoed similar experiences, noting that multinational and international companies often discourage hierarchical terms like “sir” or “ma’am,” a practice that many agreed seems particularly ingrained in Indian corporate culture.
