A professional recently shared an experience that highlighted cultural differences in workplace communication, sparking a discussion on work culture in India. The employee, who reports to two reporting managers, one based in Japan and the other in India, posted the different responses he received to the same leave request.
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In a post titled “The difference between a Japanese manager and an Indian manager,” the user explained that while both managers agreed to his leave, their tone and attitude conveyed completely different messages.
The Japanese manager wrote: “Good day!! Good note. Please be careful on your way home. Thank you.” “Approved. Please go online via Teams and mail,” the Indian manager said.
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The employee said the Indian manager’s approval made it seem like a “personal favor” rather than a legitimate benefit.
“I had to return to my hometown for some urgent work, and I currently have at least 7 CLs left. I have two reporting managers. One is a Japanese person and the other is an Indian. Even though they both approved my leave, they have contradictory behaviors. The Indian acts as if he is doing me a personal favor by approving my leave,” the user wrote on Reddit.
See post here:
The difference between a Japanese manager and an Indian manager
byu/itidao inIndianWorkplace
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The post was also shared on X, sparking a flood of responses with many users criticizing Indian directors for their lack of empathy, sparking controversy.
“Japanese culture and other developed countries do not see lies and fraud at the level that India sees every day, so trust issues are ingrained in our culture,” one user wrote. Another user commented: “This really needs to change. The lack of empathy in India is appalling.”
“I love East Asians. They are friendly. An Indian manager will never appreciate you until the day you officially die!” A third user responded. “It’s not always about the manager… there’s also an element of responsibility that many new resources miss, so managers have to remind them of their responsibilities,” a fourth user said.
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(Tags for translation)Japanese vs Indian managers
