With more than two decades across telecom, digital media, fintech and now financial services, Kanishka Mallick, Vice President, Human Resources at Clix Capital, has worked through India’s most transformative organisational phases. From restructuring and M&A to designing people systems, he has helped companies navigate disruption while keeping their culture intact.
- What, in your experience, are the top two factors that create a strong workplace culture, regardless of company size? And how are you applying these principles in your current organisation?
- What truly drives long-term employee retention? Culture, environment, or something else?
- You studied positive psychiatry and workplace mental health. How can companies make mental wellness a daily behaviour rather than a policy statement?
- You’ve worked with HR systems long before AI became mainstream. With generative AI accelerating rapidly, which HR functions do you think will be automated by 2028, and what skills should HR leaders prioritise?
- You’ve worked across telecom, digital media and fintech. What should Indian startups focus on to build teams that survive beyond funding cycles and hype?
- After handling M&A, restructuring, automation, and layoffs, what have you learned about real culture during difficult periods?
- How can AI make performance reviews more fair and continuous without making employees feel judged by machines?
- You often say “Invisible threads are the strongest ties.” What does that mean?
In this exclusive StrongYes Media conversation, Mallick reflects on the foundations of workplace culture, what truly drives retention, and how AI will reshape HR over the next decade.
What, in your experience, are the top two factors that create a strong workplace culture, regardless of company size? And how are you applying these principles in your current organisation?
Kanishka: Culture is shaped by the small, everyday behaviours people repeat consistently. Two factors matter most. First, continuity of people, because culture strengthens when individuals stay long enough to carry forward the organisational DNA. Legacy cultures like Tata or HUL exist because employees remained for decades and upheld the core values. In startups, founders play this role; in large organisations, long-tenured teams safeguard the intent behind processes.
Second, culture endures when the same behaviours are practiced over time. At Clix Capital, the GE heritage gave us a strong foundation. As new people joined, the culture naturally evolved, but the core ethos stayed consistent and positive.
What truly drives long-term employee retention? Culture, environment, or something else?
Kanishka: Retention is driven by growth, not just money. Employees stay when they see a clear future, professionally and personally. It is about capability-building, mental well-being, financial security, and a sense of being valued. Compensation matters, but genuine retention happens when people can see themselves progressing within the organisation.
You studied positive psychiatry and workplace mental health. How can companies make mental wellness a daily behaviour rather than a policy statement?
Kanishka: An organisation is a living organism. When people come together to achieve a shared goal, psychology determines whether their collective effort adds up or multiplies. Positive psychiatry begins with acknowledging strengths, understanding differences, and building healthier ways of interacting.
Everyday actions make the real difference: respecting time, listening instead of just hearing, avoiding arguments masquerading as debates, and creating structures that minimise friction. Since we spend most of our waking hours with colleagues, workplaces often resemble families—sometimes functional, sometimes chaotic. Wellness practices help people navigate that complexity with more awareness and empathy.
You’ve worked with HR systems long before AI became mainstream. With generative AI accelerating rapidly, which HR functions do you think will be automated by 2028, and what skills should HR leaders prioritise?
Kanishka: Any transactional or emotion-neutral task, attendance, payroll, transfers, documentation, will inevitably be automated. Even parts of recruitment will modernise, although India still needs tools calibrated to Indian behavioural and facial cues for true accuracy.
Where AI will create the strongest impact is in performance management, talent development, and knowledge management. These areas generate large amounts of data but still lack structured, real-time systems. Continuous feedback mechanisms and employee-pulse tools that capture sentiment more frequently are already shifting how organisations understand engagement.
However, HR in India remains deeply interpersonal. Many promoter-led organisations may adopt technology but still rely on the trusted “human layer” for day-to-day decisions.
HR leaders must therefore build two capabilities simultaneously:
- strong data interpretation skills, and
- deeper psychological and behavioural understanding.
The future HR professional needs both.
You’ve worked across telecom, digital media and fintech. What should Indian startups focus on to build teams that survive beyond funding cycles and hype?
Kanishka: Startups often hire the “best” talent for investor confidence, but long-term stability comes from hiring the right talent, the people who commit. The best people will always get better opportunities; the right people build the organisation.
Second, founders must understand the rules of the market quickly. True innovation is rare; success often comes from changing the experience rather than the product. Lenskart didn’t reinvent eyewear; they reinvented how people access it.
Third, startups must be clear about their identity: Are we a global company, or an Indian company aiming to go global? The distinction affects culture, communication, and decision-making. Clarity at the top shapes clarity across the organisation.
After handling M&A, restructuring, automation, and layoffs, what have you learned about real culture during difficult periods?
Kanishka: Good leaders manage growth; great leaders manage uncertainty. Mature leaders anticipate downturns early and avoid knee-jerk reactions. But the real differentiator is trust.
When leaders have built credibility over time, employees stand by them even during layoffs, realignments, or role changes. Tough decisions become acceptable when people believe everyone is on the same side and the priorities are transparent. Culture becomes real not during good times, but during hard times.
How can AI make performance reviews more fair and continuous without making employees feel judged by machines?
Kanishka: AI supports fairness, but it is not a substitute for responsibility. The organisation must provide structured platforms, and employees must regularly document their work. If people upload everything at the end of the year, recency bias is unavoidable.
Fair reviews require a shared partnership between the individual, the manager, and the system.
You often say “Invisible threads are the strongest ties.” What does that mean?
Kanishka: It comes from my boarding-school years. At eight, your seniors shape you, guide you, challenge you, and help you grow. These bonds are unspoken yet powerful.
Over time, you form similar invisible ties at work, through small gestures, consistent support, and shared experience. Because these connections aren’t loud or verbal, they often become the strongest relationships, personally and professionally.
