Years ago, Karim, a skilled fisherman, had a secret trick to catch fish. He would quietly tap the water three times, toss some crumbs, and wait. Like magic, the fish always came.
One of my senior colleagues was a file-hoarding perfectionist, minutely checking every line before approving. His room looked like a paper factory explosion! He also believed everyone was out to stab him in the back, so he trusted no one. When the boss caught him delaying, he would pull a “Chatur from Three Idiots” -- “I didn’t do it!” -- triggering a blame game that turned the office into a daily soap opera of chaos and comedy! Often, I was on the receiving end of that blame game! Trying to be perfect in an imperfect world is like ironing your pyjamas -- hard work that nobody notices, and it’s a waste of time!
South Asia relies heavily on professional accountants for governance, financial transparency, and regulatory compliance and yet the availability of these experts is scarce.
Despite over a decade of investing in Bangladesh’s stock market, I have suffered a 40 percent loss even with a strategy focused on blue-chip shares since 2012. This experience highlights the structural issues plaguing our capital market -- low liquidity, lack of depth, and eroding investor confidence. Addressing these challenges requires bold, immediate measures grounded in global best practices tailored to local realities.
In the viral Millennial Job Interview, young applicant Amy brings an unconventional view of professionalism that confuses her interviewer. Listing Snapchat and Instagram as her “tech skills”, she dismisses traditional tools like Excel, labelling Facebook “for old people.”
Every year on November 10, the world recognises International Accounting Day, celebrating the essential role accountants play in ensuring financial stability and growth across economies.
Motivating employees is tantamount to convincing a fish to walk. While managers shout, “reach for excellence!” we reach for a cup of tea after braving Dhaka traffic to work. They say, “think big!” but our minds are counting down to the next public holiday. And “give it your best!” sounds great until someone realises “the best” had left at 5:30pm sharp. Let’s face it, the only motivation that really works here is Thursday afternoon, when we clock out and finally escape the inspiration overload!
Human resources (HR), once the department that handled payroll, kept track of who took more sick days (or less), and planned those awkward team-building retreats where you felt you would rather be anywhere else -- is now expected to do a lot more than just decorate artificial plants inside the office.
Students and the youth have always played a significant role in shaping the history of Bangladesh. However, a fresh wave of change has been sweeping the nation in recent weeks, and it was initiated by none other than a lone goat!
When I worked for Unilever, we had this incredible senior, an IIT graduate, who had a memory like a steel trap. He could glance at your car plate and recall it correctly a year later. He was a walking encyclopedia with knowledge of every subject under the sun.
Flattering the boss or leader has caught up with our political and corporate culture like a virus. In politics, it has no shame or limit. In the corporate world, however, it is practised with more sophistication and complexity.
The magic of “love at first sight” can cast its spell with no warning. We often underestimate its mystical power to determine the course of our personal and professional lives, whether it happens during a job interview or when we meet the love of our life. Being lucky in both may sound rare, but we can make it a possibility if we apply some tricks with sincerity and dedication in both situations.
In our subcontinent, outsmarting colleagues often translates to indulging in a bit of 'friendly' gossip, perfecting the art of boss buttering, seeking shortcuts to success, dabbling in office politics, and adopting a refined English accent for a select few.
Pleasing your boss can sometimes feel like the game of Tom & Jerry, where you are Jerry trying desperately to avoid being Tom’s next kill.
With the news of brain chip implants, our friends joked that advertisers would run commercials in our brains if we got chips without a subscription.
A former colleague shared one of the most bizarre local news about an employee who hired a goon to severely beat up his boss for being the cause of excessive stress in the workplace.
A golden goose had once started laying solid gold eggs in the whimsical land of Bangladesh. But alas, the taxman slapped a tax on it that turned its feathers grey.
Once a little boy wanted to have his own cricket bat. But he did not have any money to buy it.
