An Indian brand based in the UK has called out an employee who was “ashamed” to work for them. In a post shared on Instagram, Atrangi said the employee was a top performer who was always responsible and respectful – yet one day, she refused to appear in an Instagram video for the brand, saying she did not want her friends and family to know she worked there.
Atrangi, in the words of its founder Keith Bonjour, is “a luxury, clean and sustainable Indian brand reinventing Indian flavours and their applications into the British Pantry.”
The brand manufactures curry sauces, marinades and chutneys with Indian flavours.
In an Instagram post shared earlier this week, Atrangi said that they had an employee who was “ashamed” to work for them over some unspecified reasons.
They described the former employee as respectful, responsible and a good performer.
“She was one of our best. The kind of person every business dreams of — responsible, respectful, and always on top of her game. For months, she ruled the charts at our farmer’s markets, a top performer week after week. We trusted her. We admired her,” the brand wrote.
The unnamed former employee refused to appear in a social media video for the brand.
“Then one day, I decided to celebrate our people — the faces behind Atrangi. I asked for a picture, a short story, something to showcase the amazing humans who make this brand possible,” the brand said in its Instagram post.
The employee replied, “I’d rather not… I don’t want friends and family to know I work here.”
The person writing the post on behalf of Atrangi said that the employee continued working for them after this exchange, but something changed in their equation. Eventually, she quit the job and returned to her hometown.
“I respected her choice, of course. She kept working with us, and we kept working with her. But something changed in me that day. I didn’t go the extra mile for her anymore, not like before. She doesn’t work for us anymore as she left back to go to her hometown,” the person wrote.
The interaction played a key role in how Atrangi now hires employees. The brand says it now has a team of 10 people who are proud to be associated with it.
“It almost felt like we need to prove our merit to be an employer while being a registered employer with HMRC paying our wages above and beyond minimum wage and even sharing the profits with the team as commission,” it said.
“So whilst she doesn’t work with us anymore, this is a core part of my filtering process now- I ask in the interviews- Would you own your work at Atrangi, are you proud of working for a small startup which is bursting with energy, passion and love?” the Instagram post added.
