She Quit in 72 Hours. Why Did She Choose to Return?

Khushi Bhatia

| 2025-07-10 | Business Stories

When a young professional abruptly resigned from her job at Abhas Sultania ‘s Frontech just 72 hours into her role, few expected the story to circle back. Her parting words to HR were direct:

“I can’t work like this. Why does it matter what time I come in?”

What followed was not a debate, but a departure. But the real twist came three months later, when the same employee asked to return.

This unusual episode was recently shared by Abhas Sultania, Managing Director of Frontech, a company that operates across 23 offices with over 400 employees. The anecdote offers rare insight into a growing tension within India’s evolving white-collar workforce: freedom versus structure.

The Startup Mindset Collides with Operational Discipline

The employee came from a startup environment, where traditional guardrails were absent. No fixed timings, no approvals, no detailed processes, just a relentless focus on output.

At Frontech, the expectations were different.

“Without structure, the wheels fall off,” said Sultania.

The company tracks everything from:

Late working hours (to reward extra effort)
Leaves taken (to allow others to encash unused time off)
Weekly reviews (to ensure recognition is regular and fair)

This kind of system, while not uncommon in scaled operations, came as a shock to someone used to minimal oversight.

The Return: “I Was Free But Lost”

Three months after quitting, the employee asked to return. Her experience in her new company was markedly different, but not in the way she had expected.

The new firm offered freedom, but at the cost of clarity, accountability, and direction.

“I was free but lost,” she reportedly told Sultania.

That sentence stuck. It reframed the debate entirely, not about whether structure is good or bad, but whether it’s valuable or wasteful.

The Core Lesson: Not All Structure Is the Same – Abhas Sultania

Sultania distilled his learning into a simple insight:

“People don’t hate structure. They hate structure that wastes their time.”

At Frontech, the structure isn’t about micromanagement, it’s about rhythm, clarity, and calm. In systems where incentives are tied to data, structure becomes a tool for fairness rather than friction.

The employee, now back on the team, is reportedly thriving in the very environment she once rejected.

Why This Matters: A Broader Shift in Work Culture

As Indian workplaces mature, especially in the startup-to-scaleup transition phase, more professionals are finding themselves navigating between chaotic freedom and disciplined scaling.

This tale is more than a human resources vignette, it’s an eye into the way culture shock between work spaces can influence employee satisfaction and performance.

In an age where flexibility is glorified, Frontech’s journey indicates that the true differentiator could be intentional structure, systems that enable rather than ensnare.