Author: Suraj Jadhav

This report explores how India’s pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and healthcare industries balance rapid growth with mounting challenges and provides a practical action guide to address workplace culture imperatives.

India’s Pharmaceutical Industry

The pharmaceutical industry in India has been a global leader, with a CAGR of 9.43%, contributing over 2% to the country’s GDP. The growth, however, also comes with complex challenges that require workplaces to ensure both strategic and cultural transformation today. Numerous macroeconomic forces, including stricter global regulations, higher costs of noncompliance, and falling prices for generic drugs, are prompting leaders to rethink their strategies to sustain. 

There is also a shortage of skilled professionals in advanced research, regulatory affairs, and quality management, which directly impacts innovation and competitiveness. Add to this the risk of supply chains becoming overly dependent on certain regions, and the pressure on companies is evident.
 

These key industry challenges point us to the workplace imperatives for this sector:

• Strict regulations and zero-error tolerance create a high-pressure environment where precision is critical.
• Falling prices demand innovation in products and processes.
• Digital tools like AI can speed drug discovery and improve efficiency, yet resistance to change often delays progress.
• Talent attraction and retention shortages make it hard to hire. Additionally, retaining and developing experts in R&D and compliance increases the workload for existing teams and limits their capacity for innovation.

Building Credibility Through Consistency

Recent industry developments have demonstrated how quickly confidence can weaken when standards are assumed rather than enforced. The pharmaceutical industry competes not only on scientific innovation and scale but also on the confidence that its products, processes, and decisions are reliable. 

Given this environment, leadership plays a crucial role as the primary source of assurance. Promisingly, there has been a 2-3% improvement in employees’ perceptions of management integrity across all areas of pharmaceutical workplaces.

Integrity-Led Leadership: The Cultural Key to Employee Retention

How should leaders address these challenges in a way that improves employee experience?

TRUST

This framework links compliance clarity, innovation culture, digital confidence, talent development, and leadership integrity through actions that foster employees’ sense of safety, value, and empowerment. When employees trust leadership and see integrity in action, retention rises, collaboration improves, and innovation becomes natural.

T: Transparency in Compliance

• Focus on linking patient safety and pride in quality to communicate why compliance matters beyond the rule book.
• Share audit learnings openly; celebrate teams that prevent issues early.
• Ensure platforms are created where town halls and Ask Me Anything sessions create safe spaces to have discussions around regulations.

R: Reinforce Innovation Mindset

• Encourage idea-sharing forums where employees propose cost-saving or product improvement ideas.
• Recognize small wins in innovation, not just significant breakthroughs, and make creativity part of daily work.
• Break silos with cross-functional innovation squads to solve real problems collaboratively.

U: Upskill for Digital Confidence

• Ensure tech-fears are reduced through small-format learning and hands-on training.
• Create collaboration initiatives that bring together technology and non-tech team members to build trust.
• Share success stories of team members where digital adoption was successful.

S: Support Talent Growth & Belonging

• Focus on developing growth opportunities and career paths for technical experts.
• Provide mentorship and rotational programs to keep learning exciting and reduce burnout.
• Develop a culture of appreciation, especially in high-pressure roles in the organisation.

T: Trust Through Integrity-Led Leadership

• Ensure leaders embody the best characteristics that model ethical decision making consistently across all levels of organisation.
• Create celebrations where these values are showcased and measure trust scores, and events where employees are seen speaking up or communicating with straight answers.
• Reward leadership behaviours that demonstrate fairness in decision making. 

India’s Biotechnology Industry

India’s Biotechnology Industry is the 3rd-largest market in the Asia-Pacific Region, accounting for around 3% of the global biotech market. During COVID-19 this sector reinforced it’s role as a reliable global partner by rapidly developing and supplying vaccines, diagnostics and medical devices. India’s Bioeconomy is set to reach a value of US$300 billion by the year 2030 with the strong support of the government and rising private investments that lead to collaboration among academia, industry and government.

However, the rapid scientific growth is making it harder for companies to keep pace with the global innovation rate as local resources such as domestic capital and skilled workforce aren’t growing fast enough. The workforce faces pressure to deliver results due to extensive development timelines and high failure rates. In addition, gaps in translational research and clinical development capabilities slow down the journey from lab to market.

These key industry challenges point us to the workplace imperatives for this sector:

• The fast-changing scientific landscape is creating a high-pressure environment for the employees in which they are expected to learn and adapt as quickly as possible.
• Extensive timelines and high failure rates highlight the need to embrace experimentation and learn from setbacks without fear.
• The transition from research to clinical development slows down when different teams like R&D, regulatory and operations do not have strong collaboration systems.
• Limited access to skilled professionals and resistance to change make it harder to build agile, innovation-ready teams.

The Workforce Reality: Building Skills, Battling Change

6% increase in employee perception of being offered training and development opportunities as compared to last year.

The industry has advanced employee development to build skilled teams that support innovation and compliance, emphasising ongoing learning to stay updated with fast scientific and regulatory changes.

1 in 5 employees report difficulty in adapting to workplace change. For organisations to successfully navigate continuous change, they need to foster resilience by ensuring transparent communication, demonstrating strong leadership, and implementing efficient management practices.

Training + Adaptability: The Cultural Key to Workforce Resilience

In order to address the biotech industry’s internal challenges, especially the pace of scientific change and the need for an agile workforce, there is a need for a culture where adaptability and learning are non-negotiable. Employees respond to an environment that makes growth easy and change more comfortable. When leaders encourage learning and demonstrate adaptability, these behaviours become part of everyday work rather than just a temporary measure.

How should leaders address this in ways that improve employee experience and drive innovation?

ADAPT

This framework will assist you in transforming learning and adaptability into everyday habits and help tackle the real constraints such as scientific innovation rate, uncertainity, translation gaps and specialised supply chains. When the team feels valued, safe and equipped it improves retention, collaboration and innovation simultaneously.

A: Accelerate Learning

• Share Science-to-Impact Insights in team meetings, why new discoveries matter for patients and the pipeline.
• Use bite-size learning moments (10-minute updates, micro-modules) embedded in daily work.
• Recognize teams that share learnings early across functions.

D: De-risk Innovation

• New experiments should be used as a stepping stone to move forward and learn from mistakes
• Apply lean stage-gates with clear go/no-go criteria (scientific signal, CMC readiness).
• Celebrate small wins that move ideas forward, not just breakthroughs.

A: Advance Translation

• Hold cross-functional knowledge sharing team meetings before handing over the projects.
• Use plain-language playbooks for data, signoffs, and timelines.
• Organize demo days to review readiness together.

P: Partnered Supply Resilience

• Conduct short weekly meetings to analyse and prevent risks or shortages early.
• Build multi-vendor options for critical components and consumables.

T: Thrive with Adaptability

• Pair teams with buddy programs to model change readiness and share quick wins.
• Use pulse checks to measure change-readiness and speak-up rates.
• Reward flexible, collaborative behaviours that enable faster adoption of new processes.

India’s Healthcare Industry

India’s healthcare sector is one of the country’s largest and rapidly growing industries, in terms of both revenue and employment. This industry contributes 2.5% to India’s GDP and employs more than 4.7 million people, prepared for sustained growth. India has a competitive edge due to the high number of skilled professionals and cost-effective treatment options. Medical procedures in India cost only a fraction of what they do in the Western countries which leads to the rise in medical tourism, positioning India as a global healthcare destination. With a strong focus on innovation and increased investment in research and development, India continues to attract patients and R&D projects worldwide, reinforcing its position as a leading player in the global healthcare ecosystem.

Although regulatory compliance is becoming more stringent, with patient safety and data privacy under scrutiny. Operating costs are rising while payment systems and competitive pricing are reducing profits. There aren’t enough skilled employees in key areas such as nursing, diagnostics and specialised care, which puts quality service at risk. In addition, using digital health tools and telemedicine requires employees to keep building new skills and adapt culturally. These factors, combined with supply chain vulnerabilities for medical equipment and drugs, create a complex environment for healthcare organizations.

These challenges shape how work happens inside healthcare organizations:

• Regulatory compliance and a patient safety culture require the healthcare teams to operate under strict clinical protocols and data privacy regulations.
• New technologies such as telemedicine, AI-based diagnostics, and electronic health records are growing fast. This highlights the need for the teams to stay open to learning and be flexible in how they work.
• Long hours, emotional strain, and high-pressure environments in hospitals and clinics lead to burnout. Building a culture that prioritizes mental health, resilience, and support systems is critical for retention and quality care.

Capability + Care: The Culture Blueprint for High-Quality Healthcare

The healthcare industry is under constant pressure of staff shortages, growing patient expectations and fast digital change. Tackling these challenges requires a culture focused on skills, strong systems and supportive leadership. When employees feel prepared and valued, they deliver safer, better care.

Why this matters:

• 1 in 5 healthcare employees report that their workplace does not support emotional well-being fuelling burnout and stress.
• Teams with psychological safety are far more likely to maintain a healthy work-life balance (+58%), keeping staff engaged and improving patient outcomes.

For healthcare organizations, this means:

• Continuous training on safety and compliance so staff feel confident and competent.
• Upskilling teams to adapt to digital tools like telemedicine and electronic health records.
• Fostering a supportive environment where employees can speak up, share concerns, and manage workload effectively.
  

When these practices become part of everyday work, hospitals and clinics can reduce errors, enhance patient experience, and sustain a healthy, motivated workforce.

How should leaders address this in ways that improve employee experience and drive innovation?

CARE+

This framework will help teams in embedding safety, adaptability, and patient-centric practices into daily routines. This will create a culture where compliance and innovation coexist, improving care quality and reducing risks.

C: Compliance & Safety Culture

• Start daily short safety huddles to review risks and share quick wins.
• Use visual reminders (posters/checklists) for hand hygiene and medication safety.
• Encourage speak-up moments in every shift, normalize reporting near misses.

A: Adapt & Innovate

• Run weekly “What’s Not Working?” huddles to gather improvement ideas.
• Pilot one small digital tool (e.g., telehealth scheduling or e-consent) with a single unit.

R: Responsive, Patient-Centric Care

• Implement bedside teach-back for patient instructions (takes two extra minutes).
• Use whiteboards in rooms for care plans and next steps to keep patients informed.
• Create a fast-track lane for standard procedures to reduce wait times.

E: Energize Workforce Well-Being

• Schedule micro-breaks and rotate tasks to reduce fatigue.
• Set up a peer-support buddy system for emotional check-ins.
• Simplify admin: one-click templates for common notes.

+ Build Capability & System Discipline

• Offer mini microlearning sessions during shift changes (safety, digital tips).
• Create a skills board in the break room, track who is trained on what.
• Leaders do weekly walkarounds to reinforce priorities and listen to staff concerns.

Authors

Suraj Jadhav – Sr. Consultant

Anushka Byadagi – Sr. Analyst 

With over 3 million registered organisations serving more than 200 million people, the Indian NGO sector contributes approximately ₹3.56 lakh crore (around 2% of GDP) to the national economy. The industry is a powerhouse of social transformation, employing 2.7 million people and engaging 3.4 million full-time volunteers who work diligently to drive change in education, healthcare, environment, human rights, and social equity.  

However, to be successful in today’s world, NGOs must focus on several key areas. They need to attract purpose-driven talent and demonstrate credibility and strong governance. Additionally, they must show innovation and agility in complex, resource-constrained environments. Emphasizing positive volunteer experiences has become crucial, as has advocating for justice and inclusion. NGOs should also create succession pipelines and demonstrate resilience during times of crisis.

Thus, NGOs, being a people-powered business, for a sustained, massive-scale impact on the economy, it’s fundamental for them to consistently create great workplace experiences.

What Sets the Best Workplaces Apart?

Workplaces that cultivate great cultures outperform the market and competition on nearly every business metric, regardless of size, industry, or geography. According to Great Place To Work® India’s Best NGOs To Work For 2025, the difference between the Best Workplaces™ and the Other Workplaces is significant. Best Workplaces outperform others in multiple dimensions, including productivity, recruitment, retention, customer service, and agility. The key differentiator behind this performance edge is leadership. The most critical factors influencing employees’ experience in an organisation are the leadership behaviours that ultimately decide whether employees experience high trust levels and contribute their best.

Top Three Leadership Practices NGOs Must Prioritize

Based on the learnings from Best Workplaces, below are the top three leadership practices that NGOs must prioritise to create great workplaces and achieve long-term impact.

1. Focus on Fair remuneration and financial recognition 

Fair compensation has long been a sensitive issue in the nonprofit sector. As NGO’s struggle with budget limitations while requiring high-quality talent, fair compensation remains an unresolved subject in the non-profit space. A study by CSIP at Ashoka University observed that NGO pay is 58% lower than general industry benchmarks. This gap not only reflects a financial challenge but also a cultural one. When employees consistently feel undervalued in monetary terms, morale drops, and turnover rises. However, a positive experience around it creates a powerful signal of value, trust, and fairness. 

Great Place To Work India data reveals that in NGOs: 

• 25% of employees feel their contributions are not recognised through shared financial benefits.
  
• 20% of employees report that their pay is unfair for the work they do.
  
• Fair compensation and the presence of shared financial benefits boost long-term retention by 28%.
  
• 80% of employees in Best Workplaces believe that they get a fair share of profits compared to 70% at other workplaces.
  
• 83% employees at Best Workplaces say they are paid fairly for their work, while only 74% feel the same in the Other Workplaces.
  

A lack of positive experiences around fair compensation in NGOs may translate into a risk of losing their most talented staff to other industries or international organisations that offer more competitive pay. More importantly, inequities in pay strain credibility both internally among employees and externally with stakeholders. 

Sustainability in the nonprofit sector isn’t just about financial resources; it’s also about sustaining human capital. Failing to address compensation gaps undermines the long-term success of the mission of non-profit organisations. 

Leadership To Dos: 

Leaders in NGOs must rethink their approach to compensation by: 

• Benchmarking salaries regularly against industry standards to stay competitive.
  
• Ensure pay structures or financial benefits recognise contributions made by an individual above and beyond the requirements.
  
• Implementing minimal yet symbolic gain-sharing mechanisms to ensure fairness. This can include recognition bonuses tied to the mission for staff welfare.
  
• Cascading a strong message aligned with financial benefits about “Your work is valued, and your contribution is essential to our mission.”

2. Care for recognition and unique benefits 

Recognition and benefits go hand in hand when it comes to motivation. Yet, many NGOs lag behind in building systems that reward contributions and offering benefits that align with the diverse needs of their employees. 

While NGOs often match industry benchmarks for essential benefits, they often fall short in non-traditional perks, such as insurance. More critically, recognition is also experienced unevenly across gender, role, and generation. 

Here’s what the Great Place To Work India data reveals: 

• Best Workplaces report 84% employees feeling positive about special and unique benefits compared to 75% in other workplaces.
  
• Similarly, 86% of employees at Best Workplaces in NGOs report opportunities for special recognition compared to 78% at other workplaces.
  
• Women employees in NGOs report lower recognition (78%) compared to men (82%).
  
• Junior staff feel less recognised (79%) than senior managers (81%).
  
• Millennials and Gen Z employees experience fewer unique benefits (77%) than older generations (81%).
  

Recognition is not a one-size-fits-all exercise. For employees, especially those in mission-driven work, feeling seen and appreciated is as important as monetary compensation. When recognition is inconsistent, it amplifies disengagement. 

Similarly, unique benefits are critical in a generationally diverse workforce. Although older employees may prioritise retirement benefits, younger employees may frequently seek and value mental health support, flexible working options, or wellness perks. Overlooking these differences turns away emerging talent pools that NGOs need. 

Leadership To Dos: 

To cultivate inclusivity and motivation among employees, leaders must: 

• Design inclusive recognition programs that go beyond tenure and seniority, ensuring visibility for contributions across all levels.
  
• Audit parity around benefits to eliminate gaps across gender, role, or generational lines.
  
• Offer flexible, and relevant perks that resonate with different employee groups such as parental support for young families, learning allowances for Gen Z, or health coverage for all.
  

Quantification of recognition and benefits, though short-lived, serves a great purpose. When this is combined with employees feeling celebrated and supported in a workplace culture, they repay the company with sheer commitment and engagement.

3. Living up to the promises 

Workplaces in the NGO sector are an environment where missions are deeply tied to values, and trust in leadership is of paramount importance. Hence, failing to follow through on commitments may perhaps be the most adverse leadership misstep for the employees.  

Yet, many NGOs lack robust mechanisms to observe the leadership trust levels. In fact, fewer than 40% of NGOs track leadership effectiveness according to the Stanford Social Innovation Review. 

The results are clear: 

• 18% of employees across the sector feel their management does not deliver on promises.
  
• At Best Workplaces, 88% of employees believe management delivers on promises, compared to 81% at the Others.
  
• Leadership confidence at Best Workplaces is 66%, but the Other Workplaces lag with a 9% lower rate.
  

In NGOs, where leaders often act as the face of the mission, the stakes are higher when it comes to credibility and governance. When employees lose trust in leadership, it cascades into lower morale, and weaker execution of programs. Consistent leadership, on the other hand, fosters a culture of credibility, alignment, and accountability, essential for organisations seeking to drive long-term social change. 

Leadership To Dos: 

NGO leaders must make delivering on promises a non-negotiable by: 

• Setting clear expectations and aligning them with organisational goals.
  
• Implementing leadership reviews that regularly assess effectiveness and accountability.
  
• Communicating progress transparently, especially when challenges arise that may delay commitments.
  

In doing so, leaders strengthen the link between words and actions, a connection that employees seek when deciding whether to trust their organisation’s direction. 

Why Leadership Confidence Matters?

Fixing leadership gaps isn’t just about building a better workplace culture alone; it directly translates into higher employee satisfaction and better business outcomes. Best Workplaces consistently report higher productivity, recruitment, customer service, and agility. They also report 4% higher retention when compared to others. 

But perhaps the most significant statistic is employee confidence in leadership. At Best Workplaces, 66% of employees express a high deal of confidence in the leadership team’s judgment, compared to a 9% lower rate in other workplaces. This confidence fuels better execution, stronger teams, and greater impact. For NGOs, where missions depend on the collective strength of people, these outcomes are not optional; they are mission-critical.

Conclusion

NGOs exist to address some of society’s most pressing challenges, including poverty and inequality, climate change, and human rights. However, missions only guide directions; what truly builds great workplaces is the leadership actions. In 2025, NGOs must move beyond intentions to actions. By addressing the three critical leadership priorities of fair pay, recognition, and integrity, they can unlock trust, retain talent, and amplify their impact.  

Thus, the future of India’s nonprofit sector depends on leaders who create workplaces where employees feel valued, recognised, and guided with integrity. When leaders prioritise these objectives, NGOs won’t just transform society externally; they will also cultivate great workplaces internally, where missions thrive because people thrive.

In 2025, 63% of the Indian workforce is represented by Millennials (a generation born between 1980 and 1997). Moreover, 65% of the millennials are working in supervisory, managerial or senior managerial roles, enhancing the criticality of this group further. Thus, millennial managers act as a critical link between the leadership team and entry-level employees and play an important role in delivering business results. However, the latest study by Great Place To Work® India reveals that 23% of the millennial managers do not feel involved in decision-making at work. This calls for the attention of leaders across India Inc., as a positive experience or lack of the same for this group is likely to have an exponential impact on the overall employee experience across the organisation.

Although the business case for involving millennial managers is significant. Millennial managers across age groups (younger millennial managers and older millennial managers) report a higher intent to stay (+33%) and willingness to endorse the company (+35%) when they experience involvement in decision-making at their workplaces.

Hence, going forward, as we also observe the average tenure of employees is shrinking across sectors, involvement in workplaces is likely to be one of the strategic levers for retention of millennial managers.

Great Place To Work India’s research highlights how the Best Workplaces are rewriting the rules of building a high-trust, high-performance culture, especially when it comes to involving millennial managers in decision-making at work and empowering them to deliver effectively. 

At organisations recognised as India’s Best Workplaces For Millennials 2025, 86% of millennial managers feel involved in decision-making, 10% more than in other workplaces. We found three emerging initiatives that are fuelling this experience at the Best Workplaces.

Three Ways The Best Workplaces Are Involving and Empowering Millennial Managers

1. Access to leadership and opportunity to participate in business-critical initiatives. 

Our research highlights that many of the Best Workplaces have embedded involvement as a fundamental part of their organisation’s DNA and how they run the business overall. 

H&R Block (India) Private Limited, one of the Best Workplaces for Millennials, has an Organisational Effectiveness Committee to involve employees in decision-making. It comprises a 10-member team along with the Managing Director that connects on a weekly basis to identify areas of improvement and suggest action plans, ideas and solutions to the corresponding departments. 

Best Workplaces create platforms for employees to contribute to strategic business initiatives beyond their routine roles. They do this by identifying high-performing and high-potential employees. These employees are provided enhanced exposure through opportunities to interact with the leadership team. Best Workplaces offer opportunities to participate and contribute to strategic business initiatives directly. This also becomes an opportunity to build and groom the leadership pipeline.

2. Co-creating policies and empowerment to become agents of change.

Best Workplaces tap into the energy and experience of millennial managers by facilitating programs that offer unique opportunities to drive positive change for the organisation. Through these platforms, employees can test or co-create policies, products or new processes. This ensures employees have a voice and opportunity to contribute to key changes and new initiatives in the organisation. All the inputs received are debated within internal teams, and those that cannot be incorporated are communicated with a rationale for not considering the ideas. 

Best Workplaces focus on creating a diverse team comprising representatives from all departments to make decisions on people policies, rather than relying on the human resources team. To meaningfully include millennials, one of the Best Workplaces also promotes Millennial Councils to leverage insights and diversify perspectives, which are then used to test and pivot initiatives critical to the younger generation workforce. This not only helps solve for the bias in policies but also creates opportunities for reverse mentoring, bringing fresh ideas and concepts to the table.

3. Create opportunities to be part of the solution.

The Best Workplaces know that some of the best innovations come directly from employees by offering them platforms to share their ideas and, more importantly, encouraging a culture of experimentation. Moreover, we have observed that there is a growing trend that also creates opportunities for employees to implement their ideas and become a part of the solution. 

Edelweiss Life Corporation Company Limited hosts ‘Culture Premier League’, to foster involvement in solving challenges. It has designed the initiative to take employees through a series of challenges revolving around the theme ‘My team, My pride’. The top teams compete in the final and pitch innovative ideas to Directors for a chance to emerge as a CPL champion for their respective zones.  

Best Workplaces create space for employees to drive the innovation charter alongside their core responsibilities. The range of these projects varies from technical to non-technical, of any shape or size, and is relevant to the organisational goals and objectives. This helps create a safe space and freedom to explore areas of interest for people from every department and fosters a sense of involvement in the organisation’s innovation projects.

Way Forward

For programs like these to be successful, it is essential that the loop is closed in time and feedback is shared transparently if an idea is not selected; otherwise, employees may lose faith in the program. As millennials belong to an era where everyone experienced the growing influence of the internet and social media, where feedback and communication became instant. Over time, this made millennials more used to sharing opinions than earlier generations and also receiving quick responses through online communications. Hence, it is only natural for them to bring those expectations of openness to workplace cultures too. 

Thus, involvement in decision-making will stay relevant for millennials to experience a great workplace, making it increasingly critical for organisations today to empower them to reach their full potential. 

To sum it up, these practices showcase an intentional strategy that highlights involvement as a core value and experiences that are positively valued in the workplace culture. This creates a shift for Best Workplaces that allows for increased trust and empowerment. 

Millennial managers are the current and future leaders of workplaces and involving them becomes a strategic imperative for organisations to sustain and grow. The approach of listening as a component of their day-to-day experience, empowering them to take ownership that triggers positive change, and integrating fresh ideas through diverse cross-functional teams signals to the workforce that every voice matters. Thus, involvement in decision-making not only shapes better decisions but also shapes a better future for the organisation.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.”
– Martin Luther King Jr., ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.

Martin Luther King Jr. famously spoke of a world in which people are judged not by skin color but by character, a vision that still resonates with leaders of all kinds. It’s very common for businesses, too, to set grand ambitions and dreams during rousing town hall setups. From expanding in new markets to launching new products – each venture is a hope to achieve a dream. Yet, for most, they remain limited to the notion of profit maximization. And too often, the plan to achieve it comes down to an operational checklist mandated across all employees’ scorecards.

Genuine change, however, always demands culture serving as a driving force. The vision of a united future in Martin Luther King’s speech connected personal and professional identities. The same principle applies in business: when employees fully grasp and embrace a greater purpose—understand precisely why they should prioritize key deliveries or refine customer service—their efforts often yield remarkable results. A workforce aligned around a common goal is a company’s most powerful asset today.

This journey from vision to aligning value for all stakeholders is a differentiator for companies to achieve sustainable success. Organizations succeeding in this journey understand that the ‘who’ and ‘how’ will be as important as the ‘from’ and ‘to.’ Great Place To Work® India’s conversations with workplace leaders at the For All™ Summit Mumbai 2025 have yielded numerous insights on this. The learnings from the Summit in the article ahead reflect a strong sense of trust fueling business excellence and the common goal of building workplaces that matter for the future.

Start with Purpose, Always!

In recent years, organizations have experienced several significant trends that impact the workplace. These include the implementation of back-to-office mandates, the growing influence of a younger workforce, a shift towards mandatory flexibility in work arrangements, and the introduction of AI, which is transforming how we work. This list continues to evolve as we explore these developments.

However, organizations in India have also shown high adaptability to changes. The emphasis on a few areas of people’s practices highlights this shift, with more key phrases around belonging, innovation, and sustainability featured in the programs they have been focusing on in past few years.

One reliable guiding star for firms navigating constant workplace upheavals is an unwavering focus on purpose. Today, employees showcase a stronger need to understand whom they serve—and why—which remains central to retaining and engaging a modern workforce.

Employees who find meaning in their work are 3.2X more likely to stay and 3.4X more likely to recommend their company to others.

This shift is evident even in everyday employee conversations. More people speak of working “with” a company rather than “for” – a desire for shared purpose rather than mere subordination. Hence, in an era where majority cohorts probably begin halfway up Maslow’s hierarchy, the demand to feel part of a grander narrative, rather than the daily tasks, has become more than an aspiration; it is a baseline expectation.

Personalize talent strategy.

Firms are increasingly embracing customized talent strategies in response to the shifting landscape of workplace trends. Discussions with leaders encapsulated this approach using the “BOAT” framework—embracing leadership behaviors that foster a great experience centered around Balance, Opportunity, Access, and Talk to cultivate trust and loyalty.
At heart, the initiatives of the organizations must be personalized to address employees’ most pressing questions:

• Am I understood?
• Am I valued?
• Am I cared for?
• Am I empowered?

Ensure the customer’s voice stays central.

While products and services have evolved dramatically, the essential nature of consumers has not.
This consistency calls for organizations to keep the customer’s voice at the center of strategy and harness new technologies to cater to enduring human needs. Enabling this, then ensures the sustenance of businesses- using customer insights as a compass in both prosperous and precarious times.

Focus on inclusion and development of individuals.

Leaders’ conversations at the For All Summit Mumbai 2025 also highlighted that real progress demands more than empowerment training programs; it requires a mindset that sees equality as more than identical treatment—one rooted in empathy, nuance, and respect for diverse backgrounds.

Poll results at the 2024 and 2025 For All Summit Mumbai mentioned upskilling and reskilling as the biggest priority, especially given the accelerating impact of artificial intelligence on day-to-day work. Therefore, leaders must prioritize empowerment, inclusion, and development at every level of the organization.

Creating the Best Workplace experience

Change is often easy when the culture is strong. The Best Workplaces^TM understand this and strive to create a High-Trust and High-Performance Culture

This enables everyone to experience a great workplace for all, leading to innovation and financial growth. With this approach, growth becomes not merely attainable but almost inevitable.

Get Certified to Showcase Your Commitment

Achieving Great Place To Work Certification™ is an excellent way to demonstrate your organization’s commitment to employees’ overall well-being and experience. This Certification not only enhances your employer branding but also helps attract and retain top talent. It highlights to current and prospective employees that your organization values their overall well-being, fostering an environment where they feel appreciated and supported.

By implementing a culture of trust, respect, and collaboration, you can create a workplace where employees feel valued and connected. Certification also provides a benchmark for continuous improvement, helping you identify areas where you can further enhance employee well-being and overall workplace culture. 

As celebrated on January 26, International Day of Clean Energy marks the founding date of the International Renewable Energy Agency (a global intergovernmental agency). The objective of this day is to raise awareness, advocate clean and renewable energy sources, and unite all stakeholders to help advance the sustainability mission. This, however, is a very recent phenomenon for the world; before the 1800s (before the Industrial Revolution), humans mainly relied on biomass as an energy source.

Clean Energy Initiatives in India

For India, the clean energy movement has taken significant attention in the last few decades, and it remains a topic of high importance and priority. In alignment with the clean energy transition, India became one of the first countries to set up a Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in 1992. Since then, many initiatives have been launched to advance energy transition to achieve net zero by 2070 and meet 50% of electricity needs from non-fossil sources by 2030. Solar energy has grown at a 36.5% CAGR, while investments in EVs, wind energy, and other energy storage systems total billions annually.

SEBI’s recent directive of mandating the top 250 listed companies to give disclosures on ESG metrics for their value chain partners in annual reports from the financial year 2024-25 has become a significant indicator of India’s more prominent role in clean energy. Today, Deloitte India’s ESG Preparedness 2023 survey shows that 88% of Indian businesses believe sustainability regulations will impact their operations, and nearly 90% think ESG reporting boosts brand reputation. However, only 27% feel well-prepared to meet ESG requirements.

Need for leaders to build trust

Going ahead, for a promising path to net zero, a significant transition is essential. This involves Indian companies embedding sustainability into core strategies, driving innovation through green technologies, and improving climate disclosures to secure green financing.

Similarly, with the population as the most remarkable growth driver, India will need the collective effort of its entire workforce to drive action and propel the future toward clean energy goals. Companies must keep their employees engaged and motivated to address challenges, devise solutions, and succeed in the energy transition.

Leaders, too, must evolve alongside reshaping themselves to transform businesses for the better. Thus, success in every endeavour may eventually hinge on leaders’ ability to build trust, which lies at the core of the relationship between leaders and employees. Great Place To Work® India research, based on responses from over 200+ leaders from the industry roundtable, suggests that the biggest foundational challenge in creating a great employee experience is in establishing a unique environment that fosters trust.

With a strong foundation of trust, leaders will find it easier to make people move the needle on sustainability. Top employers, as measured by employee satisfaction and attractiveness to talent, have significantly higher ESG scores than their peers. Employers with highly satisfied employees score higher on ESG performance (14 percent higher) than global average employers.

Likewise, enabling trust empowers leaders to create a spirit of pride and camaraderie. When all employees experience trust, it fosters an environment of innovation and drives financial success. Both are critical to finding new, sustainable solutions and ensuring the necessary financial resources to scale the clean energy transition. Hence, to meet sustainability goals, organizations need leaders to build workplace trust.

“About 3.4 billion people in the world work somewhere.
Wouldn’t it make sense if we started there and if we created this great environment for people where they work?”
– Tony Bond, Chief diversity and innovation officer, Great Place To Work

Authored by Gurab Virk, Great Place To Work India’s report on India’s Most Trusted Leaders 2024 shares an insightful perspective on how leaders can enable this transition successfully.

Three Essentials to Make Sustainability Stick

Create Sustainability Ambassador Programs

Establish a Sustainability Ambassador program where employees volunteer to champion environmental initiatives within the company. These ambassadors can lead projects, raise awareness, and drive engagement in sustainability practices.

Develop ERG-driven Innovation Labs

Set up Innovation Labs where employee resource groups can propose and develop projects contributing to the company’s ESG objectives. Provide resources, mentorship, and funding for the best ideas to bring them to fruition.

Implement a Stakeholder Collaboration Approach

Move beyond traditional stakeholder management to a more collaborative approach for stakeholder acceptance of ESG goals. This involves employees, customers, suppliers, communities, and the environment in decision-making.

Get Certified to Showcase Your Commitment

Achieving Great Place To Work Certification™ is an excellent way to demonstrate your organization’s commitment to employees’ overall well-being and experience. This Certification not only enhances your employer branding but also helps attract and retain top talent. It highlights to current and prospective employees that your organization values their overall well-being, fostering an environment where they feel appreciated and supported.

By implementing a culture of trust, respect, and collaboration, you can create a workplace where employees feel valued and connected. Certification also provides a benchmark for continuous improvement, helping you identify areas where you can further enhance employee well-being and overall workplace culture. 

For All Summit Mumbai 2025: Vision to Value – Building Workplaces That Matter

Join us on February 6, 2025, in Mumbai for an enlightening day filled with insights on creating sustainable, humane, and inclusive workplaces. Learn from industry leaders about purpose-driven cultures, innovative HR practices, and adaptive leadership strategies.

Get your passes today – https://testg.in/for-all-summit