Mumbai, Date: Great Place To Work® India, the global authority on workplace culture, has released new research on employee health and wellness, pointing to a clear but often overlooked factor: how consistently leaders act on what they say.
The findings suggest that workplace well-being is shaped less by surface-level initiatives and more by everyday leadership behaviours. Employees who feel encouraged and supported in a meaningful way tend to perform better, stay longer, and contribute more actively within their organizations.
One of the more striking patterns in the study is the link between well-being and retention. Employees who experience wellness at work are nearly twice as likely to stay at their organisation and are far more inclined to participate in innovation-led efforts. Among all the factors analysed, the sense of “I can be myself here” stood out, accounting for 27% of the total impact on the overall wellness score. Leadership consistency, defined by whether managers’ actions align with their stated intent, contributed 13%, reinforcing the role of credibility in shaping employee experience.
However, the experience is not uniform across the workforce. Some groups appear to be feeling the gap more than others. Women reported a wellness score of 82%, and so did employees in the 2–5 year tenure bracket. Notably, the groups that reported lower well-being experience also demonstrated lower confidence in leadership follow-through, suggesting a direct relationship between leadership behaviour and how supported employees feel.
Commenting on the findings, Balbir Singh, CEO, Great Place To Work India, said, “The Great Place To Work Wellness IndexTM has improved from 83% to 85% this year, an encouraging sign that organisations are taking employee well-being seriously. Yet the gains remain uneven. Burnout, particularly among younger employees, continues to demand attention. Data shows that when employees experience low burnout, they are 12 times more likely to feel able to innovate. Well-being is not a benefit; it is the foundation of a high-trust, high-performance culture. I congratulate the winners of India’s Best Workplaces in Health and Wellness 2026, who have demonstrated that prioritising people is the smartest business decision an organisation can make.”
Organizations recognized as Best Workplaces show a stronger performance across key indicators. About 86% of employees at Best Workplaces report a great wellness workplace. A similar trend appears in how employees approach their day, with 86% saying they look forward to work, versus 82% in other workplaces. Access to learning and development also remains higher, with 87% of employees in Best Workplaces reporting positively, compared to 82% in other workplaces.
The broader business implications of wellness are equally hard to ignore. Among employees who experience wellness at work, 94% say they intend to stay with their organization. In contrast, that number drops sharply to 44% among those who don’t. The same contrast is visible in discretionary effort, where 88% of employees experiencing wellness say they go above and beyond, compared to just 50% who do not experience wellness at the workplace.
Adaptability follows a similar pattern. Nearly all employees who report remarkably high wellness experience(94%) say they can adjust quickly to change, compared to 53% of those who do not experience wellness. Innovation, too, is affected, with 95% of employees who experience wellness say they contribute ideas, compared to 58% among their less engaged counterparts.
Taken together, the findings point to a simple but critical takeaway: improving employee wellness is not about adding more initiatives, but about strengthening consistency in leadership behaviour. Paying closer attention to groups that feel less supported and ensuring leaders deliver on their commitments can significantly shift how employees experience the workplace.
In doing so, organizations are not just improving well-being; they are creating conditions where people are more likely to stay, adapt, and contribute at a higher level.
The list is published as Top 10 India’s Best Workplaces in Health & Wellness 2026: Companies that Care, followed by Top 11 to 50 in alphabetical order. For the complete list of winners and their details, please visit: https://www.greatplacetowork.in/indias-best-workplaces-in-health-wellness/
Top 10:
- Accenture Solutions Private Limited
- Capgemini Technology Services India Limited
- Digitide Solution Limited
- Flipkart Group (Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd., Cleartrip, Flipkart Wholesale)
- H & R Block (India) Private Limited
- Hindalco Industries Limited
- PGP Glass Private Limited
- Quess Corp Limited
- Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Limited
- Uno Minda Group
11–50 (Alphabetical order)
- Acquia India Private Limited
- Altudo Consultancy Services Private Limited
- Ascendion Engineering Private Limited
- Awfis Space Solutions Limited
- Axis Max Life Insurance Limited
- BA Call Center India Private Limited
- Bajaj Energy
- Basware India Private Limited
- CitiusTech Healthcare Technology Private Limited
- Compass Group India (Compass India Food Services Pvt. Ltd. & Compass Group (India) Pvt. Ltd.)
- DCB Bank Limited
- Elsevier
- Epsilon India Data and Digital Technology Solutions LLP
- First American (India) Private Limited
- Gainwell Commosales Private Limited
- Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Limited
- Grant Thornton Bharat and its affiliates
- HashedIn Technologies Private Limited
- Indegene Limited
- Kohler India Corporation Private Limited
- L&T Finance Limited
- Lifestyle International Private Limited
- Marriott Hotels India Private Limited
- Muthoot Fincorp Limited
- Nitor Infotech Private Limited, an Ascendion Company
- Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Limited
- Novartis Healthcare Private Limited
- PwC in India
- Quantiphi Analytics Solutions Private Limited
- Savills Property Services (India) Private Limited
- Schneider Electric India Private Limited
- Shriram Finance Limited
- SUTHERLAND
- Synchrony International Services Private Limited
- Tata Communications Limited
- Titan Company Limited
- Truhome Finance Limited
- TVS Credit Services Limited
- Universal Sompo General Insurance Company Limited
- Volkswagen Group Digital Solutions [India]
About Great Place To Work
As the global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work® brings 30 years of groundbreaking research and data to help every place become a great place to work for all. Their proprietary platform and For All™ model helps companies evaluate the experience of every employee, with exemplary workplaces becoming Great Place To Work Certified™ or receiving recognition on a coveted Best Workplaces™ List.
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For media queries:
Anita Borate – anita.borate@greatplacetowork.com
