Reimagining Workplace Wellbeing: Culture and Strategy

“What would a workplace look like where wellbeing isn’t a program — but a way of being, leading, and belonging?” This strikes at the core of the discussion that unfolded on the 20th June 2025, when a group of HR leaders from leading Indian and global organizations across technology, logistics, pharma, consulting, development, finance, came together in Mumbai to envision the workplace of the future through the human lens. Anchored by Debasmita Sinha, Chief Psychologist and Clinical Director at Manah Wellness, discussion was marked by openness, reflection, and a shared commitment to moving beyond tokenistic wellbeing programs towards something deeper and lasting. What emerged was a clear collective vision: a future where mental wellbeing is not a side initiative but an everyday, lived experience — woven into culture, leadership, and business outcomes.

The Evolving Experience of Wellbeing at Work

Leaders shared their aspirations for what workplace wellbeing should feel like for employees. At its foundation was emotional safety — an environment where individuals feel seen, valued, and secure enough to speak openly, make mistakes, and ask for help without judgment.

This was complemented by:

Relational wellbeing — where people feel connected, supported by their managers, and part of a larger purpose.
Growth-oriented wellbeing — where employees feel excited, valued, and have clarity and certainty about their development and future.

The consensus was clear: employees thrive when wellbeing is not treated as a program, but as part of how work gets done and how people relate to each other every day.

Framing the Narrative: From Messaging to Meaning

When discussing how mental wellbeing should be positioned across the organization, participants emphasized the importance of audience-specific approaches — united by a common ethos of authenticity.

For Employees, wellbeing should be experienced as organic, embedded, and safe. It needs to be reflected in team rituals, manager conversations, HRM systems, and even performance reviews. Highlighting the importance of authenticity, a group of leaders agreed that people don’t want a glossy calendar, they want to see their leaders walk the talk. Leaders also emphasized the need for psychological safety that allows individuals to engage with wellbeing on their own terms, without feeling pressured or scrutinized.
For Leaders, the framing was more strategic. Wellbeing was seen as a capability, not just a concept. Many spoke about the need to equip mid-level managers — the “connective tissue” of organizations — to lead with empathy, resilience, and clarity. Ms. Sangeeta Chandran cited the “Care for Leaders” program at TCS, designed to embed wellbeing into training for early stage leaders, to help percolate the aspirations from the boardrooms to the people.

Importantly, participants agreed that wellbeing should be seen not just as the right thing to do, but as a business enabler — improving performance, retention, brand equity, and culture.

Navigating Trust, Misuse, and Systemic Risk

A recurring concern in the conversation was the potential misuse of mental health accommodations. One voice echoed by several others offered a powerful reframing: “You cannot prevent misuse entirely. Every system carries that risk. But when you see the people who truly benefit from it — it’s a win.”

This statement projects the maturity with which many leaders are now approaching wellbeing — with trust over control, and compassion over suspicion, with clear accountability for a balanced approach.

Systemic Enablers: Moving Beyond Campaigns

Participants underlined the importance of systems that make care sustainable, even after the buzz of a campaign dies down. Some of the key enablers discussed included:

Communication Systems that are designed not for announcements, but for authentic storytelling — where people across roles share real experiences of struggle, strength, and recovery.
Peer Support Programs, when positioned as a core cultural pillar (not a fringe benefit), can build trust, normalize vulnerability, and enable early intervention. Several leaders shared examples where peer support led to timely escalation and support — even saving lives.

Suicide Prevention Frameworks with trained gatekeepers were also highlighted as crucial infrastructure — especially in high-pressure industries.

Citing “lives saved” as a powerful metric Ms. Chandran added that it’s not just about preventing crises; it’s about creating a system that will hold you when you need it most.

Metrics that Matter

To assess the real impact of wellbeing efforts, leaders proposed a more layered approach to measurement. These included:

NPS (Net Promoter Score) post-program to understand resonance
Need-based and shift-based surveys to track relevance over time
Culture audits that capture unspoken experiences and gaps
Wellbeing indicators in KRAs, reinforcing that care is part of performance
Engagement data from high-stress teams as leading indicators

Mr. Tushar Desai from FIS offered a word of caution: “The data is not the full story. It needs context, empathy, and honest analysis to be meaningful.”

Leaders also pointed to external trust markers — like Glassdoor reviews and referral rates — as subtle but powerful indicators of psychological climate.

Insights, Needs, and Questions Ahead

The roundtable closed with a quiet consensus: workplace wellbeing is no longer a “nice-to-have” — it’s a strategic and moral imperative. But to truly make it work, organizations must move:

From events to ecosystems
From policies to everyday practices
From top-down messaging to shared ownership

Every organization is unique and at different stages in their wellbeing journey. The questions are therefore layered and are all but answered. Perhaps the discussion helps collective learning and empowers us to hold the right questions:

How do we build accountability for wellbeing in teams, without turning it into a burden?
What will it take to enable frontline managers to lead with both performance and empathy?
How can we ensure that our systems — from grievance redressal to career development — reflect the psychological values we aspire to?

In essence, the conversation reflected an important shift: from optics to ownership. Leaders aren’t just looking to talk about wellbeing — they’re working to embed it into the fabric of their organizations. As this collective effort deepens, it’s clear that the future of work will not just be productive — but also more human.