Every so often, our collective conscience is stirred when a young life is lost to burnout or workplace toxicity — and we find ourselves voicing outrage, too late, at a system that should never have let it happen.
For a generation that enters the workforce with high aspirations and even higher emotional exposure, the workplace must evolve. Toxic cultures no longer just harm morale or affect retention. They can cost lives. And the responsibility to change this reality rests squarely with leadership — especially with HR.
This is not about token wellness webinars or annual feedback surveys. It is about fundamentally redesigning how we think about culture, support, and psychological safety. It is about ensuring that the workplace becomes a space that protects, uplifts, and empowers.
Mental health in the workplace must be integrated into the corporate risk framework with the same gravity as physical safety. Employees spend a significant portion of their waking hours at work, which means a hostile or dismissive environment only compounds personal vulnerabilities, often with devastating consequences. Conversely, a thoughtfully designed and nurturing workplace can act as a vital buffer, fostering resilience, reinforcing identity, and strengthening wellbeing. It is the responsibility of HR professionals to architect such environments through intentional policy, structural support, and empathetic leadership.
A positive work culture is not merely a collection of buzzwords or aspirational posters. It is a lived experience where employees feel safe, respected, and empowered. It is an ecosystem where dignity is safeguarded, feedback is reciprocal, and behaviours that undermine trust are addressed swiftly. This ethos must be evident at every level of the organisation and reinforced by visible, measurable cultural metrics.
Yet, despite widespread awareness, true cultural transformation continues to elude many organisations. Initiatives lose steam, champions change roles, and intent fades into annual reporting. HR must move from merely facilitating culture to becoming its principal custodian — accountable not only for design, but also for delivery, outcomes, and recalibration.
Recruitment is the first decisive moment. Organisations must go beyond competence checks and probe for alignment with behavioural expectations, ethical orientation, and interpersonal integrity. Structured behavioural interviews and real-time scenario simulations can uncover whether a potential hire will contribute to or corrode the desired culture.
Culture cannot be outsourced to policies; it must be modelled. Communication must shift from abstract values to clearly defined and observable behaviours. Culture charters that embed these into onboarding, town halls, and team rituals help reinforce collective accountability. Internal communications should normalise vulnerability, encourage psychological openness, and reflect an empathetic tone — especially in hybrid environments where connection is more fragile.
Line managers are the culture’s frontline. Often promoted for delivery, not emotional competence, they are expected to embody a responsibility they are rarely trained for. This must change. Upskilling in emotional intelligence, active listening, conflict navigation, and mental health literacy should no longer be optional. Managerial KPIs must explicitly include behavioural competencies — not just output metrics. And when breaches occur, remedial action must be swift and visible, reinforcing that culture is not soft power; it is core business infrastructure.
The onboarding window is equally critical. Immersive, values-led induction programmes supported by peer mentoring and narrative learning accelerate cultural embedding. These must move beyond function introductions to real conversations about team norms, inclusion, leadership accessibility, and mental health protocols.
Zero tolerance for harassment, discrimination, and bias must translate into robust reporting and redressal mechanisms. Many organisations have policies; few have trust in the system. Confidential, non-retaliatory channels that are well-governed and outcome-oriented restore this trust. Publicising anonymised outcomes (within the limits of privacy) sends a powerful signal: this organisation acts.
Mental health must move from being a benefits checklist to a boardroom concern. A mature mental wellbeing strategy includes proactive and reactive elements — EAPs, rest and recharge days, resilience training, manager coaching, and a visible narrative that normalises mental health. Managers must be equipped to spot early signs and intervene with empathy, while employees should be empowered to self-advocate without stigma.
Continuous culture sensing must complement annual engagement surveys. Pulse checks, digital sentiment analysis, reverse mentoring, and qualitative feedback loops such as listening circles offer real-time data on the lived experience of employees. These insights must feed into tangible interventions with clearly owned accountability.
Culture, like any strategic priority, demands measurement. Regular multi-dimensional assessments of inclusivity, trust, safety, and leadership responsiveness should inform a culture dashboard. This dashboard must be reviewed at the same cadence and rigour as operational and financial KPIs. Metrics must include leading indicators (such as manager training hours, wellbeing programme utilisation, or 360° feedback quality) and lagging ones (like attrition, absenteeism, and engagement decline). Correlating these to business indicators like innovation cycles or customer NPS makes the ROI of culture unmistakable.
Governance is the missing link in many culture strategies. Integrating culture into enterprise risk frameworks — including periodic reviews by audit and risk committees — ensures it receives the organisational attention it warrants. A cross-functional culture governance forum comprising HR, legal, compliance, and senior leadership can track red flags, evaluate interventions, and elevate emerging concerns before they escalate.
The role of the board is pivotal. Culture must be treated as a matter of fiduciary oversight. Directors must ask: What signals are we sending in how we hire, reward, and promote? How do we react to whistleblowers or mental health disclosures? Are we rewarding performance that violates values? Boards that ignore these questions are not just risking reputation — they are gambling with future viability.
Executives must lead by example. When leaders share their vulnerabilities, acknowledge failures, and hold themselves to account, they make it safe for others to do the same. Leadership authenticity is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’. It is a strategic differentiator in talent attraction, retention, and engagement.
Culture is not a campaign. It is a system of shared behaviours sustained by structures, incentives, and intent. If we wish to retain our brightest minds, foster innovation, and lead responsibly in a globally competitive market, our workplaces must reflect psychological safety as a core value — not an afterthought.
The responsibility lies squarely with HR and business leadership to move beyond intent into sustained execution. It requires courage to confront deeply embedded behaviours, empathy to redesign systems for a new generation of workers, and discipline to institutionalise change.
Creating positive work cultures is no longer a discretionary HR initiative. It is an economic imperative, a brand differentiator, and a social contract. The cost of inaction — to employees, to organisations, and to society — is one we can no longer afford to pay.
Source – https://www.businessworld.in/article/creating-positive-work-cultures-is-non-negotiable-now-559136