In 2025, workplace culture in India shifted in ways that were quieter than pandemic-era resets—but more structural. The change was less about flexibility slogans and more about how organisations redefined effort, leadership behaviour and personal boundaries.
For Niren Srivastava, Group CHRO at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, the most visible change was how employees began reclaiming personal space without diluting accountability.
“Life priorities getting more immersive in work,” he said. “Employees are starting to give more focus and time to personal space without compromising on deliverables at work. Working late / overtime is going away as a metric to track hard work now!”
That recalibration—where output matters more than endurance—has been uneven across corporate India. At Motilal Oswal, it has been enforced through design rather than intent, most notably via a company-wide ‘switch-off’ policy that has outlived the novelty phase that similar initiatives elsewhere failed to cross.
Making boundaries operational
The policy, now in place for over a year, has sustained 92% adherence—a number Srivastava attributes to relentless monitoring rather than moral appeals.
“We have been extremely disciplined in the way we have monitored the implementation of this policy,” he said. “Today there is a 92% adherence since late goers are tracked and reported to managers and their function heads on a daily basis.”
The enforcement is direct and visible. “On floor – post work hours HR and Heads monitor the late sitting personally,” Srivastava said. “The HR team reviews this on a monthly basis with the Business / Function heads.”
Crucially, the burden is placed on managers, not just employees. “A lot of managers have been sensitized and we ensure that they themselves leave on time.”
The first phase was not frictionless. “The initial 6 months were indeed a matter of push but now it is well ingrained in the system,” he said. The result is a boundary that functions less like a policy and more like infrastructure.
Learning that is forced to deliver
The same insistence on outcomes governs how learning is designed. In an environment where leadership programmes often struggle to justify their relevance, Motilal Oswal has made application mandatory.
“At MOFSL – each learning journey and program is followed by 2 non-negotiables,” Srivastava said.
The first is accountability to peers. “Teach backs – Here the employee is sharing the learnings/ case studies/ innovative ideas with the extended group of team members/ peer group.”
The second is commercial relevance. “All participants of the learning journey do ‘action learning projects’ where they apply learnings to real business problems.”
Over the past two years, the organisation has run around 30 action learning projects, which Srivastava said “have contributed in a major way in innovation and business impact”. The design ensures learning does not remain a credential—but becomes a lever.
When wellbeing stops being cosmetic
Wellbeing initiatives, often dismissed as performative, have also been treated as systems rather than events. Srivastava draws a clear line between symbolism and substance.
“Real wellbeing is in ensuring that it’s woven into the work culture, work environment & practices that supports it,” he said.
At Motilal Oswal, wellbeing is tracked daily. “We daily measure effectiveness of our ‘switch-off policy’, monitor the ‘WQ’ (wellness quotient), track no of steps / calories of employees.”
The numbers are operational rather than aspirational. “Our switch-off policy has an overall effectiveness of over 93%, an avg WQ score of 65 for the org, avg 6000 steps per emp walked each day.”
Health monitoring extends beyond participation. “Over 75% emp are covered through health check-ups on vital parameters and improvement on these parameters i.e. from High – Mod – Low risk is monitored.”
Follow-through is where most programmes collapse. “To ensure that health check-up and seminars are not just token wellness, we take it forward meaningfully by providing ‘care management’,” Srivastava said.
Utilisation data suggests depth: “Our Dr Consultation have had ~2000 registrations, over ~3000 registrations for mental wellness, ~15% utilisation for care management.”
Financial wellbeing, often ignored in culture conversations, has been treated as equally structural. “On financial wellness, there are programs investments and insurance programs created for employees (Happy Tomorrow, Secure Tomorrow) to enable wealth creation and investing habits,” he said, adding that this has resulted in an MF AUM book size of ~300 Cr.
Culture revealed in who gets included
Culture, Srivastava believes, is ultimately revealed not in leadership decks but in everyday choices. Inclusive traditions—such as the firm’s Thanksgiving dinner for drivers, housekeeping and facilities teams—play a deliberate role.
“Such events demonstrate our consistency to honour our values and belief systems,” he said. “The belief in wholeheartedly and humbly doing such events give our employees a sense of purpose and fulfilment as well.”
The impact extends to newcomers. “It also is a great example of new comers in the organization who are really touched by this and understand our value system better.”
The real test of 2026
Looking ahead, Srivastava is clear-eyed about what will matter next. In a volatile environment, communication and emotional security will define credibility.
“How effective we are in terms of Open & Transparent communication with employees in an ever-changing world is crucial and will continue to define workplace culture in 2026,” he said.
He also sees organisations needing to rethink the currency of rewards. “Another element will be to launch and implement a few policies which might be non-monetary in nature but give a sense of comfort and mental/emotional security to employees.”
If 2025 was about correcting excesses, 2026 will be about sustaining trust. And as this conversation suggests, the organisations that succeed will be those willing to measure culture with the same seriousness they apply to performance.