Sohini brings with her over 12 years of experience across diverse industries including pharmaceuticals, consulting, and large conglomerates, partnering with leaders to drive people, culture, and wellbeing agendas at scale. She has worked closely with senior stakeholders across business functions to design and implement HR strategies that balance organisational performance with employee wellbeing. Currently heads the HR Business Partnering function for India & Australia and serves as the Global Wellbeing Lead, Sohini drives initiatives focused on embedding wellbeing into everyday ways of working, strengthening leadership capability, and translating employee feedback into meaningful action.
We are delighted that Sohini will be speaking in Bengaluru as part of our Wellbeing at Work Summit Asia this April. We caught up with her to see how she’s feeling in the runup to the event.
Hi Sohini we are thrilled that you will be joining us at the Wellbeing at Work Summit Asia in April. Our first and most important question is, how are you doing today?
Thank you, I am doing very well today, and I am glad to be speaking at a session on a topic that I am deeply passionate about.
In my role of heading the HR Business Partnering function for two countries and leading the global Wellbeing Committee, wellbeing is something I engage with both strategically and personally. It’s not just about driving initiatives, but about understanding how people truly experience work on a day-to-day basis.
As a leader based in the region, what are the main challenges you are facing when it comes to employee wellbeing and mental health?
Wellbeing can still carry a stigma in certain cultures, particularly when it comes to mental health. While awareness is increasing, creating environments where employees feel safe speaking openly about wellbeing or asking for support still requires ongoing leadership commitment.
Also, the challenge of moving from initiatives to culture. Many companies run wellbeing programs, but the real impact comes when wellbeing becomes embedded in leadership behaviours, team norms, and everyday decision-making.
What strategies have you seen developing over the past 6 months, both internally and externally, that are moving the dial on wellbeing in the workplace?
Over the past few months, I have seen a shift toward more practical and inclusive wellbeing strategies.
Organizations are increasingly focusing on flexibility and autonomy, recognising that wellbeing is closely tied to how work is structured. Policies that allow employees greater control over their time and environment are making a significant difference.
Another positive development is the growing attention to life-stage wellbeing, such as support for menopause, caregiving responsibilities, and different personal circumstances employees may face.
There’s also greater emphasis on listening to employees more intentionally using surveys, feedback loops, and open conversations to ensure wellbeing initiatives reflect real needs rather than assumptions.
Why is employee wellbeing so important to you personally?
Employee wellbeing is no longer just a “nice-to-have” benefit but a strategic business imperative that ensures long-term sustainability and growth. When people feel supported, respected, and able to manage their energy, they are far more likely to perform at their best over the long term. We spend a significant part of our lives at work, so it’s important that workplaces enable people not just to perform, but to feel supported and valued as individuals.
I see wellbeing as deeply connected to leadership and culture. It’s not a standalone initiative, it shows up in how decisions are made, how teams operate, and how leaders create space for balance and psychological safety.
That’s why it matters to me—it’s about building environments where people can succeed in a way that is both meaningful and sustainable.
AI is starting to have a meaningful impact on how we think about productivity, decision-making, and the way work is structured. It helps streamline routine tasks and enabling teams to focus more on higher-value work.
There are three areas we are particularly mindful of:
- Adopting responsible AI solutions that boost productivity and value from our operations.
- Conversations around job evolution, skills development, and employee confidence in navigating change.
- From a wellbeing perspective, the conversation is less about the technology itself and more about how it is experienced by employees.
Other than AI, are there any challenges that you are seeing for the first time and how are you addressing them?
Blurring of boundaries in flexible and hybrid environments. While flexibility has been a positive shift, it has also made it harder for some employees to truly disconnect, which can impact on long-term wellbeing.
We are also seeing a growing need around meaningful connection and belonging. In more distributed ways of working, employees can feel less connected to teams and purpose if this isn’t addressed.
What areas do you think employers should be focused on over the next 12 months?
First, embedding wellbeing into leadership capability. Leaders play a critical role in shaping everyday employee experience—through how they prioritise work, create psychological safety, and role-model sustainable behaviours.
Second, designing work more thoughtfully. This includes how we approach flexibility, workload, and expectations. It’s no longer just about where work happens, but how it happens in a way that is sustainable over time.
Third, inclusive wellbeing—ensuring that our approach reflects the diverse needs of employees across different life stages and personal circumstances. One-size-fits-all solutions are increasingly ineffective.
And importantly, strengthening connection and belonging. In more hybrid and distributed environments, connection doesn’t happen as naturally as it once did. Organizations need to be more intentional in creating opportunities for collaboration, recognition, and shared purpose, so employees continue to feel engaged and connected to their teams and the organisation.
Overall, the focus needs to shift from individual initiatives to creating a more holistic and sustainable employee experience.
Do you feel that investment in employee wellbeing in the region is increasing or decreasing and is that a direct reflection on HR leaders’ increasing ability to demonstrate effective returns of their strategies to leadership?
Overall, I would say that investment in employee wellbeing is gradually increasing, although it continues to vary across organisations and industries.
What’s evolving more noticeably is the expectation around impact and accountability. Wellbeing is no longer seen purely as a people initiative—it is increasingly being viewed through a business lens, with a stronger focus on outcomes such as engagement, retention, and overall organisational effectiveness.
As a result, HR leaders are being asked to demonstrate clearer value and impact. While not everything in wellbeing can be easily quantified, there is a growing emphasis on combining data-driven insights with employee feedback to build a more complete picture.
At the same time, I think there is a shift in mindset—from trying to prove ROI in isolation to positioning wellbeing as an enabler of sustainable performance. The organisations that are making the most progress are those that are integrating wellbeing into how work is designed and experienced, rather than treating it as a standalone investment.
How has your organisation been leading the way?
Our approach has been to move beyond standalone initiatives and focus on building a more integrated and sustainable wellbeing ecosystem—one that combines policy, culture, employee listening, and increasingly, our broader ESG priorities.
From a policy perspective, we have introduced flexible ways of working, including Work From Anywhere, and more recently, a dedicated Wellbeing Day Off. These are designed not just as benefits, but as clear signals around trust, flexibility, and the importance of rest.
We have also placed a strong emphasis on inclusive wellbeing. Initiatives such as menopause guidance and awareness sessions help us better support employees across different life stages and create a more open, informed, and inclusive workplace.
A key strength in our approach has been our employee-led Wellbeing Committee. This is important because it ensures that wellbeing is not designed top-down but is shaped by real employee voices and lived experiences. It gives us a continuous pulse on what matters most to our people and reinforces a culture where employees feel heard and involved in shaping the agenda.
A key area of focus has been making wellbeing more engaging, measurable, and aligned to purpose. Through platforms like Treekly, we have been able to encourage healthier habits such as walking, while also linking individual actions to a collective sustainability impact—bringing together wellbeing and environmental responsibility in a meaningful way.
This is where we see a strong connection with our ESG agenda. Wellbeing is not just a people priority; it is a core part of the ‘Social’ pillar—supporting employee health, inclusion, and engagement—while initiatives like Treekly also contribute to environmental awareness and collective impact.
We have also focused on emotional wellbeing and connection, through gratitude sessions and volunteering opportunities, helping strengthen a sense of purpose and belonging across teams.
Another important pillar has been employee listening. We actively use feedback from surveys and engagement touchpoints to understand what is working and where we need to evolve, and we are increasingly focused on closing the loop so employees can see tangible outcomes from their input.
Importantly, we are working to ensure that wellbeing is not positioned as a separate agenda but is embedded into leadership conversations and ways of working—from how work is prioritised to how leaders role-model behaviours.
We are still on the journey, but our focus has been on making wellbeing practical, inclusive, measurable, and aligned to both business and ESG priorities, rather than program driven.
Sohini is speaking in Bengaluru as part of our Wellbeing at Work Summit Asia 2026 which takes place in Hong Kong, Singapore and Bengaluru this April. Click the links below to find out more and book your tickets:
April 23 2026 – Hong Kong. Click here to find out more and book your tickets
April 28 & 29 2026 – Singapore. Click here to find out more and book your tickets
April 20 2026 – Bengaluru. Click here to find out more and book your tickets
