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The hybrid work conversation in most Indian organisations peaked around 2022 and has since settled into one of two positions. Either the organisation has issued a return-to-office mandate that is either enforced or quietly ignored, or it has formalised a hybrid arrangement that specifies days without specifying much else.

There is a number that Indian organisations cite frequently in DEI conversations, and almost never examine with sufficient honesty: the percentage of women at entry level versus the percentage who make it to senior leadership.

The way most organisations respond to burnout follows a pattern that is almost universal. A pulse survey surfaces elevated stress scores. HR commissions a wellbeing programme: mindfulness sessions, an Employee Assistance Programme helpline, perhaps a mental health awareness week. Leaders are encouraged to model healthy boundaries. The next pulse survey shows marginal improvement. The burnout continues.

There is a conversation happening in HR and L&D circles across Indian organisations that tends to oscillate between two unproductive poles. On one side: frustration. Gen Z employees are impatient, lack commitment, switch jobs without warning, and expect too much too soon. On the other side: uncritical enthusiasm. Gen Z are the future, they want purpose and flexibility, give them what they want and they will deliver.

Ask most Indian organisations whether they have a psychologically safe culture, and the answer is almost always yes. Ask them to describe what that means in practice, and the answer gets considerably thinner. A town hall with anonymous questions. A values poster featuring the word “openness.” A manager who says “my door is always open.”

Priya is one of the best analysts on her team. She has been in the same role for three years, applied twice for an internal transfer to a business strategy function, and been quietly talked out of it both times by her manager, who relies on her to keep the team’s numbers afloat.

Every March, the same ritual plays out across Indian offices. Managers scramble to recall what each team member did across the past twelve months. Employees brace for a conversation that often feels disconnected from how the year actually went. HR teams chase overdue forms. And at the end of it, very little changes.

For decades, the path to a leadership role in India ran through technical mastery, domain knowledge, and the ability to deliver under pressure. Those qualities still matter. But they no longer explain why some leaders build teams that stay, grow, and perform, while others, equally skilled on paper, struggle to hold a team together at all.

Rajan had been the best software engineer on his team for four years. He knew the codebase better than anyone, debugged problems that baffled his peers, and delivered consistently. So when a management role opened up, promoting him felt obvious.

Organisations across India are spending more than ever on leadership development. The workshops get booked months in advance. External facilitators fly in. Participants fill out feedback forms and rate the session a 4.7 out of 5. Two months later, nothing has changed.