How We Are Building a Culture of Holistic Wellness at Varthana
At Varthana, the approach to holistic wellness at work goes far beyond perks. By focusing on emotional, physical, social, and financial well-being, we’re creating a culture where every employee – regardless of location or life stage – feels genuinely supported and valued.
Identifying the Gap: Wellness Meant Different Things to Different People
The Challenge: What workplace or people issue was identified?
In today’s evolving workplace, the definition of wellness extends far beyond physical health. At Varthana, we recognized that our wellness approach had traditionally been centered around physical well-being, with limited focus on the other vital pillars – mental, social, and financial wellness. Our efforts often leaned toward typical insurance programs and financial support during contingencies. Preventive and futuristic care remained significantly underutilized.
But our biggest challenge stemmed from our own strength – diversity. With a workforce spread across 200+ spoke locations and more than 60% based in Tier 3 cities and rural areas, our employees are at different life stages and have distinct needs and lifestyles. A one-size-fits-all model simply wasn’t working. Additionally, many frontline managers lacked the awareness and tools to support and advocate for holistic wellness, making it harder to embed wellness into our culture in a meaningful way.
“We brought our vision to life under the banner of ‘Be Healthy,’ our organization-wide wellness initiative with a goal to make Varthana the happiest workplace to be.”
Rooted in Purpose: How Our Core Value Sparked a Wellness Revolution
The Spark: What inspired the solution or innovative thought?
Our turning point came from a simple yet powerful insight – if we truly want to support our people, wellness needs to be preventive, inclusive, and personal. We had to move beyond surface-level initiatives and deeply embed wellness into the everyday experience of our people.
This idea resonated with one of our core values – “Serve Others.” At Varthana, this value is about care and relationships. Supporting wellness is not just about benefits or sessions; it’s about compassion, connection, and community. If we are to truly serve one another, we must ensure everyone feels supported, not only physically, but also emotionally, socially, and financially.
Be Healthy: Building a Tailored, Pillar-Based Wellness Ecosystem
The Execution: How was the idea implemented? What roadblocks came up?
We brought our vision to life under the banner of “Be Healthy,” our organization-wide wellness initiative with a goal to make Varthana the happiest workplace to be.
We began with a shift in mindset – creating awareness and curating a flexible, customizable bouquet of wellness offerings tailored to our employees’ and their families’ diverse needs.
This included all four pillars of wellness equally:
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Physical wellness through annual check-ups and early intervention programs for preventive healthcare, apart from the bouquet of other physical wellness benefits.
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Mental wellness by normalizing conversations, reducing stigma, and providing access to experts and mental wellness tools.
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Social wellness by fostering a collaborative and open culture to ensure a stress-free work environment, especially critical during challenging work periods.
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Financial wellness by creating awareness around investment planning, National Pension Scheme (NPS), and preparing employees for financial uncertainties. We also support with solutions like salary advances, offering timely aid when needed.
Implementing this across urban and rural areas wasn’t without hurdles. Awareness levels were uneven, but we persisted with localized engagement, digital platforms, and engaging conversations, thus building momentum.
“It is safe to say that our people now view wellness not as a fringe benefit.”
From Program to Practice: Cultural Shift and Real Impact
The Outcome: What was the measurable or cultural impact?
We’ve seen a measurable cultural shift. Participation in wellness programs has increased across all zones, and over 80% of employees now utilize their annual health check-up benefits. Preventive care is gaining traction with our claims going down. Around 30% of our employees are voluntarily opting for parental insurance and NPS schemes. It is safe to say that our people now view wellness not as a fringe benefit. It’s how we live our “Serve Others” value, and how we’re building not just a better workplace, but a stronger, more human Varthana.
We believe that all four pillars of wellness – physical, mental, social, and financial—must be balanced to lead a fulfilled and happy life. That is exactly the culture we are working to build.
“When wellness is personalized, proactive, and rooted in purpose, it becomes far more than a program.”
Advice to HR: Personalized Wellness Is the Future
The Learning: What should other HR leaders take away from this story?
Our journey has taught us that no matter how many facilities you provide or how much budget you allocate, it doesn’t make a difference if employees don’t have awareness, or time, or a supportive environment to access them. That’s the real challenge.
At Varthana, we strive to create that environment where wellness is not an isolated effort but a collective, community-driven experience. When wellness is personalized, proactive, and rooted in purpose, it becomes far more than a program.
