How Zensar Technologies Redefined Culture to Enter Great Place To Work’s Top 50
About The Company
Zensar Technologies is a global digital solutions and technology services company that helps businesses with digital transformation through its “experience-led” philosophy. A subsidiary of the RPG Group, the company specializes in digital engineering, cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and data analytics. Its services span across industries including financial services, insurance, retail, and manufacturing.
- Employee Size : 7,400+ India based employees
- Industry: Information Technology
- Industry: Pune
In 2025, Zensar Technologies earned a notable accomplishment and milestone, being featured in the Top 50 India’s Best Companies To Work For, by Great Place To Work® India. By achieving an impressive rank of 47, they made a powerful debut entrance to the list. Having been part of Great Place To Work assessments from 2015 to 2020, Zensar looked inwards, establishing a robust cultural transformation process. Fast forward to 2024, when the next survey took place, Zensar proudly occupied a sweet spot with industry-leading employee retention, a strong future-ready workforce, and human-centered innovation that fuels sustainable, people-led growth. Their growth and advancement is reflected in their Trust Index™ Scores as well, with 88% of employees feeling proud to tell others that they work at Zensar.
Zensar reimagined culture, as a business enabler and strategist, not merely as a value system.
The Journey: 2015–2020
Zensar embarked on this transformation in 2015, undertaking the Trust Index survey for five straight years. The management at Zensar Technologies was always clear about its approach – gather feedback through the survey, share the results with Zensarians, invite them back to co-create culture, and be the champions of the change they want to see in the workplace. They took a deliberate approach to become an Employer of Choice, achieving this by listening to their employees. As a result, Zensar unveiled its Employee Value Proposition (EVP) of GOAL – Grow, Own, Achieve, and Learn, in 2019.
The Cultural Pivot: 2020–2024
Between 2020 and 2024, Zensar initiated a deep cultural reset anchored in three strategic themes:
1. Purpose, Values, and Collaborative Communication
Zensar’s unwavering commitment to shape better futures for its employees is embedded in its Values of Nurturing and Empowering, as well as its Employee Value Proposition (EVP) of Grow, Own, Achieve, and Learn. Perhaps the most potent change at Zensar was the crafting of its organisational purpose and refreshing the values through extensive discussions with stakeholders, the leadership team, employees, and its clients. Instead of handing down a purpose statement flowing from the top, the company conducted workshops and focus groups with employees representing diverse demographics to gather perspectives. These generated new ideas and themes which in discussion with their leaders, paved the way for their new set of values. This inclusive process resulted in greater ownership and alignment, so purpose became a living, breathing aspect of day-to-day work. This approach resonates with its purpose, ‘Together, we shape experiences for better futures.’ This was coupled with an enterprise-wide roll-out of Zensar’s refreshed values under the theme of ONE with Client (One Zensar, Nurturing, Empowering, and Client Focus).
Consequently, the scores for collaboration observed a sharp rise of 18 points, signaling that employees were not just staying, they were actively committing, contributing, and growing within a culture that listened and responded. Through intentional communication, leadership participation, and purpose-practice alignment, Zensar was able to progressively enrich its purpose-driven culture. To ensure smooth and real-time communication, Zensar has a unique application Zenverse that provides an exclusive platform for employees to directly engage and interact with the CEO/Executive Committee members, enabling fruitful discussions, feedback, and suggestions that have led to notable improvements in the organization. Communication has seen a momentous upward movement by 19-points in the Trust Index Survey from 2020 to 2024.
“My journey at Zensar has been incredibly fulfilling both professionally and personally. I appreciate the company’s focus on customer centricity, ensuring that while we meet business goals, we also prioritize empathy and communication in every interaction. Being part of a team that values collaboration and continuous improvement has made my time here truly meaningful. I’m proud to contribute to Zensar’s commitment to excellence.”
– Claudette, an employee at Zensar.
2. Leveraging Capability Building as a Core Differentiator
Zensar has established a robust and inclusive capability development ecosystem that positions continuous learning as a strategic differentiator. Its unique Development Action Planning (DAP) framework comes to life through its AI-enabled learning platform ZenLearn, offering a wide range of courses and resources tailored to individual career goals and learning preferences at scale. Technology talent transformation efforts are guided by its I-T-Pi Skills framework for cross-skilling and upskilling (I – deep expertise in a single domain; T – combination of depth with broad cross-functional knowledge; Pi – deep expertise in two or more domains alongside a broad base of supporting competencies). These efforts are supplemented with initiatives such as technical certifications, domain academies, role-based academies for project management, solution architecture, etc, as well as focused Guilds and Communities. Through its Ignite AI Academy, Zensar has also taken significant strides to transform its workforce to be at the forefront of the AI wave.
Zensar has also invested significant efforts in building a strong leadership pipeline. Through its interventions, such as LeAP (Leadership Acceleration Programs) for enabling faster transition, and People Manager Bootcamps to equip managers to lead effectively in an augmented workforce, it has embarked on an ambitious roadmap to position itself well for the future. As an outcome of these development initiatives, the employee retention levels as well as engagement scores for the teams of managers covered under these programs have been observed to be higher than the rest of the organization. Through initiatives such as VANTAGE for building thought leadership and personalized long-term development planning for leaders, Zensar is focusing extensively on building capabilities for senior leadership.
These efforts have led to measurable impact: revenue-enablement through talent development, a significant share of upskilled employees redeployed to new projects, and industry-leading engagement and retention rates – demonstrating how strategic learning and development efforts drive both employee empowerment and business success.
Impact
Average per-person learning hours have almost doubled during the last 5-year period, and the Development Action Plan creation and completion rates stood at 93% and 88%, respectively, for FY’24-25, which is a unique phenomenon in the industry. As a result of this, Zensar’s Trust Index Survey score for training and development has seen a massive 14-points increase over the last 5 years.
“What makes Zensar truly special is its commitment to continuous learning and genuine appreciation for its people. The endless opportunities for growth and the recognition of every individual’s unique value have made my journey here deeply rewarding. It is a place where potential is nurtured, contributions are celebrated, and possibilities are limitless.”
– Shameena, an employee at Zensar
3. Focus on Employee Happiness and Happiness Framework
Their deep commitment to well-being, engagement and emotional connection is an outcome of the people-first philosophy that is advocated by the Happiness Framework of RPG and Zensar.
These tenets go beyond aspirational ideals, they are grounded in data to capture employee sentiment that are actively measured through RPG and Zensar’s proprietary Happiness Index, and drive targeted and meaningful action planning across the organization. The framework has been instrumental in cultivating a workplace where employees feel a strong sense of belonging and pride. Employees align with what the company stands for and have immense pride in it. This has been a pioneer in shaping policies, programs, and leadership behaviors that reinforce personal growth, recognition, cultural alignment, and purpose.
A key enabler of this experience has been Zensar’s progressive approach towards providing flexibility to its employees through a Work from Anywhere (WFA) model. This model seamlessly empowers employees to integrate their personal and professional lives. The result is enhanced performance and collaboration with a sense of autonomy and well-being. Over 5 years, work-life balance has risen by 14-points on the Trust Index Survey. Over the past five years, this sustained focus on holistic happiness has led to a massive 17-points increase in Pride scores on the Trust Index Survey, reflecting a significant uplift in how employees perceive their connection to the organization. By making happiness a strategic enabler, Zensar aligns individual aspirations with the goals of the organization and solidifying its position as a great place to work.
“Our commitment towards enabling the happiness of our employees and nurturing their potential is the foundation of our success. Our purpose acts as our north star, and our organisational values anchor our efforts in our endeavor to create better futures for our clients, our employees, and the communities that we operate in. The recognition of featuring among Top 50 of India’s best companies to work for, reflects our ongoing efforts towards creating a future-ready workforce where every employee feels supported, valued, and inspired to bring their best selves to work, enabling us to deliver extraordinary outcomes for our clients, our business, as well as our people.”
Leveraging the power of continuous listening
Zensar has deployed multi-modal mechanisms to gather real-time feedback from employees and drive improvements. A unique mix of human interface, such as manager connects, people partner sync-ups, and leader-led discussions, along with technology-enabled mechanisms, such as user-focused mobile applications and AI chatbots, has been deployed to strike the right balance of listening with connection and at scale.
By creating multiple channels to listen, Zensar has created opportunities for all voices to be heard, and shape meaningful change. This reflects the Great Place To Work philosophy that surveys are essential, not just to measure sentiment, but to turn the data into actionable information and build a workplace where people thrive.
Strategic Lessons from Zensar’s Journey
With Great Place To Work India as a partner, it transformed employee voices into action, gaining not only a high-trust, high-performing culture but also recognition that amplified its brand value.
Genuine ownership and commitment is fostered by involving employees in designing purpose, policies, programs, and platforms.
Learning and development efforts, when aligned to ensure future-readiness and client success, create true impact.
Conclusion: Future-Ready, Culture-Strong
Zensar’s re-entry into the Great Place To Work ecosystem wasn’t just a comeback, but a very powerful statement. It reiterates the fact that culture built with purpose to empower and develop cultivates an environment where employees across generations feel heard, supported, seen and inspired to make the company better. This is reflected in the employee sentiment and the impact the business has created over time. With a multi-generational workforce, deep AI readiness, and a leadership team that walks the talk, Zensar is a place to grow, thrive and belong.
Its journey reminds us that an organisation together with the right intent makes transformation inevitable.
“At Zensar, we are shaping a culture where every individual has the opportunity to thrive. Being ranked among the Top 50 of India’s Best Companies To Work For 2025 is a testament to the strides we have made in building a workplace that truly values purpose, inclusion, and supports growth. Our partnership with Great Place to Work® has empowered us to listen more deeply, act more intentionally, and evolve our people practices in ways that truly matter. We are proud of the progress we have made, and even more excited about the journey ahead. Together, we are creating a Zensar that’s not just a great place to work, but a great place to grow, lead, and make a lasting impact.”
Authors
Mitali Juthani, Consulting Analyst, Great Place To Work India
Shveta Ramchandani, Program Lead- Consulting, Great Place To Work India
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