Cloudnine’s Culture Story of Bringing Down Attrition From 52% to 25%
About The Company
At Cloudnine, it is believed that a child is life’s greatest gift and pregnancy is one of the most magical experiences nature can offer. This gift deserves to be nurtured and cared for, not just at birth, but for the entire duration of your pregnancy. Which is why, to ensure a healthy and happy pregnancy, Cloudnine provides with world-class medical expertise, state-of-the-art facilities, a space filled with love and laughter and staff dedicated to the holistic well-being of the customer.
- Employee Strength : 6500+ employees
- Industry: Healthcare
- HQ Location:Bangalore
In a sector where attrition is high and workplace flexibility often remains out of reach, Cloudnine has emerged as a clear outlier. The organisation has not only addressed these challenges head-on but has also demonstrated measurable impact.
As the organisation scaled rapidly, from a single hospital in 2007 to 45 hospitals across 14 cities, its leadership recognised that sustained excellence in customer care would only be possible if employee care was treated as a strategic priority, not a peripheral HR initiative. This belief became the cornerstone of Cloudnine’s people philosophy — an extension of their core belief happy moms = happy babies, which can only be achieved through happy employees.
Challenge - Redesigning Employee Care
Healthcare delivers purpose, but at a cost. In the industry, frontline teams, especially nurses, are usually under pressure, work is emotionally demanding, flexibility is limited, and life transitions such as motherhood, caregiving, or relocation often force difficult trade-offs between career and personal wellbeing.
At Cloudnine, these pressures are intensified by scale:
- Over 65% of the workforce is women
- Many roles demand physical presence
- Expansion requires employees to relocate, adapt quickly, and take on new responsibilities
Attrition was high, informal feedback pointed to burnout and work–life conflict, and leaders saw the risk of losing capable talent during key life moments.
Rather than accepting these challenges as “industry realities,” Cloudnine chose to redesign how care for employees is delivered.
Leadership Philosophy: Translating Belief into Behaviour
Cloudnine leaders moved away from rigid definitions of productivity based on hours or physical presence, shifting instead to trust-based, outcome-oriented ways of working. Empathy, speed of response, and availability became non-negotiable leadership traits.
Crucially, listening was paired with accountability. Feedback mechanisms such as:
- Skip-level meetings
- The Baby Step Survey for onboarding employees – Feedback taken at 30/90/180 days with leadership review and unit-level action owners
- Periodic engagement and Trust Index™ surveys
were backed by clear review cycles, ownership, and escalation frameworks. Issues were not only acknowledged, but tracked, actioned, and reviewed across leadership levels, with key themes escalated to the CEO where needed.
Using the Great Place To Work Framework as a Leadership System
Cloudnine’s partnership with Great Place To Work® helped institutionalise Cloudnine’s intent to create a high-trust, high-performance culture.
Rather than treating the Trust Index™ as a one-time diagnostic, survey insights were:
- Shared across levels, not limited to CXOs
- Embedded into manager scorecards and leadership KRAs
- Used to track progress against desired culture outcomes over time
Culture, engagement, and people development metrics became a formal part of how leaders were evaluated, ensuring that building trust and enabling flexibility were as important as delivering operational results.
Over seven years, this disciplined approach has resulted in a 13-point improvement in Trust Index™ Grand Mean scores, even as the organisation continued to scale
Practices That Changed the Game
1. Flexibility Beyond the Obvious: L&D/ nurse educators/academic roles & Work-from-Home Roles
In an industry where flexibility is often considered impractical, Cloudnine re-imagined the work environment. Nurses and frontline employees were offered opportunities to transition into support-based or work-from-home roles during critical life stages, like maternity, caregiving needs, health recovery, or emotional fatigue.
This approach allowed employees to remain connected to work without compromising personal wellbeing, significantly improving return-to-work outcomes and reducing avoidable exits.
84% of employees report that they are able to balance work and personal responsibilities effectively. This is at par with the average of feedback from Best Workplaces in the Industry.
2. ‘Shift Choice’ with Trust, Supported by Strong Workforce Planning
Cloudnine introduced ‘shift choice’ with a “no questions asked” philosophy, thereby developing trust amidst real-life constraints. This flexibility directly addresses individual needs—employees are able to choose shifts aligned to personal commitments such as childcare, caregiving, or commuting considerations, while still meeting team requirements. To make this operationally viable, the organisation invested in:
- Buffer staffing
- Strong internal pipelines
- Dedicated pool nurses for critical areas
Employees facing relocation due to marriage or personal reasons were supported through internal mobility or temporary buffer roles rather than being forced out of the system.
The result: flexibility delivered at scale—without compromising customer care.
3. Commissioning Teams: Scaling Without Burnout
As Cloudnine expanded rapidly, there was a clear risk of overburdening existing teams. To mitigate this, the organization introduced a commissioning team model for new units, bringing together local employees and experienced subject matter experts from established locations.
This model ensured:
- Faster readiness and smoother launches
- Structured capability building and knowledge transfer
- Exposure, visibility, and accelerated development for team members
Employees gained confidence and career momentum, while new hospitals embedded Cloudnine’s culture from day one.
4. Shifting from Tenure to Merit
To move away from tenure-led progression common in healthcare, Cloudnine made a deliberate shift toward merit, capability, and performance-driven growth. This reinforced a culture where advancement is linked to contribution and potential, not just years of experience.
Transparent appraisals, structured performance reviews, and differentiated rewards ensure clarity, fairness, and accountability. Career progression is anchored in competency and objective evaluation, supported by systems that reduce bias, ensure salary parity, and prevent employees from being disadvantaged due to life-stage needs.
Strong internal mobility and clear access to new opportunities further reinforce trust and aspiration across the workforce.
Promotion-related scores have improved by 26 points over seven years, and employees increasingly perceive strong opportunities for career growth.
The Impact: Caring for Employees, Sustaining Growth
Cloudnine’s people practices have translated into tangible results:
- Attrition reduced from 52% in 2018 to 25% in 2026, even as the workforce grew from ~2,500 to over 6,500 employees
- 105+ employees identified and ready for roles in new projects through an internal-first talent strategy
- 50–60% of employees transitioned into senior or new roles within the organization
- 35 employees rejoined the organisation in a year, reflecting strong employee trust and experience
- Internal engagement scores improved from 4.19 to 4.23 across recent survey cycles, with strong positive sentiment around culture and belonging
Cloudnine’s journey underscores that sustained business outcomes are deeply rooted in consistent investment in people and culture. What sets the organisation apart is not a single initiative, but the discipline to continually listen to employees, translate feedback into meaningful action, and actively involve leaders at every level in shaping the employee experience—alongside delivering business results. Over time, care for employees has moved beyond intent to become a system: thoughtfully embedded, consistently practised, and sustained even as the organisation continues to scale.
“Employee wellbeing has always been pivotal to our philosophy and culture. A transformative and culture driven organization is built on the strength, wellbeing, and belief of its people. At Cloudnine, we are deeply anchored in the conviction that delivering exceptional care to mothers and babies begins with fostering a workplace where our people feel respected, empowered, and deeply supported.
Our partnership with Great Place To Work® has further strengthened this commitment. It has brought greater structure, accountability, and consistency to the practices that shape employee experience across the organization. Building a culture founded on trust, care, inclusivity, and shared purpose is not a milestone. It is an ongoing endeavor—one we remain steadfastly committed to as we continue to grow and evolve.”
Author
Mamta Jashnani, Healthcare Vertical Lead, Great Place To Work India.
Saim Ansari, Consultant, Great Place To Work India.
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