It was an evening that was refreshingly different from the usual awards functions.
The inaugural Happiest Places to Work® Awards, hosted by House of Cheer at the JW Marriott, Juhu, Mumbai, was crisp, classy and dignified, with the spotlight firmly on the organisations and people being recognised.
The evening began precisely at 7.30 pm, setting the tone for a ceremony that was refreshingly well paced. There were neither long speeches nor any unnecessary ceremony. Instead, each winner was given their moment of pride and recognition.
The gathering was small and intimate, which added to the charm of the evening. Senior business and HR leaders had the opportunity to connect, exchange ideas and network in a relaxed setting. It was a happy evening, marked by good conversations and genuine camaraderie.
Interestingly, the team behind the awards seemed determined to practise what it preaches.
The House of Cheer team went the extra mile to make guests feel comfortable and at home. From the warm welcome to the personal attention through the evening, there was a genuine effort to create an atmosphere of warmth and cheer — quite literally living up to the organisation’s name.
Celebrating India’s people-first organisations
The Happiest Places to Work® Awards recognise organisations that are going beyond policies, perks and workplace slogans to create cultures where employees feel motivated, trusted, included and valued.
The awards go beyond a standard certification. Winners were evaluated using multiple sources of evidence, including employee happiness dialogue results, sentiment analysis, external feedback and a detailed Culture Audit of workplace initiatives.
The jury was chaired by Harsh Goenka, chairman, RPG Group, and comprised Achal Khanna, Harit Nagpal, Sunita Rebecca Cherian, Pushp Kumar Nayar, Pavitra Singh, Nitu Bhushan and Dr Prajjal Saha, bringing together an experienced cross-section of India’s business and HR leadership.
The jury examined submissions for breadth, consistency and innovation, as well as how effectively organisations showed up for employees across different stages of their workplace journey. Culture Audit scores were combined with Happiness Quotients to arrive at the final rankings.
And the winners are…
The awards recognised organisations across six enterprise categories:
* Nano Enterprise: Agarwal Estates
* Micro Enterprise: The Red Pen
* Small Enterprise: Intellias India
* Medium Enterprise: Midday
* Large Enterprise: Raychem RPG
* Very Large Enterprise: KEC International
Four Special Jury Awards were also presented, recognising organisations that stood out for specific aspects of their workplace culture:
* Best Learning and Growth Culture: Natural Remedies
* Most Innovative Initiative: Goosebumps Network
* Most Inclusive Workplace: United Way of Delhi
* Best Recognition Program: Sunbeam Industrial Products
Each winner took home the Golden Penguin, the symbol of the Happiest Places to Work® Awards, representing happiness, togetherness and camaraderie.
More than an award
The awards come at a time when workplace culture is moving well beyond being an HR agenda. Employee experience, trust, belonging, recognition and wellbeing are increasingly becoming important elements of how organisations attract, retain and engage talent.
The Happiest Places to Work® Certification is built on principles of neuroscience and seeks to measure what genuinely drives motivation, trust and belonging at work. Its gamified approach is designed to make the employee experience feel more like reflection than reporting. The certification is now available in 18 languages, allowing organisations across regions to involve their wider workforce.
But perhaps the most memorable takeaway from the inaugural evening was its simplicity.
There was no attempt to make workplace happiness feel like just another corporate buzzword. Instead, the evening celebrated organisations that are attempting to make happiness, belonging and recognition a lived experience for their people.
The inaugural Happiest Places to Work® Awards marked the beginning of what House of Cheer hopes will become an annual celebration of organisations raising the bar for workplace culture in India.
And if the warmth, intimacy and spirit of the first edition are anything to go by, the awards have certainly begun on a happy note.
