At K Raheja Corp, people, planet and purpose are not parallel tracks; they move together. Over four decades, the Group has evolved from being a real estate powerhouse to becoming a committed force for environmental stewardship, community engagement and inclusive growth. What stands out is the way these values are woven into the company’s HR vision, where employee well-being, social responsibility and sustainability are not add-ons but part of everyday business.
From Wheels of Kindness to ArtShala and Back to School, its volunteerism programmes bridge corporate resources with community needs, turning employee passion into measurable impact.
Progressive policies like The Pride Side, Aanchal and Relaunch show that diversity, equity and inclusion can be backed by real benefits and clear pathways, while mental well-being initiatives like Reach Out signal that people matter as much as profits. The Group’s “Green Vision” further connects the workplace to the wider sustainability agenda, encouraging employees to live the values they help the organisation achieve.
In this candid conversation, Ms. Urvi Aradhya, CHRO, K Raheja Corp, shares how the HR function works with sustainability, governance and CSR teams to embed responsibility into the company’s DNA. She offers insights into designing volunteer programmes that genuinely transform communities, building policies that reflect lived inclusion and shaping a culture where every employee sees themselves as an active contributor to both business success and societal progress.
Scroll down to read the full interview.
Q&A
Q. How would you describe the HR vision at K Raheja Corp, and how is it contributing to the company’s larger sustainability and ESG agenda across its diverse business verticals?
A. At K Raheja Corp, our HR vision is to build a purpose-driven, inclusive, and eco-conscious workforce that actively advances the company’s sustainability and ESG goals.
We weave sustainability into the employee journey through year-round engagement and hands-on volunteering, beach clean-ups, school-painting projects and donation campaigns. These experiences not only heighten awareness of environmental and social issues but also empower every employee to make a tangible difference.
Guided by our people-first philosophy, we reinforce inclusion, well-being, and equal opportunity with progressive policies and continuous development programmes. In doing so, we ensure that caring for our people and the planet is not aspirational, it’s embedded in our everyday practices across every business vertical.
Q. How do K Raheja Corp’s volunteer programmes ensure meaningful employee engagement and measurable community impact? Could you share examples like ‘Wheels of Kindness’ and ‘ArtShala’, and their influence on workplace culture?
A. At the heart of our employee volunteering efforts is our ‘Time Off for Volunteering’ policy, which allows employees to take up to 6 working days a year to give back to society. While many of our people are eager to volunteer, they often need support navigating where and how to begin. That’s where we step in, to curate meaningful opportunities that drive real impact.
Most initiatives are co-created with NGOs and local partners to address real-world challenges. These are not symbolic gestures, they are carefully designed to create measurable outcomes for the community, while also inspiring a strong sense of purpose and pride among our people.
Some highlights include:
• The Teaching Tree: a book donation drive by employees and clients that helped set up six school libraries.
• Durgam Cheruvu Lake Restoration: sustained clean-up efforts that transformed a polluted lake into a thriving ecosystem.
• Wheels of Kindness: employees assembled wheelchairs for differently-abled residents at Cheshire Homes.
• ArtShala – Paint a School: teams revitalised a municipal school with murals and learning kits.
• Back to School Drive: volunteers hand-painted shoes and curated stationery kits for underserved children.
These experiences go beyond community impact, they foster camaraderie, empathy, and ownership within teams. Volunteering together has helped us build a culture rooted in compassion, collaboration, and purpose.
Q. K Raheja Corp has been recognised as a ‘Great Place to Work’. From an HR perspective, what values or practices contribute to building a positive and inclusive workplace?
A. K Raheja Corp is rated a Great Place to Work because we focus on three simple things:
- Put people first: We shape every policy around employee health, growth, and happiness. Leaders host open town halls and run regular pulse surveys so everyone can speak up and be heard.
- Make inclusion real: Programs like PowHER train and place women in roles once held mainly by men. Shikhar mentors high-potential women managers, Aanchal supports new mothers returning to work, and The Pride Side Policy offers partner medical cover and gender-neutral facilities to LGBTQ+ colleagues.
- Help everyone grow and give back: The iLead program fast-tracks future leaders, while our learning platform lets people upskill anytime.
By keeping communication open, treating everyone fairly, and linking work to a bigger purpose, we create a workplace where people feel safe, valued, and motivated, and that is why I believe certification or not, we are truly a Great Place to Work.
Q. The company’s Green Vision includes LEED and IGBC certifications. How are employees encouraged to adopt and promote environmental responsibility in their daily work practices?
A. At K Raheja Corp, we take our environmental duties seriously and have clear targets to cut carbon emissions. Our Green Vision, reflected in our LEED - and IGBC-certified projects, goes beyond construction; it shapes our workplace culture.
We help employees build eco-friendly habits through regular awareness sessions and training. Simple actions, working paper-free, saving energy, conserving water – in fact we recycle water which is used for flushing and landscaping, and sorting waste correctly, are promoted every day.
We also organise tree-planting drives, beach and lake clean-ups, and other hands-on volunteering events so that colleagues can see and feel the difference they make. By pairing practical guidance with real-world action, we’re turning sustainability from a goal into a shared way of life.
Q. Inclusive HR policies such as 'The Pride Side', 'Aanchal', and 'Relaunch' signal a commitment to diversity and equity. What internal insights or external benchmarks informed the creation of these programs?
A. At K Raheja Corp, inclusion is woven into how we hire, reward, and grow our people. Each flagship policy addresses a specific barrier, turning good intent into everyday support:
- The Pride Side ensures LGBTQIA+ colleagues work in a zero-discrimination environment. Beyond respectful language and gender-neutral facilities, it offers concrete benefits, medical cover and financial assistance for gender-affirming procedures, plus adoption support. A recent example is Sonalee Chaukekar, who secured her first corporate role with us through this programme. She is our front office assistant and has been trained and does a fine job.
- Aanchal smooths the transition to motherhood. New mothers receive flexible hours, on-site crèche access, counselling, and a dedicated ‘buddy’ for their return, so family and career can progress together.
- Relaunch provides a structured path back for professionals who paused their careers, whether for caregiving, parenting, or other personal reasons, through skill refreshers, mentorship, and customised roles that match their experience.
Each initiative is shaped by employee feedback, changing workforce demographics, and global DE&I benchmarks. Together they do more than offer benefits - they break taboos, raise awareness, and create a level playing field where every employee can thrive and contribute to K Raheja Corp’s future.
Q. Mental health and work-life balance are growing concerns globally. How has K Raheja Corp addressed this through initiatives like ‘Reach Out’, and what mechanisms are in place to track their effectiveness?
A. At K Raheja Corp we treat mental health and work-life balance as core business priorities, not extras. Here’s how we turn that belief into day-to-day support:
- Reach Out: confidential care, anytime. Employees can book professional counselling for stress, anxiety, parenting challenges or any personal concern, all in complete confidence.
- On-site medical clinics: Weekly doctor visits make it easy to manage physical health without losing work time, reinforcing our focus on prevention.
- KRC Connect: well-being in conversation. Through this internal platform we run regular campaigns, expert talks and wellness challenges that keep topics like resilience, inclusion and personal growth front-of-mind and stigma-free.
- Measure, learn, improve: We track participation and collect feedback after every activity, using the data to refine programmes and fill any gaps.
Together these steps create a workplace where people feel safe, supported and empowered to care for both their minds and bodies, benefiting employees and the organisation alike.
Q. How does HR work with sustainability, governance and CSR teams to embed social responsibility across departments? How does it also strengthen ethics, compliance and accountability in K Raheja Corp’s culture and daily operations?
A. At K Raheja Corp, ethics, compliance and good governance are built into daily work, not bolted on. HR leads this effort by:
- Setting clear, responsible policies: As ESG standards evolve, HR updates codes of conduct, hiring guidelines and performance metrics so that every role reflects our values.
- Working hand-in-hand with Sustainability and CSR: Together we weave inclusivity, transparency and environmental goals into onboarding, training and leadership programmes.
- Turning principles into action: We partner with NGOs and community groups to give employees hands-on volunteer options with measurable results.
- Keeping accountability strong: Mandatory ethics training, anonymous grievance channels and regular feedback loops make sure people can speak up and be heard.
In summary, HR turns our commitment to people, planet and profit into everyday practice, so responsibility is lived by every team, not just written in a policy.
Q. As ESG reporting becomes more regulated in India, how do you ensure your internal people and culture strategies support transparent and responsible disclosures that create long-term stakeholder trust?
A. At K Raheja Corp, our HR strategy is tied directly to our ESG goals. We work hand-in-hand with Sustainability and Governance teams so that every people metric, engagement, diversity, health, safety and ethics, is captured accurately and kept audit-ready. Regular employee feedback and real-time dashboards give us both numbers and insights, showing where we are strong and where we still need to improve.
This isn’t just about meeting regulations; it’s about earning long-term trust. By ensuring accountability and transparency into every HR practice, we’re building a workforce that is socially responsible today and prepared for tomorrow, turning ESG commitments into daily action.
Q. K Raheja Corp’s collaborations with NGOs like ConnectFor and Jhanvi Charitable Trust reflect a strong multi-stakeholder approach. How do you identify and nurture such partnerships to ensure long-term community impact and alignment with your ESG vision?
A. At K Raheja Corp we choose NGO partners - such as ConnectFor, Vipla Foundation etc. through a simple test - do they match employee passion, real community need and our ESG goals.
We have an employee engagement team that identifies causes, we have a CSR Team that identifies meaningful partnerships, and they work together to ensure need gap and impact assessments, and only then do we commit.
Once on board, we work side-by-side with each NGO, co-designing projects and measuring results. Whether it’s volunteering time, sharing skills or raising funds, every activity answers a clear community need and fits our sustainability agenda. This tight, purpose-driven model keeps engagement high, impact genuine and our commitment to responsible business clear.
Q. How does K Raheja Corp plan to evolve its people and culture strategy to meet emerging ESG and workforce challenges over the next 5–10 years?
A. Over the next 5 -10 years, K Raheja Corp’s people and culture strategy will continue to evolve in line with the shifting ESG landscape and changing workforce expectations. Our focus will be on building a resilient, inclusive, and purpose-led organisation that not only adapts to external demands but leads with impact.
We plan to deepen our investments in inclusive leadership, conscious employees, and upskilling for the future, ensuring our workforce is agile, digitally enabled, and sustainability-aware. Our goal is to build a workplace that not only attracts and retains top talent but also actively contributes to a sustainable, equitable future for our people, communities, and our planet.
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