The Mandala of Organisational Wellness: A blueprint for success

When we look at the Mandala of Organizational Wellness, its lucidly simple that we refer to the interconnectedness of an organisation's various components.

By Saundarya Rajesh

As India moves closer to her first century of freedom, the year 2025 is a landmark one in many ways. It’s an amazingly mathematical year (it’s a square, the product of 2 squares and the sum of three squares!), it heralds a quarter century of liberalisation, and it is the Silver jubilee anniversary of the inauguration of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ’s) in India. Most critically, to someone like me in the space of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, 2025 marks a quarter century of women’s urban labour force participation in India crossing the double-digit mark.

And so to wish you organisational success and organisational wellness in a year as special as 2025, the right metrics are required. Organisations have a pretty clear idea of success and it is associated mostly with revenue and income. Some also factor in innovation and others, beating the competition. But what of organisational wellness? We constantly hear about individual wellness, but what about an organization? A corporate, an enterprise? If we had to do a master health check-up for a business, what would we count as the key metrics? It can’t be the same as success, right?

Let’s dive in. Success and wellness from an organisational standpoint are two different things. While YoY growth in traditional metrics such as revenue and profitability are important, they only tell part of the story. To truly understand if your company enjoys real wellness, to check if your business is truly healthy and sustainable, let’s take the Mandala approach.

The concept of the mandala as a representation of the universe, with its concentric circles and pivotal middle point, emerges from the Rig Veda and has been powerfully symbolised by Buddhism. An esoteric symbol for spiritual growth, self-reflection, and meditation, the mandala represents the interconnectedness of the universe in a profoundly beautiful manner. It suggests that everything is connected and that the individual self is part of a larger whole.

When we look at the Mandala of Organizational Wellness, its lucidly simple that we refer to the interconnectedness of an organisation's various components. By applying this ancient symbol of the mandala, let’s create a framework to measure an organisation's real wellness.

The mandala consists of three concentric circles, each representing a different level of organisational wellness.

The innermost circle of the mandala represents the elementary metrics that describe an organisation's current health. These metrics include P&L and Balance sheet items such as Topline revenue, Bottomline profitability, EBIDTA (Earnings Before Interest, Depreciation, and Amortization), PAT (Profit After Tax), ROI and Share value. If you love math and quants, you could throw some exciting numbers into the mix such as Quick ratio/acid test, Gross burn ratio, Return on Sales, Customer Lifetime Value et al. This circle, which is at the core of why the enterprise exists, tell us how the heart of the business is functioning. Let’s call these the Primary or Core metrics.

The middle circle of the mandala represents the cardinal metrics that determine an organization's long-term sustainability. These metrics include the extent of diversity and inclusion in your workplace, how happy your employees are, what is your talent density, how much of your revenue came from innovation, your business’s connectedness to the community, and your employee churn rate. You could also track interesting (and challenging) metrics such as Volunteer time-off, Slack channel mood, employee generated content, exit conversations and mentoring program engagement. These we can refer to as the Cardinal or Long-term growth metrics. These metrics are critical to an organisation's long-term success, as they help to build a super strong employee culture, develop unshakeable trust, foster innovation, and ensure that the organisation remains relevant and competitive. By prioritising these metrics, organisations can create a strong foundation for future growth and success.

Let’s now move to the outermost circle of the mandala. These are the vital metrics that determine an organisation's social license to operate. There maybe a ton of licences that you obtain from the government to keep your business legitimate, but do you have a social licence to be part of your employee/customer/stakeholder’s world? Metricising these are not just tough, they are the KRA of every soulful leader. They include the loyalty of your customers, the loyalty of your employees, the loyalty of stakeholders, your reputation and brand trust, the extent of environmental consciousness and sustainability focus in your leadership thought, your company’s ethical behaviour and social responsibility. These are the Vital metrics, the ones which may seem expendable, but in reality they are the ones that actually deliver to you, your social licence to operate. They measure your ability to leave a legacy of transformation.

Now that we have the mandala’s composite in place, here are a few ways to make sure that your organisation is at the pink of wellness in the year 2025:

1. Begin by conducting a thorough assessment of each of these mandala factors: Using the definitions we have arrived at, put together questions about each circle of the Mandala for which you can then find answers with your org’s data repository. Collate your answers for Core metrics, Cardinal Metric and Vital metrics. Use January for this.

2. Highlight areas for improvement: Your own annual business plan will tell you how you need to perform to meet the baselines in each of the 3 metrices. For Core metrics look at efficiency improvement, for cardinal metrics look at scaling up your DEI practices and for the Vital, pick up a new project in environmental sustainability. Develop strategies for each and prioritise them in your organisation's goals and objectives. Use February to March for this.

3. Flip the script: Once you have the plan clear for Core, Cardinal and Vital metrics, begin with the end in mind. Start with the vital plan implementation. Start tracking your product’s performance to build customer trust, begin fostering real respect in your workplace by practices small acts of inclusion and create unexpected moments of delight for your employees.

Now that we have a reasonably clear idea of organisational wellness, let’s go back to our wish for a successful 2025. Imagine building or starting a business that thrives for generations, fueled by a harmonious blend of purpose, people, and profit. This, to me, is real success. Diverse perspectives ignite innovation, empathy builds loyalty, and social responsibility attracts top talent and customers. The result? A resilient, high-performing business that is the epitome of organisational wellness.

Here's wishing that you ignite a powerful transformation that prioritises what truly matters. The Mandala of Organisational Wellness is your catalyst for growth, empowering you to build an unshakeable foundation for long-term success.

And yes, a successful new year 2025 to you!

(Saundarya Rajesh is Founder - President of Avtar Group.)

Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.