Great books are made by great people: employee feedback validates Penguin India’s culture of trust, care, inclusion and pride
New Delhi, 28 October 2026: Penguin Random House India has been certified as a Great Place To Work® for the period October 2026 to October 2027, following its first participation in the Great Place To Work® assessment. The certification is based on anonymous feedback from employees about their experience of the workplace.
Publishing is, at its heart, a human business and therefore, for Penguin India, the recognition carries particular significance. Every book that reaches a reader is the result of the judgement, imagination, passion and persistence of people across the company. From a commissioning editor identifying an idea worth pursuing, to designers and production teams bringing it to life; from sales colleagues taking books to bookstores, to warehouse teams preparing each copy for the market; and publicists finding new and creative ways to connect authors and books with readers. Books may be what the world sees, but people are what make them possible.
That makes the responsibility of the workplace equally important: to create an environment in which people feel safe, trusted, respected and welcome; where they can contribute ideas, challenge one another, grow, and do work they are proud to put into the world.
The employee feedback behind Penguin India’s certification points strongly to those foundations. 96% of respondents said Penguin India is a physically safe place to work; 95% said people are made to feel welcome when they join; and 94% said they are proud to tell others they work at Penguin. The organisation also scored 90% for flexibility and 84% for its culture of care. Employees reported particularly strong experiences of fairness and inclusion across gender, race, sexual orientation and other personal characteristics. Pride emerged as one of Penguin’s strongest dimensions, with the organisation scoring 94%, compared with the 92% benchmark reflected for India’s Top 100 Workplaces in the survey analysis.
Gaurav Shrinagesh, CEO- India, SEA & MENA, Penguin Random House, said, ‘Publishing is powered by people. Every book we put into the world carries the thinking, creativity, judgement and persistence of many individuals, often across several teams. So, for us, being recognised as a Great Place To Work® is particularly meaningful because this recognition comes from the experience of our own people. I am enormously proud of the results, particularly the strong sense of pride, inclusion, safety and welcome that our colleagues have expressed. But I also see this as a beginning rather than an end. The certification tells us that we are on the right path; it does not tell us that our work is finished. Our responsibility now is to keep listening, keep improving and build a workplace that earns this trust year after year.’
The assessment also provides Penguin with something less visible, but equally valuable: a way of measuring aspects of culture that can otherwise be difficult to quantify. Trust, care, belonging, fairness and pride are intangible qualities, but they have a very real effect on how people experience their working lives. The Great Place To Work® survey gives the company an independent view of where those qualities are being felt strongly and where employees expect more.
‘Culture is easy to describe; it is much harder to measure. What makes this certification valuable is that it gives us a clear view through the eyes of our employees’, says Aditi Kumar, EVP, People, Diversity and Corporate Responsibility, Penguin Random House India. ‘The high scores on safety, welcome, inclusion, flexibility and pride are incredibly encouraging because they tell us that many of the things we want Penguin India to stand for are being experienced in everyday working life. At the same time, the survey gives us areas where we need to do better. Both are equally important. Being Great Place To Work® Certified is a milestone for us, not a finish line. We want to remain curious about our people’s experience, continue the conversation and become a better workplace with every passing year.’
The assessment identified areas of opportunity alongside Penguin’s strengths, including employee perceptions around professional development, aspects of workplace dynamics, etc. Penguin India will use these findings to inform continued conversations with employees and future actions rather than treating certification as a once-a-year exercise. For Penguin Random House India, therefore, the certification is both a celebration and a commitment: a moment to recognise the people who make its books, its culture and its business possible; and a reminder that building a great workplace is work that never really stops.
*END*
About Penguin Random House India
Penguin Random House India is the country’s leading trade publisher, publishing over 450 new titles every year and managing a diverse backlist of more than 3,500 books. Its publishing spans literary and commercial fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books, from politics, history, memoir, and business to health, self-help, cookery, and culture.
Penguin Random House India is home to some of India’s and the world’s most celebrated voices, including winners of the Nobel Prize, Booker Prize, Jnanpith Award, and Sahitya Akademi Award. Several of its authors have also been honoured with the Bharat Ratna and Padma Vibhushan, reflecting the influence of their work in literature and public life.
MEDIA CONTACT-
Saavie | saavie@penguinrandomhouse.in | +91 85277 93252