India's talent ecosystem is going through a structural shift and the approach to manage, engage, and retain people is changing fundamentally. Classic means of retaining and motivating employees have no longer proven effective. Corporate strategy has definitively shifted from transactionally based compensation methods (defined as Cost to Company - CTC) to a "holistic" view of an Employee Value Proposition ("EVP"). The emergent "Total Rewards" concept has moved from an administrative human resource task to an imperative found in the boardroom that is critical for sustaining business continuity and competitive edge within a workforce that is both saturated with human capital and struggling for appropriate skill sets. This report evaluates the innovations that are changing Reward & Recognition (R&R) practices in corporate India. The report demonstrates a clear trend away from traditional "tangible" (cash or hourly wage) R&R programs, to a model based upon genuine “Experiential” and “Empathetic” R&R programs. Findings include flexible R&R programs being introduced in sectors once viewed as rigid (i.e., manufacturing), the introduction of financial wellness products such as Earned Wage Access (EWA), and using AI-based technology to gamify engagement.