A fundamental shift is happening as far as the Corporate Wellness in India is concerned, though it’s a real slow one but the corporate India has started treating Employee Wellness as “Must have” and not just a “Nice to have”. It’s no more just limited to doing routine annual health analysis and handing over the reports to employees and to organization for managing the insurance process. It goes much beyond that, having well equipped in-house gyms, organizing group classes like yoga, Zumba etc, mental wellness is given far more importance to keep stress levels in check, counsellors, online helplines are introduced, even music and other hobby classes are conducted, social wellness taken care through community services, even financial wellness is looked into.
Wellness programmes are also now on the technology platforms, wearables, trackers, smart watches are the latest to enter this segment. A lot of apps are now on offer to manage personal fitness and wellness, gamification to make it more fun has also added to the millennials and the younger generations taking interest and making use of the offerings. Some of the leading corporate wellness organizations have introduced customized programmes that employers can offer to their employees which include apps, wearables, personal fitness and nutrition coaches, fun activities, online challenges and to top it all assured results!
Even an international poll this year has said that Wellbeing will be one of the top employee engagement priorities for HR professionals in 2018 but some of the challenges also remain which they will have to overcome, the top most being driving more participation in these programmes. Giving easy access, making the activities more fun, continuous communications, introducing variety and to top it all leadership owning and driving these initiatives remains the key here. It has been proven time and again that wherever the leaders have got involved, the participation and outcomes have been more encouraging.
Some other new trends in this space are around sleep, happiness, mindfulness etc. Sleep has become an issue for the new generations who are mostly connected through out, be it their phones, social media etc. Being connected all the time, leads to lack of sleep or disturbed sleep leading to disengagement and being less productive in both personal and professional life, end result being not happy. Happiness is another factor of total wellbeing which corporates across global are focusing on.
Holistic Wellbeing is what is the need of the hour, just focusing on physical and mental is not enough, as described by WHO – Wellness is an active process of becoming aware of and making choices toward a healthy and fulfilling life. Wellness is more than being free from illness; it is a “dynamic process of change and growth.”…a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
So mere focus on wellness is not going to be cutting it, it has to be Total Wellbeing,More are shifting away from the idea
of “wellness” as a rarely promoted, HR-owned benefits program to a more multi-faceted approach, implementing organizational-wide initiatives. This shift results in an increased awareness that wellness and wellbeing are simply not the same thing. In a nutshell, considering the wellbeing of employees provides a more holistic solution to managing the employee-life experience, whereas focusing solely on wellness potentially limits the solution to physical health alone.
A recent survey (by ASSOCHAM)revealed that India Inc. can save upto US$20 billion by 2018 through just a 1% reduction in absenteeism and on an average for every rupee spent on employee wellness programme, employers get to save Rs.132.33 as saving on absenteeism and Rs.6.62 back as reduced healthcare costs.
Wellbeing should be embedded in the culture of the organization, so move over mere Wellness, creating an engaged culture through wellbeing is here to stay.
About The Author
Kavita Mathur, trained Indian classical and folk dancer, Kavita’s passion for aerobics and fitness stemmed from her love for dance. Her 18 years of abundant working experience in varied organizations and business began as a PR Executive with the Diner’s Club (presently Citi Credit Card) for about 4 years. With a thriving desire to set up something on her own, she joined her brother’s business of Corporate Gifts. However, her love for fitness soon pulled her into the industry of health and fitness. She began her wellness journey with Talwalkars Fitness Club, wherein she headed their largest branch in Mumbai. After 5 years with Talwalkars, Kavita brought her desire of setting up a business and her passion for fitness together, by forming Wellness Associates along with Sudhir Patkar. A people’s person and full of life, she is extremely active and passionate about work and personal fitness.
CORPORATE WELLNESS – CURRENT SCENARIO
