Do You Do All Work & No Workout? Creation of on-site wellness programs is important because the majority of an employee's time is spent at the workplace
By Dr. Samir Kapoor •
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With the unavoidable dynamics of today's corporate world, Employee Fitness has become more important than ever. The fast-paced work life has made many lose track of their physical and mental health condition.
This has not gone unnoticed by companies, although their implementation of wellness programs remains full of loopholes due to little to no experience. As a result, their programs fail to be as effective. This requires not only efforts from the company's side, but also from the employee, in order to accumulate a successful plan.
Importance of Wellness Programs
Employee Wellness Programs are crucial in terms of achieving employee fitness goals. Although these programs have immense potential of achieving the desired goals, the lack of awareness has been one of the main reasons for its shortfalls. According to a study by Career Builder, 63% of employees do not take advantage of the wellness benefits offered to them.
On the other hand, out of the people who use these benefits, 61% have agreed that it helped them develop a healthier lifestyle. According to an ASSOCHAM report titled, strategically-designed corporate wellness programs can help save up to ₹2000 crore by 2018 by safeguarding employees against chronic and lifestyle diseases and reducing absenteeism.
The lack of health maintenance can lead to irregularity in work, leading to more missing days, reducing a company's overall productivity. This focuses on the mental impact that one fails to realize until the symptoms become too serious.
According to a study, an unhealthy mental state could lead an employee to constant fatigue (29%); Sleeplessness (26%); aches and pains (24%); high anxiety (23%) and weight gain (18%). These more often than not, go unnoticed by people, affecting them without even them realising it.
Creation of a Harmony
Amidst these conditions, the creation of on-site wellness programs is important because the majority of an employee's time is spent at the workplace. This would help employees better balance their work and health. Increase in such facilities would assure greater consideration towards fitness from the side of the employees. A successful fitness program takes time to execute and it constantly evolves so it can be integrated into the fabric of the company's culture with time.
Corporate wellness is not just one solution. It is the culmination of multiple solutions that work together under one strategy. It involves layers of physical activity, education, communication, initiatives and a long-term commitment. It is as simple as planning to play a sport together, where employees get to improve their bond with each other while working out together. The frequency of these activities can be planned as per every workplace, but sooner the leadership team realizes this, the better.
Time to work
In the time to come, the long work hours and its effects are not going to get any easier. Tackling these are crucial, including sufficient investments into the employee's well-being. Their overall health ultimately improves the company's performance, increasing profits and leading to a growth in not just a company's image and value but also improvements in national economy and the health of employees, which ultimately allows reduced health care costs, giving a corporate world where healthcare is not overlooked, but acted on with the attention it requires.
It is about time to work towards focusing on having a perfect harmony between mind-body-soul.
