PRIORCARE

Dr. Namita Mukhi Khajuria

A physically and mentally healthy employee is worth a fortune for any organisation. The benefits of workplace wellness Programs have been well acknowledged by many corporate organisations which are actively instilling a wellness culture. But to maximise the benefits of such initiative, it is of utmost importance to design an efficient and effective workplace wellness program.

A Holistic approach targeting physical, mental, social and emotional well-being of employees is desirable. Encouraging healthy way of life , empowering them to take good care of their health and also manage any chronic diseases or helping them combat lifestyle diseases like hypertension, obesity , diabetes etc. 

Components of a well designed wellness Program

A good health & wellness program can revolve around following 5 parameters.

1. Health screening 

Complete Annual Health Check up of all employees to start with the baseline status of their health. Encouraging improvements in concerned parameters by rewarding and incentivising could motivate them to take good care of their health. 

2. Healthy life task

Weekly or monthly challenges to engage the employees like step-a-thon or marathon or calorie count could instil a healthy task based performance culture. Setting up a workplace gym for before –after work hours could also bring active participation in office.

3. Yoga – Meditation sessions

Workplace stress leading to hypertension is well known to take toll on health. Creating a work-life balance by introducing yoga and meditation sessions online or offline could help employees manage their chronic hypertension leading to a happy workplace environment. A meditation or prayer room can also promote a peaceful happy organisation culture.

4. Digital health guide/station

Keeping pace with technology digital health apps or digital health card with major vitals of well being could improve attendance of employees. Setting up a self diagnostic station with blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters , sugar check , heart-rate monitor can help eliminate absenteeism on account of sick leave and also be helpful in cases of medical emergencies. 

5. Healthy eating luncheons

Promoting good healthy diets, sharing of healthy lunches or organising healthy luncheons for meetings can promote active health and mind of employees. A day could be celebrated to introduce healthy way of eating eg chia seed day where innovative ways to introduce in diets could be shared by preparing lunches to be shared. 

Many ripple benefits of introducing a good wellness program in your organisation include:

• High inclusion and engagement
• Lower absenteeism
• Higher productivity
• More efficiency and innovation
• Motivated organisation culture
• Happy and healthy workforce
• High retention of employees

Focussing on benefits of wellness programs the return of investment on these programs is much higher in terms of good human resource and thus all the corporate houses tend to adapt to these approaches for long term benefits.