Firm(s) on FITNESS track

Geetu Vaid

When Bollywood's latest poster boy for a toned body, Vidyut Jamwal bares his biceps and shares his fitness tips in online e-tailer Jabong's work space with a bunch of enthusiastic employees, it is much more than a publicity gimmick. Despite the obvious glamour quotient, the portal wants to motivate its employees to get moving and start flexing muscles, quite literally. Fitness, health and looking good are some of the catchwords in the corporate boardrooms, cubicles and workstations nowadays, not only because the employees are high on awareness about fitness and its health benefits, but because the CEOs and the company managements are waking up to the tangible and intangible benefits of having a healthy workforce.

Health goes for toss

Physical fitness is the most common casualty in the race to achieve targets and grueling work pressures leading to low productivity and performance levels. With over 40 per cent of professionals between the ages of 30 and 55 suffering from lifestyle-related diseases like obesity, hypertension, diabetes and liver malfunction, running profitable businesses on the shoulders of an ailing and exhausted workforce is a major concern. Despite the gravity of the situation the fact remains that 75 per cent of these diseases are easily preventable and can be managed with simple changes in lifestyle. But lack of awareness and time to fit in these changes in one's daily routine widen the chasm between fitness and work. 

As Rajat Avasthi, business head, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, Vodafone India, puts it, “Not everyone understands the medical risks they face. This means that they often miss taking preventive steps at the right time that can prevent several medical problems”. Thus, a corporate wellness programme is the perfect answer to maintaining a fit force. 

So, from IT companies to spunky start-ups to hotels to manufacturing units, a virtual wave of fitness is blowing across India Inc. Yoga days, Fit-Bit challenges, marathons, in-house gyms with physical trainers, keto diets, sports events, etc. are the latest tools being used by corporate houses to add a personal touch and keep their employees engaged. Though fitness workshops, lectures and competitive events like Devil’s Circuit have been around for some time, the fact is that occasional events are not sufficient to achieve long-term goals. 

Working out a solution

What is gladdening to note now is the way many corporates are bringing opportunities to stay fit right at the workstations, weaving these in their HR mandate, daily routines and adding fitness targets to the work targets for employees.  

Thus, one sees global health-care leader, Optum bringing its mission to help people live healthier lives home to its employees with its ‘LiveWell’ programme. Mahindra and Mahindra displays similar commitment through its ‘Way to Wellness’ initiative, Infosys has HALE (Health Assessment and Lifestyle Enrichment) initiative. At Vodaphone, it is HSW (Health, Safety and Well Being) policy, besides the regular health-risk assessment and stringent safety norms for employees. Hospitality major JW Marriot plans a slew of activities under its ‘TakeCare Wellbeing Programme’ encompassing physical, personal, financial as well as career wellbeing of its employees. At the new-age retail distribution platform Shotang, the employees have access to a full-fledged cross-fit facility with a trainer training the employees thrice a week and monitoring their regime and diet plan. There are dedicated gaming rooms and in-house shower 'n' locker rooms for the employees who cycle to work or work out in the office. Realty company Mona Townships Pvt Ltd. is building on sporting events and recreational packages.

What is heartening is that owners, founders and CEOs are the ones fuelling the wellness wave in their companies. Take the case of Bengaluru-based Shotang, where the founder’s dream to build the ‘fittest start-up’ has become a collective mission of the organisation. At real estate group Nirmal Lifestyle in Mumbai, the culture of wellness is ensured by the founder at the time of hiring as a promise towards running ‘x’ miles is taken from the new employee and regular health checks are carried out by the company. “Health and wellness is about engaged and productive employees and our approach has been to provide the right ecosystem and enabling each individual to then let him/her take responsibility,” says Rajeshwar Tripathi, chief people officer, M&M Ltd. 

The extra mile being travelled by managements to invest in the health of their employees is sure to go a long way in building a robust and fighting fit force. 

Power and Impact

• The initiatives are bearing fruits as the number of sick days reported by employees in most of the companies mentioned have gone down and medical claims have also reduced.  
• Kshitij Kashyap, Senior Director, Human Capital, Optum, says, “Internal employee surveys after completion of different programmes revealed that 91 per cent employees felt healthier and 79 per cent claimed an improvement in their performance.”
• Optum’s ‘Live Well’ initiative saw not only 50 per cent of its employees in Hyderabad quit smoking, but almost all participants of Live Well Pulse and Balance programmes moved from high-risk zones to low-risk zone. 

The Transformation Challenge in my company gave me a push to discover a fitter self. I weighed 100 kg before starting this fitness challenge in 2016, not only have I achieved my desired weight but now I hardly miss a day of my workouts. —Praveen Menon, M&M