Indian Jobs and Workplace Wellness

  Organizational Work Culture & Employee Wellbeing

Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic hit India, various issues pertaining to work life balance, reforms in HR policies of Indian Industries and radical changes in organizational culture have become much debated topics and a few favorable changes were introduced in many organizations also. Many companies in India have started working and strategizing upon workers’ lives to improve their physical, mental, financial and emotional health.  The coronavirus brought economic hardships and mental illness for many and the miseries caused by it have remained etched in our minds with this realization how ignorant we are to undervalue the various facets of wellness- from physical, mental and emotional health to workplace wellness and our family and recreational inclinations and why can’t we change the way we live and work. This global pandemic has taught us that Employee Wellbeing should no longer be just a box for HR to tick. The organizations must work hard to look at it in a holistic manner and ensure to cover all aspects of physical and mental health of an employee.

 In our country, the term ‘Job Satisfaction’ directly proportionate to ‘punching a clock and collecting a paycheck’ and not with the organization’s policies which focus on the mental and emotional well-being of its employees and aim to develop a conducive and healthy workplace culture where people can reach out for help and support as and when needed. The meaning of employee wellness is changing and it’s not just limited to physical health and finances it’s more about being mentally and emotionally healthy as well as spiritually uplifted. The management of organization should take the responsibility to send happy hearts to their homes every evening and welcome smiling, energetic faces the next morning. But unfortunately India has very less number of such organizations which think of employee wellness.

Employee Training and Development Programmes:

I would like to begin with ‘a piece of knowledge’ (albeit it’s rare) from Whatsapp University which reads as a conversation between a CFO and a CEO (nothing new and surprising; you must have already read it as the spread is faster than the corona virus):

CFO: What if we invest in our employees and they leave?

CEO: What if we don’t and they stay.

This conversation can even explain a layman how training and grooming employees is important for any organization. Lack of adequate training and updating stagnate the workers and they get deprived of the zest and enthusiasm which are pivotal for maximum productivity.  Companies invest a lot in promotional activities and campaigns but the budget becomes always less when it comes to employee training, education and other grooming sessions. Research has proven that training and development programmes for employees are always in favour of organization for retaining the employees. The obvious reason is; employees who value the development of skills for their career growth may be more willing to work for an organization that constantly equips them with well-run knowledge through training and development practices. The level of commitment as well as motivation increases if management invests in employee training. Hence, employers should be looking for every advantage available to keep employees engaged and productive for the long term

Concept of Leaves in India

Employees are entitled to avail a certain number of leaves as per their convenience and company’s policies but do Indian employers really grant leaves without any hitch? You certainly know the answer, that’s a big NO. If we compare the leave policies of Indian Organizations with other countries we will feel we are enslaved workers. Indian organizations hardly think of giving vacation leaves which is a mandatory clause in most of the countries as it directly impacts employee’s quality of life and work efficiency. Countries like Switzerland, Australia and Sweden set the standards for employee benefits and champion the idea of a healthy work life balance. Swiss companies grant their employees an average of 5.2 weeks off from work and in Australia companies must pay all employees annual leave based on their regular hours of work which generally translates to four weeks of annual leave per year.

Apart from these leaves paid vacation is a highly sought after employee benefit as it helps strengthen family ties, improves employee retention, increases productivity, contributes to the overall wellbeing of workers and reduces healthcare expenses. Indian private organization must think to incorporate such employee benefits to achieve better productivity and employee retention.

 

Flexible Working Hours:

As we know the era of strict 9 to 5 workday is a bygone episode. Employees must be given the flexibility of working hours so that they can work on their fitness regime and take care of the elderly or kids in the family. Finland is the only country, continuously striving to increase scheduling agility for its workforce resulting into employees’ focus on work and productivity.

To Lead with Inclusion:

According to the International Labour Organization the current gender diversity in Indian Industries reflects a big gap with the representation of women in the workforce has dropped from 24% to 20 % during the pandemic. Indian women’s low labour force is due to the presumptions rooted in the biases, the gender wage gaps, lack of safety policies, flexible work offerings and availability of child care facilities for new mothers. Industries in India should start investing actively in equal opportunities for both men and women and defy the notion that hiring women, especially the married ones will simply mean more efforts and flexibility by others in the team to ensure the work commitments. Companies should make recruitment processes more inclusive and flexibility must be offered in genuine cases to protect women’s career momentum.

With a broader vision and holistic approach towards employee wellness our country can also generate a more productive and efficient workforce and realize the dream of becoming a super power in the coming years and a USD 5 trillion economy. Small changes in the infrastructure can bring highly lucrative impacts such as:

»       Offering In-office gyms or workout sessions 

»        family get-together on monthly basis

»        Recreational and spiritual activities for employees

»        Medical care policies

»        Children education loans.

»       Appreciation and rewards on employees’ achievements

 Company benefits and workplace wellness are a great way of keeping employees happy and enticing new talents to join a business organization. Not only it ensures high company morale but guarantees to increase the appeal of your business and help maximize the retention rate. Indian employers should focus on the following areas of employee well-being viz. physical, intellectual, emotional, occupational, financial, spiritual, social and environmental, there should be special departments to create policies and processes to measure the ‘happiness quotient’ of employees.

Let's conclude it metaphorically and think of a money minting machine with robots all around in contrast with a lively, exuberant workstation filled with clamour of happy laughter yielding money, repute and brand value as byproduct. 

Which sounds a better definition of an organization?