What’s the new buzzword in the HR
circles which may show stronger trends in 2014?
Well, a lot of buzzwords for sure,
but one critical one that seems to be catching the combined attention of the
community is Employee Wellness. It’s really not a new-age concept, but has
certainly been redefined and remoulded to suit the needs of the current times.
It has gone beyond the gamut of employee wealth, health and safety, to reach a
different level.
Initiatives in this area are not
restricted to company insurance plans, hospital tie-ups and club memberships
only. They cover provisions such as onsite healthcare facilities, online health
assessment tools, programs and information providers for healthy living,
employee health screening camps, wellness and nutrition coaching. Organizations
are also slowly opening up to the idea of addressing specifics such as women’s
health and stress management counselling. More progressive organizations look
at even providing assistance to those employees who have a tobacco or alcohol
dependency as well as raising awareness in HIV/AIDS.
So with this kind of interest and of
course investment, it’s time to try and see what are some key reasons for
organizations to start focusing on this area.
1. There is a slow but steady understanding of the fact that there is a linkage of
employee health to business productivity. How organizations
track this or measure this is far from developed in terms of a process, but at
this stage, suffice it to say that the acceptance of this linkage as a reality,
is the driver.
2. Employer
branding and employee value proportion – The rising need
for a balanced work-life approach in the current workforce, is forcing
organizations to evaluate how they want to position themselves as a an employer
brand. Hence the emphasis on providing a stress-free work environment with
focused commitment towards the overall well-being of an employee has risen.
3. Such investment is a long-term spending and when
weighed against other opportunity costs such as loss of work hours due to
absenteeism, sick leaves, attrition / turnover cost, retraining and so on, it
might not seem that significant.
Reading the undercurrents related to
this future trend, SHRM India introduced the Employee Wellness Award for
organizations, within its set of HR Awards, at its Annual Conference. The
winner was Scope International, while SAP Labs and Reliance were runners’ ups.
It is therefore evident, that this is a fast-paced trend, which will pick up
speed in 2014 and so the more prepared we are, the higher our employee
competitive edge will be as organizations.
About Author
Simran Oberoi
Sr. Knowledge Consultant - SHRM India
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