In India, there is saying “health is the ultimate wealth” and with good health, and sound mind every task can be well accomplished both at home, as well as workplace, said Smiti Bhatt Deorah, co-founder and COO of AdvantageClub.ai, at People Matters TRWC 2024.  

Talking about the importance of holistic well-being at workplaces, Deorah said: “About 50% of millennials, half of the people who are employing millennials will consider health and wellness programmes…before actually deciding to join the company.” 

Millennials are feeling stressed 

At least 89% of the millennials' workforce reports feeling stressed at work, she informed, adding many of them work while they are unwell. “There is a concept nowadays called presentism. It is working while you are unwell. At least 72% of people have reported in India that they have worked when they were unwell. So, health and wellness has become a very big challenge for organizations,” she said.

Working in offices under extreme pressure means an employee might be compromising on output and the quality of work, she said, adding, “everyone has a limit, and you need to recognize that limit. Otherwise, things can get unhealthy for you…everyone should realize and give themselves space. 

Celebrities giving more importance to mental health 

Despite having a lot of work, money and fame, celebrities prioritise health over work, for example, Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone was always vocal about how she dealt with depression in past. The actress emphasized on prioritising mental health over any other thing in the world. Similarly, former cricket captain Virat Kohli is very particular about mental well-being and sometimes puts health and family welfare above his work.

So, it’s very important to take time out and invest in one’s health, Deorah said, adding: “As organizations, we should be focused on enabling our workforce to invest in their health and drive a better, healthier workforce to not only create productivity but increase or create a better standard of living for everybody.”

Employees are generally productive for only three hours on average during an eight-hour working schedule every day, Deorah said citing a well-known study. “There are workplace distractions which happen, people take breaks. There is an attention span to look at or focus on certain topics, contributes to these numbers,” she said.

Challenges and solutions

“We face real challenges with existing wellness solutions, such as outdated reimbursement processes, limited provider options, low engagement rates, and multiple independent wellness programmes that don't deliver the support they need,” she said.

It's time to break down these barriers and reimagine wellness that truly works for everyone. “Introducing Advantage Wellness, India's first marketplace-led comprehensive wellness solution designed to support you in every step of your well-being journey with features like OPD and fitness plans, health checkups, and social-led well-being apps that will take your wellness journey to a whole new level,” she suggested

Employees face problems having multiple fitness apps and operate multiple silos, which is quite confusing, she said, adding the other problem is reimbursement. For instance, Meta fired 24 employees for misusing $25 amount for their food budgets. Those fired, were getting $400,000 monthly salary. 

“Compliance is a big challenge when you are running reimbursement programmes…and running reimbursement receipts. Many times, organizations do not have the planning or effort to ensure whether it is the right reimbursement. Limited provider choice is also a challenge if you are running health and wellness programmes,” 

The other problem is of analytics, according to her. “Analytics is not just tracking how much usage happened or who used it, what was the utilization or redemption. It needs to go beyond that. What has the programme contributed to the total health and well-being of your organization? What has the programme contributed to in terms of reducing absenteeism in your company? General analytics around which pillar is being used more…is something which is missing in today's analytics for programmes,” she said.

AdvantageClub.ai has three pillars, the first is to assess. “You create a programme where you are creating assessment for employees to self-assess whether it's through a self-intent or whether it's through a medical assessment,” she informed.

The second is driving the wellness programmes in the right manner. The third is empowering people to become healthier and encourage healthy habits among employees. “Then marry all with technology like AI, with personalization to ensure that everyone's getting the right thing. Self-motivated intent and getting a medical assessment done is important…it also helps organizations drive better productivity, lesser sick days for employees and more focus. It is important to also make these tailored and personalization for employees based on the assessment results.”

Give employees options beyond gym membership. Somebody may prefer yoga, some meditation or both, she suggested. “Enable companies and employees to get good investment options, tax advice, any type of financial planning to meet their personalized financial goals. Family care where you can provide tailored options for employees to take care of their dependents, parents, spouse, and children.”

Provide them with EAD programmes to enable them to get therapy or counselling or other relief programs. The next pillar of driving engagement holistically is to empower employees, enabling them to become healthy and create healthy habit formations, she said. 

“Technology and AI can be used in three ways -- giving the right kind of nudges, the right nudge at the right place at the right time to the right person. This is your behaviour, this is your location, your goals, your history. You get the right nudges from the technology platform you are using, then comes deep data analysis.”

Health and well-being evolved over time

During the industrial revolution in the 1750s, work began as a concept when people started working in factories. That's when the concept of health and safety measures were introduced. There was a need to ensure that employees have safe working conditions, minimising accidents at workplaces. 

In the 1900s, white collar jobs were introduced, and everyone was not required to work in factories. The industry started looking for hygiene at workplaces when women started working. The concept of paid sick leave started during the 1900s. Health insurance schemes, welfare & pension programmes, and general employee benefits came into existence. Companies introduced gym memberships and fitness initiatives.

Stress management programmes and flexible working hours started during 2000 in pre-Covid era. Work-life balance started becoming status quo for companies. Mental, emotional, social, and financial well-beings became vital for organizations post-Covid period.