Dear members, On one of the WA groups of HR, the Administrator of the groups, Mr Rajaram Thorve, has raised the topic for discussion. Today's topic for discussion is on Employee Wellness Programmes. He has asked the following questions:
Should the organization organize health talks and medical camps for employees at regular intervals?
Is it true that the employees may misunderstand if instigated by some employees or unions that the medical camps are organized to declare them medically unfit to remove them from the services of the organization?
How would you create awareness and a positive environment about the health of employees and the intention for organizing medical camps?
Would you display health tips with pictures at conspicuous places or by way of emails for educating employees?
I have given the replies to the above questions, and these are as below:
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Dear Mr Rajaram Thorve, Replies to your questions are as below:
Q. 1 Should the organization organize health talks, medical camps for employees at regular intervals? Reply: - Yes, spreading health awareness is always important. Occasionally, the company should organize these events.
Q. 2 Is it true that the employees may misunderstand if instigated by some employees or unions that the medical camps are organized to declare them medically unfit to remove them from the services of the organization? Reply: - Using medical records to terminate an employee is a plainly misplaced fear. Can some authority take the risk of tampering with the medical records of the employee? The chances are quite remote. What if the employee takes a second opinion and it emerges that he is medically fit? In that case, who will be responsible? Going further, in the extreme case out of malice, some senior manager takes this risk to remove 1-2 employees, but this malpractice cannot be executed on a large scale.
Q. 3 How would you create awareness and a positive environment about the health of employees and the intention for organizing medical camps? Reply: - The examples of spreading health awareness given in the first question are adequate.
Q. 4 Would you display health tips with pictures at conspicuous places or by way of emails for educating employees? Reply: - Yes, to spread health awareness, these means can very well be adopted.
Final Comments: - Conducting health camps and spreading health awareness apart, HR can go further. HR needs to do the following:
a) HR can very well measure the loss of productivity because of the employees’ sickness. This is much easier said than done. Not necessarily for employee wellness, but productivity measurement is always a challenge for HR.
b) The second thing that HR can do is to identify how many employees are working well beyond their working hours. Long working is a silent killer. In a few companies or industries, long working hours have become the norm. Operations managers openly say, “In our industry, everybody puts up long working hours.” This is a plain rationalization, and sometimes HR is just a mute spectator to it. HR must step in to reduce the excess working hours.
c) The third thing is about identifying occupational diseases associated with the industry. Occupational disease is any illness associated with a particular occupation or industry. Such diseases result from a variety of biological, chemical, physical, and psychological factors that are present in the work environment or are otherwise encountered in the course of employment. If HR does not take any steps to identify and eradicate occupational diseases, then the employee awareness programs will become vacuous.
Thanks, Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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8074Should the organization organize health talks and medical camps for employees at regular intervals?
Is it true that the employees may misunderstand if instigated by some employees or unions that the medical camps are organized to declare them medically unfit to remove them from the services of the organization?
How would you create awareness and a positive environment about the health of employees and the intention for organizing medical camps?
Would you display health tips with pictures at conspicuous places or by way of emails for educating employees?
I have given the replies to the above questions, and these are as below:
+++++
Dear Mr Rajaram Thorve, Replies to your questions are as below:
Q. 1 Should the organization organize health talks, medical camps for employees at regular intervals? Reply: - Yes, spreading health awareness is always important. Occasionally, the company should organize these events.
Q. 2 Is it true that the employees may misunderstand if instigated by some employees or unions that the medical camps are organized to declare them medically unfit to remove them from the services of the organization? Reply: - Using medical records to terminate an employee is a plainly misplaced fear. Can some authority take the risk of tampering with the medical records of the employee? The chances are quite remote. What if the employee takes a second opinion and it emerges that he is medically fit? In that case, who will be responsible? Going further, in the extreme case out of malice, some senior manager takes this risk to remove 1-2 employees, but this malpractice cannot be executed on a large scale.
Q. 3 How would you create awareness and a positive environment about the health of employees and the intention for organizing medical camps? Reply: - The examples of spreading health awareness given in the first question are adequate.
Q. 4 Would you display health tips with pictures at conspicuous places or by way of emails for educating employees? Reply: - Yes, to spread health awareness, these means can very well be adopted.
Final Comments: - Conducting health camps and spreading health awareness apart, HR can go further. HR needs to do the following:
a) HR can very well measure the loss of productivity because of the employees’ sickness. This is much easier said than done. Not necessarily for employee wellness, but productivity measurement is always a challenge for HR.
b) The second thing that HR can do is to identify how many employees are working well beyond their working hours. Long working is a silent killer. In a few companies or industries, long working hours have become the norm. Operations managers openly say, “In our industry, everybody puts up long working hours.” This is a plain rationalization, and sometimes HR is just a mute spectator to it. HR must step in to reduce the excess working hours.
c) The third thing is about identifying occupational diseases associated with the industry. Occupational disease is any illness associated with a particular occupation or industry. Such diseases result from a variety of biological, chemical, physical, and psychological factors that are present in the work environment or are otherwise encountered in the course of employment. If HR does not take any steps to identify and eradicate occupational diseases, then the employee awareness programs will become vacuous.
Thanks, Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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The Importance of Employee Wellness Programs
In my opinion, corporates, trainers, and consultants need to start looking at employee wellness programs beyond just employee health and sickness issues. Wellness is more than just being free of disease. It is a process of change and growth. Everything we do and every emotion we feel relates to our well-being. Within a corporate setup, it is important for everyone to achieve optimal wellness (physical, mental, and social well-being) in order to subdue stress, reduce the risk of illness, and ensure positive interactions amongst colleagues, bosses, subordinates, customers, etc.
Challenges in Employee Wellness
Skill gaps, job fatigue, lack of empathy, feeling unheard... all of this comes under wellness, and corporates need to find ways to help employees cope if they want to ensure happy employees and, in turn, a happy business.
From India, Bangalore
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In my opinion, corporates, trainers, and consultants need to start looking at employee wellness programs beyond just employee health and sickness issues. Wellness is more than just being free of disease. It is a process of change and growth. Everything we do and every emotion we feel relates to our well-being. Within a corporate setup, it is important for everyone to achieve optimal wellness (physical, mental, and social well-being) in order to subdue stress, reduce the risk of illness, and ensure positive interactions amongst colleagues, bosses, subordinates, customers, etc.
Challenges in Employee Wellness
Skill gaps, job fatigue, lack of empathy, feeling unheard... all of this comes under wellness, and corporates need to find ways to help employees cope if they want to ensure happy employees and, in turn, a happy business.
From India, Bangalore
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Employee wellness as a business strategy
Employee wellness must be a part of the business strategy of corporate companies as it is correlated with the productivity of the company. Wellness is not just about keeping your employees physically healthy but also encompasses the holistic well-being of the employees.
Holistic wellness
Holistic wellness includes the physical, emotional, social, and mental well-being of the employees, which is essential for performing well in the workplace. A perfect corporate wellness company works to promote holistic wellness among the organization's employees.
For more information, visit: https://www.truworthwellness.com/corporate
From India
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
Employee wellness must be a part of the business strategy of corporate companies as it is correlated with the productivity of the company. Wellness is not just about keeping your employees physically healthy but also encompasses the holistic well-being of the employees.
Holistic wellness
Holistic wellness includes the physical, emotional, social, and mental well-being of the employees, which is essential for performing well in the workplace. A perfect corporate wellness company works to promote holistic wellness among the organization's employees.
For more information, visit: https://www.truworthwellness.com/corporate
From India
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WELLNESS IT.pdf
Occupational safty and health act 1970.ppt