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Corporate healthcare is often a buzzword in the corridors of large & mid-sized enterprises while the smaller, start-up firms often tend to stay away from what they see as a costly and avoidable overhead cost – at least in their nascent journey. While start-ups are hubs seeped in a culture of innovation and flexibility, the paucity of resources is also a reality that they must accept. This is not just related to human resources, but also the paucity of time and monetary capital available.
In a start-up environment, personnel dependence is rather high. Human resources at every level have a key role to play and it is imperative that they be looked after to ensure the long-term success of the enterprise. Thus, there is definite merit in investing in corporate health programs for organizations even if they are in the start-up phase of their evolution. Let us, therefore, delve a little deeper into some of the key facets of corporate healthcare in start-up environments.
Health is the fundamental driver productivity, as it is the function of both physical as well as emotional well-being. Employees can perform at their optimum best only when they remain at the peak of their prowess physically and have no emotional distractions that take away their focus from their KRAs. Start-ups can also be high-pressure work environments, wherein there are tight deadlines, long work hours and erratic schedules further add to the health challenges.
Also, most start-ups do not have adequate cover for their key resources and health-related absence from work can hurt deliverables more than they do in large organizations. Given that health-related time-off for employees can be prevented, it is imperative that health of the remains a focus for the founders and management of the organizations.
One of the key differences of working in a start-up environment as compared to a large corporate is the more intimate relationships it helps evolve. Between the founders, management and employees – there is a much closer and intimate bond, and nothing makes this bond stronger than caring for the health of the employees.
When employees see a sincere effort from the organization’s side to take care of their health, it fosters a greater sense of loyalty towards the organization. This works as a counter to attrition rate and makes employees stay longer, remain more committed and deliver above their average productivity.
A recent study by The Economist found direct evidence that links employee wellness programs to the engagement levels of employees’ with the organization. Also, employees' engagement in the larger organizational initiatives is much higher, more informed and for a longer period of time when compared to places that do not have a well-defined well-being program for their employees.
A wellness-driven organization competes better in the market as employees deliver better output, faster turnaround and remain more loyal to the organization. In our highly competitive marketplaces, with clients demanding more bang for their buck – it is imperative to gain every single competitive advantage possible for organizations to remain relevant. Organizations also need to compete harder to attract new clients and new talent to fuel future expansion and objectives – and unless employees remain at the peak of their prowess, these goals will end up being pipedreams.
Now that we have established the four pillars of why organizations need a culture of employee health and well-being, it is also important that we define what constitutes employee health & well-being. For a start, employee health & well-being is not just a function of the physical being but it must embrace the larger emotional well-being as well. Some of the key aspects of employee well-being would be:
To support the employee well-being journey, the ekincare platform provides them access to a multitude of healthcare services like:
