How to contribute to the wellness of employees and therefore to the performance of the Company?

Wellness of employees is believed to contribute to the wellness of the Company. The Indian Manufacturing.com spoke to Ms.Mahalakshmi, Director of Ru Education Private Limited who is an experienced trainer and is pioneering the wellness concept in many Indian and foreign companies. Following is the transcript of the interview.

TIM (The Indian Manufacturing.com) :How do you define wellness of an employee or rather that of a human being?

Mahalakshmi:Wellness is holistic wellbeing which includes, good health of the body, mind and soul.

TIM:How can wellness of an Employee contribute to the progress of a Company?

Mahalakshmi:A healthy employee is a happy employee and a happy employee is a productive employee. He is much more anchored in the self and starts contributing with passion.  And when people’s actions are backed-up with passion it takes the organisation to the next level effortlessly.

TIM: What are the Indian ways in which we can contribute to the wellness of employees?

Mahalakshmi:India always has had a holistic approach to wellness. For example  take the Panchashudhhi model. It talks about purification of the body (Sharirashudhhi), Purification of the speech (Vaakshudhhi), Purification of the emotions (BhaavaShudhhi), Purification of the thoughts (VichaaraShudhhi) and Purification of the self (AathmaShudhhi).  Even the Ashtaanga Yoga model talks of the holistic approach to wellness which leads to enlightenment.

TIM:What role can the leader of the organization play in promoting the wellness of employees?

Mahalakshmi: The leader of an organisation should have a far-sighted approach towards the wellness of the employees. I am reminded of the old tamil poem which says “When the ridge to contain the water in the fields goes up the water level goes up; when the water level goes up the paddy crop produce goes up; when the produce goes up the citizens’ well-being is heightened & when the citizens’ well-being is heightened, the king becomes supreme”.

The leader’s role is to provide a conducive environment in the systems, hierarchical practices and organisational procedures of the organisation to promote wellness of the constituents. Alongside awareness training should be conducted by competent facilitators to raise the awareness levels.

TIM:Can you give some examples of companies where this concept is championed and how they would have got benefited ?

Mahalakshmi:  ELGI Equipments ltd is a pioneer in this region. They have conducted a series of training programs to bring-in overall awareness of well-being at the body, mind & soul level. Various initiatives like yogasanas, deep-breathing techniques, meditation, etc are taught to them and also 15 minutes time is given to all where-in a daily energiser routine is followed by them. In this 15 minutes, 5 minutes is allocated for physical exercise (physical well-being),  5 minutes for deep-breathing exercises (for high energy levels)  and 5 minutes for meditation (mental well-being). They have also spent over 50 lakhs in a wellness centre, where series of initiatives like lectures and programs are organised with the help of competent faculty to raise the awareness levels.

ITC, Thekkampatti is also one more organisation who has instilled this awareness by including yoga as a part of their training. Also Pricol has taken special interest in this aspect.

I have just mentioned a few Coimbatore-based companies here.

The result is a generation of employees who have heightened awareness towards wellness. This results in better industrial relations and general value-addition to quality of life all around. This will also go a long way in fulfilling the Corporate Social Responsibility..

TIM: Is this concept only for big companies ? Is it expensive to really focus on wellness of employees?

Mahalakshmi:Not at all. It should be and can be followed by all irrespective the size of the company. Its not expensive and all it needs is “Value for wellness”.

The ROI in terms of the effectiveness and efficiency of the employees is so high that the amount spent is just a fraction of the benefits derived.

TIM:If the relationship between Management and Workmen is not good right now, is it a good time to start focus on wellness?

Mahalakshmi: In such cases, this in fact is the best time to focus on wellness. When the employees see the selfless contribution of the employer towards his wellness the environment becomes much more conducive for a better relationship.

As  thegenuineness  of this effort is seen by the employees,  it results into immediate diffusion of animosity and hostility and results into better IR.

TIM:How do you energize the employees on a daily basis using some simple concepts?

Mahalakshmi:A minimum 15 minutes focus should be given for this aspect. Simple exercises, pranayams and meditation should be the routine.

TIM: How can Yoga help in improving the Business of a Company?

Mahalakshmi:The root word of yoga in Sanskrit is “Yuj”, which means “to join”. When you have a work-force who are joined or anchored in the self, who are much more centred& emotionally balanced, time is not wasted in negative activities. The energy can be positively channelized towards growing of the business.

TIM:How can your organization help in improving the Wellness of employees in a company?

Mahalakshmi:Ru Education has developed unique training programs under the name “The complete Secret of Personal Effectiveness Programs”. These programs focus on training and equipping the employees to handle all the levels of their existence which includes their body, communication, Emotions, mind and spiritual. Also Asanas, Pranaayams& Meditation are taught as a part of our programs as we believe in self-management leading to external work-place management. We have taken the best of Spiritual techniques from the eastern world and the management techniques from the western world. When transformation happens at the core level, attitudes will change and there will be a longer-lasting behavioural change. We have a very strong expertise in this field, with proven track-record of having conducted over 800 programs for leading companies in India and overseas.

More details can be had by clicking on this link www.thecompletesecret.org