India’s National Productivity Day is just around the corner: On Monday, the 12^th of February, millions of workers and their employers alike from across the country will celebrate the achievements of their workplace and come together to promote newer, faster and more efficient ways of working for the future. Not only is this for production’s sake, but for the holistic betterment of the nation.

In fact, it was in this respect that the National Productivity Council created the awareness day as a means of advancing India as a world leader. By calling on organisational leaders and their workforce to collaborate on creative and innovative ways of tackling the country’s—and the world’s—biggest problems (think: climate change, human resource development, sustainability, DEI health and wellbeing), the event seeks to emphasise the significance of productivity as an all-encompassing concept, rather than a mere business objective.

What does that mean?

It means that productivity in the name of enhancing employee wellbeing, improving the quality of the workplace, bolstering the local community, and other similar aims is productivity for business. By cultivating healthier people, safer cultures and more resilient communities, organisations can reap the benefits of a better workforce, a strong internal culture and long-lasting clients.

But what does that mean in 2024?

Thanks to complimentary advancements in technology and education, India’s healthcare industry is on course to become the fastest growing and best performing sector of the economy in 2024. One area in particular that’s gradually receiving much-deserved attention is preventive healthcare.

According to the latest findings from the World Health Organization, nearly two-thirds of all deaths in India are a result of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)—the majority of which are preventable. These include heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, lung disease, COPD, neonatal disorders, suicide and more. While factors outside of one’s control can, of course, play a role in the development of these conditions, research consistently shows that they are largely caused by poor lifestyle habits—habits that are perpetuated by poor health literacy, stigma, gaps in and inaccessibility of care.

This presents a rather unique and urgent opportunity for organisations to get involved in the development and management of their employees’ health and wellbeing. Considering that people spend at least a third of their lives at work, it’s reasonable to assume that at least that of their behaviours, thoughts and attitudes stem from the workplace as well. As such, employers are said to have a marked influence over their employees’ lifestyle habits. They can greatly contribute to the reduction and prevention of the country’s most prominent health issues and minimise the impact they can have on workers’—and organisations’—wellbeing and performance.

Thus, to improve productivity in 2024, organisations’ chief focus should be dedicated to investing in and promoting the use of preventive wellbeing solutions in the workplace.

Setting Up for Success: How a Holistic Wellbeing Solutions Provider Can Help

When it comes to implementing an effective preventive healthcare strategy in the workplace, organisations must do more than simply invest in preventive services. After all, what good is a preventive health solution if employees only use it reactively? Or worse, not at all?

For optimal results, organisations need to adopt a deeper, comprehensive approach. This involves examining the unique needs and challenges facing their workforce; considering their staff’s level of awareness and attitudes surrounding crucial health topics; and, if necessary, transforming their company culture. More specifically, it involves ensuring that any solutions invested align with employees’ needs and concerns. It involves making sure that employees are well-informed about important health topics, including what factors play a role in various health outcomes and how they can manage and protect their health. But most importantly, it involves making sure that they feel safe and empowered to take care of their health in the first place.

To effectively achieve these aims (and more) without having to sacrifice any business objectives in the process, employers can look to their wellbeing solutions providers for help.

By partnering with a holistic wellbeing solutions provider, employees (and managers) can gain access to the following services essential for preventing severe disease:

• Biometric health screenings: Perhaps the most obvious tool that any organisation should invest in when it comes to implementing a preventive health strategy, biometric health screenings offer employees an opportunity to assess their body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure—all of which can provide valuable insights on current or potential medical issues and identify risks for preventable disease.
• Organisational questionnaires and wellbeing assessments: Complementary to biometric health screenings are organisational and wellbeing assessments that examine the workplace ecosystem and screen for any risk factors of illness, such as hazardous working conditions (including frequent accidents, injuries, fatalities or illness), high job demands, overtime or work-life imbalance, interpersonal conflicts, stress and burnout, as well as indications of poor mental health.
• Manager training and ongoing assistance: While it’s up to the individual employee to adopt healthy behaviours to ward off illness, everyone has a role to play in helping each other spot warning signs of poor health—especially managers. Managers, already tasked with “overseeing” their teams, are in a unique position to detect issues early. With training and ongoing support from expert counsellors and consultants, managers can learn what to look for and what to do to help their troubled associates.
• Employee training: Managers aren’t the only ones who can benefit from training. With access to live or recorded training sessions from accredited counsellors, clinicians and coaches, employees can expand their knowledge about a variety of health topics, including how to optimise their wellbeing, how to spot signs of poor health in themselves, and why and when they should seek professional care.
• Wellness coaching: To assist employees in applying what they’ve learned, coaches are available to collaborate with individuals on personalised wellness plans tailored to their health needs or goals. Common areas covered include weight management, nutrition, physical fitness, and tobacco cessation—all of which are essential to maintaining good health.
• Multimodal, in-the-moment or long-term counselling support: As a wealth of research has proven time and again, the state of one’s mental health can have a significant impact on the state of one’s overall health. By taking care of issues like stress, anxiety or depression as soon as they appear, employees can aspire to prevent severe or chronic issues, safeguarding their presence and performance at work. Better yet, with access to digital health solutions through their employers’ provider, employees don’t have to worry about fitting in time for an in-person appointment; instead, they can make mental health care work around their schedule, contacting support at any time and from anywhere that works best for them.

Ultimately, what makes these services so effective and vital for organisations to invest in is the fact that they’re seamlessly integrated with each other. As many prominent experts have noted, some of the leading challenges facing the nation in terms of preventive health care are ignorance, stigma, a lack of accessibility, and a lack of surveillance. Each one feeds off the other, and until all are addressed, none will be resolved.

But with the breadth of services offered by a wellbeing solutions provider, employers can seek to tackle each of these challenges simultaneously, by:

• Raising awareness and educating employees about the importance of health management
• Destigmatising health and healthcare by starting a dialogue in the workplace that includes voices from the top and the ground floor
• Expanding workers’ access to support by providing digital health solutions in addition to on-site or in-person care
• Proactively treating workers’ health rather than doing so reactively, which can help workplaces both monitor and minimise the presence or threat of common diseases

Though healthcare systems from across the globe may differ widely on a number of aims or practices, there’s one truth unites them all: that “prevention” is better than “cure”. By prioritising prevention over cure in the workplace, leaders can aspire not only to lower health costs, absenteeism, presenteeism and retain a stronger workforce, but to create a better workplace experience for their employees, which in turn can breed innovation, boost morale and engagement, and contribute exponentially to the productivity of their workplace.