Being Healthy Begins With You

Technology is moving towards convergence. Expectation level of customers has
increased, competition among the rivals is increasing, technologies are changing
everyday and the manpower has to update themselves accordingly. Besides, the
living standard has undergone a vast change, expenses have gone up and the
saving as well as maintaining basic luxuries has become a priority. Amidst all
the urban-centric changes, one factor that is often ignored by the employees or
in other way they are not getting time and space to focus on their health and
fitness level. Like others, in solution providers community also employees have
to be health conscious and they have to keep their fitness level high so that
they are energetic, motivated and innovative to take the everyday challenges and
perform at their best. It is the productivity of the manpower that can lead a
solution provider to take challenging roles and exceed in their space.

Recently, when a health conscious MD of a top IT company noticed the bulging
paunches of some of his top colleagues, he set up a new target to slash weight
and get rewarded. He kept his promise and the employees who managed to cut down
extra kilos were gifted brand new treadmills and other gifts.

It is a known fact that Indian people have the attitude to either ignore
their fitness consciousness or they tend to postpone fitness related actions
unless they get serious health alarms. Therefore, when SPs realize the
importance of healthy and a fit set of people for their operations, they should
move a step ahead and take actions that are effective in creating a healthy pool
of manpower.

Anil Gupta from Delhi-based Artek Enterprises agreed that it is the manpower
that is instrumental in achieving success for the solution providers, in taking
up new projects and implementing them in a way that brings customer
satisfaction.

After a recent surgery for a brain tumor, Chetan Shah of Xpress Computers has become very conscious of his own health and the well-being of his employees. He works out regularly and recently was the only channel partner to participate in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2010

On the action front

Solution providers have several options that they can implement in their
organization and it could be effective in creating consciousness among their
manpower to stay fit even when they have not got any serious health issue.

For instance, as the employees begin to take fitness seriously, the HR
department can strike deal with health clubs or fitness centers. The strategy to
invest on employees health may not give immediate return but it can be helpful
in building a pool of fit and efficient people.

Planning at a small scale and adding up in the routine of office works can
help in attaining a healthier environment. Human resource managers can do little
investments on indoor sports facilities such as table tennis or small gym set
ups. To handle the pressure and stress level, SPs can organize meditation
session or weekly yoga classes that are effective and does not mark a hole in
the pocket.

Everything comes at a cost

Like in most of the small and medium enterprises, investment on human
resource is considered to be second priority as the maximum focus is given on
customer relationship management and meanwhile cost and budget becomes an issue.

It may not be feasible for the solution providers to invest in building a big
size fitness center in the organization or to set up yoga or meditation session.
However, they can look for other options like recreational activities that can
help them in building a strong and efficient team.

One way to maintain a healthy environment is to hire a young working force.
As they have negligible or less health issues, they can help in creating a
healthy environment that is high in energy and spirit. Team building is another
task that a manager or employer must keep in mind as only that could help in
building an effective and efficient work force.

Health Related Policies

Another easy and effective way that solution providers can take to ensure a
healthier team is to provide health policies and routine health checkups for
their manpower.

Gupta from Artek Enterprises shared that though he is not able to provide
fancy facilities to his manpower related to health and fitness but he surely
organizes health checkup campaigns once in a year.

"I get all my staff for the health checkup and this gives me confidence that
they are fit and fine. Though no problem has occurred in the young group but
some problems gets detected in the older generation. This is very helpful for
the employees who otherwise tend to ignore such medical checkups," Gupta
mentioned.

Stress Busters

Considering the time and energy manpower have started spending in their work
place, stress level is bound to increase. Besides, rising competition,
expectation level of the employer and the race to serve the customers first are
increasingly becoming factors that are the cause of adding stress to the
manpower. The employers or the human resource department of a company needs to
address this issue with serious concern as the gradual increase in stress could
lead a person into depression.

To combat the problem of everyday stress, Mumbai-based Orient Technologies
has evaluated an easy and effective process.

"The best measures that Orient had adopted to keep the stress level away was
to ensure a friendly and stress less environment. We maintain an atmosphere that
is free from any politics or unhealthy competition. Employees are allowed to
express themselves and the manager have to take it without any grudges. Though
the market is competitive but we organize the work in such a way that employees
are not overloaded. We maintain a balance that could provide our manpower a
healthy place to work," informed Pankaj Jain, Director-HR Orient Technologies.

He further shared that there is a regular practice that evaluates the
satisfaction level of the employees with their organization.

"If any of the employees are found to be facing stress or depression, we take
the help of experts and counseling is provided.," Jain added.

Outdoor sport activities on a regular interval can be another method to build
a team with a healthy mind and body.

Solution providers can organize a cricket tournament for its employees. This
would not only give them a break from their regular work but also help in
creating a close bonded manpower.

"Besides cricket, we arrange for recreational tours where we take our staff
outside Mumbai and we spend the a day or two in just relaxing and interacting
casually," Jain mentioned.

Limited budget in a company can prevent the organizer to take certain actions
but small steps and initiatives could lead to big achievements and at times
without any cost involved. For instance, solution providers should ensure that
politics is not allowed to cripple the strength of their team. If the prime
focus is on maintaining a healthy work environment, it evaporates most of the
problems that occurs within a team. Employees should be given the freedom of
expression so that they can easily share their griefs, pain points or any
element within the organization that is disturbing them. Such steps could be a
miracle in maintaining a healthy team and environment.

Amrita Tejasvi

amritat@cybermedia.co.in