Though only less than half of the companies in India spent on employee wellness programmes, such company-sponsored initiatives act as motivators for corporate employees. And not just that, they can save India Inc a whopping $20 billion by the end of this year, says a survey done by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, or ASSOCHAM.
Interestingly, the amount kept aside for corporate wellness expenditure is apparently well spent by the companies. According to the chamber, this leads to a one-per cent reduction in absenteeism rate, thus enabling that amount to be saved. Each rupee spent on employees' wellness, thus, results in employers saving Rs 132.33 in terms of absenteeism. The companies also get back Rs 6.62 in terms of reduced healthcare costs, said the survey conducted across sectors such as FMCG, media, IT/ITeS and real estate.
What is even more encouraging is that 83 per cent of the respondents in the study were willing to contribute a percentage of their salary towards company-sponsored wellness programmes, with the rest not keen on being willing partners.
A majority—93 per cent—of the employees in IT and IT-enabled Services found employee wellness programmes motivating. However, the rest were "depressed" at the thought of healthcare programmes. In the media, the numbers of those who felt motivated by such programmes constituted 60 per cent, the rest were depressed. In the FMCG space, 75 per cent found it motivating, while the financial sector, 84 per cent of employees favor the wellness program whereas 16 per cent of the respondents were not interested to participate in such programmes. Elsewhere, 100 per cent of the employees felt motivated by the corporate health check up and wellness programmes.
At the same time, about 52 per cent of corporate employees surveyed revealed that their company does not run any wellness programme for them, while 62 per cent of the remaining said the present wellness programme run by their organisation needs improvement.
