1. Illnesses
2. Diseases
3. Potentially debilitating health conditions 

Most companies worldwide lost 4% to 6% of their GDP capacity due to work-related health issues in the workforce in 2017 (WHO). Now, do you see how chronic and deep-rooted this problem is?

At Vijay Thakkar Fitness, this is what we aim to fix. Your outlook towards the proverbial “Corporate Life” needs to change by being accountable and responsible for your health.

Your employees need every ounce of their mental capacity to be productive. If you do not encourage wellness and overall wellbeing, your corporation will face tough challenges trying to capitalize on the potential of your hired talent.
Let us guide you around the concept of corporate fitness programs, their importance, and how you can encourage your employees to stay healthy and fit.

What is Corporate Wellness?

Your employees are your most valuable asset.
When your workforce is at peace with their lifestyle – at work and away – their productivity and true potential will shine through.

Corporate wellness is, thus, about ensuring that the human resources at your company have access to methods and tools to help them feel better about work and life.

Vijay defines wellness as the state of being in good health holistically. Your mental health, physical fitness, emotional satisfaction, and spiritual awareness must be positive to feel genuinely “well.”

To that end, we craft customized lifestyle management plans for corporates to help them reduce healthcare costs and encourage their employees to lead healthier lives.

What are Corporate Health Programs?

Wellness programs for corporates are daily activities and practices that you, as an employer, design with the help of your corporate health management consulting services to promote your employees’ wellbeing.
The activities that such programs focus on can include anything, as long as they are oriented towards improving certain aspects of your workforce’s holistic wellness, such as:

1. Serving nutrient-heavy foods in your cafeteria
2. Promoting 10-minute stretching exercises after a defined work period
3. Arranging for a power-walking/running/bicycle track on the premises to promote physical activity
4. Incentivizing the usage of the prevalent on-campus gym for a certain period every day

Creating wellness programs for your corporates helps you manage healthcare costs. It helps your employees manage the various health risks associated with:

1. A sedentary lifestyle
2. Consuming junk food
3. High levels of stress
4. Disturbed circadian rhythms

The examples are countless. There are many ways with the help of which you can facilitate wellness; however, it does not necessarily mean the employees will participate.

To garner participation in your corporate wellbeing programs, you need to provide a structure to your facilitations and actively create awareness about wellness. Your employees need to understand the importance of wellness and volunteer to improve their health and fitness.
We assist you with creating targeted, high-focus wellness programs for corporates that bring measurable transformation in your workforce, wellness, and productivity.

Why is it Important to Design Lifestyle Management Plans for Corporates?

You may find it counterintuitive to invest in wellness programs for your employees. It is possible to decide against investing in employee wellness on a shoestring budget. However, you should think about the long run.
Continued growth and increased responsibilities at the workplace will only result in more employees working overtime and feeling stressed and stiff. Clocking overtime puts their health at increased risk of:

1. Cardiovascular problems
2. Diabetes
3. Joint pain issues

For example, 38% of employees in corporate wellness programs said that they took fewer sick days.
The writing is on the wall. Customized and targeted corporate health programs can help your organization in many ways, some of which are mentioned below: 

1. Employee wellness programs promote motivation and productivity in the workplace. According to a study by the American Psychological Association, access to wellness programs motivates 91% of employees to do more and better.
2. Organizations can significantly reduce the cost of healthcare and insurance when their workforce focuses on staying and living healthy.
3. Health programs are vital to employees as they help retain their services while allowing organizations to recruit good talent. 
4. Wellness programs for corporates are a great way to lower absenteeism and work-related health risks.
5. More employees (61%) are driven to make healthier choices for work and eating when they are a part of a wellness program.
6. With increased satisfaction levels in employees, your company can look at a substantial decrease in employee attrition and turnover.
7. Physically fit employees display higher levels of motivating and positivity hormones in the body, helping them to perform at work, and be productive and energetic all day long.

The assortment of the various benefits spans not just the employer and the employee but the entire chain of stakeholders that banks on your organization’s performance as a unit.

VT provides lifestyle management coaching for corporates, enabling you to experience these advantages at your establishment.

16 Excellent Ways to Encourage and Promote Workplace Wellness

Corporate wellness programs encompass highly targeted ways to motivate employees to look after their health and wellbeing. There are specific subtle and effective ways to encourage wellbeing outside wellness programs.
Vijay Thakkar Fitness provides 16 unique ways to incorporate healthy activities into your employees’ schedules to ensure that your employees are adopting wellness as a part of their daily schedule:

1. Designate a Role Model

No, this is not about hanging up Virat Kohli or Hrithik Roshan posters. This is about recognizing the employees on your payroll already dedicated to fitness and a healthy lifestyle.
You will find a handful of such inspiring and motivating people at your company; designate them as the Health ambassadors for your wellness programs. Let your employees see that it can be done by making one of their role models.

2. Partner with a Nearby Fitness Center

We understand it is taxing on the budget to provide a gym or gym-like facilities in-house. However, you can locate nearby fitness centers and extend a partnership opportunity to them.
You can make their memberships to your employees at discounted prices, with more benefits and personal trainers with the wellness program. This also serves well for the fitness center, as they get more customers.

3. Redesign Your Menu

Encouraging your employees to eat healthily is the first step in raising awareness about the health risks they are exposed to.
You can rework your menus to include healthier alternatives to every dish, for example, offering mix-grain chapattis instead of wheat/all-purpose flour chapattis. Instead of forcing a healthy meal on your employees, you should give them the healthier alternative and encourage them to make the healthier choice voluntarily.

4. Replace Your Furniture

Longer hours on the desk tend to slow the metabolism down to dangerous levels. It increases the risk of obesity which, in turn, can give birth to problems like diabetes and heart disease.
Instead, provide your employees with contemporary furniture that encourages mobility. For example, laptop stands are quite the rage today as they allow height adjustment to enable the user to stand up and work whenever he wishes to.

5. Provide Dedicated Exercise Time

Many companies give their employees dedicated hours off to finish those daily steps or a run around the track. For four or five days a week, you can offer your employees time off to get some exercise in.
Communicate how exercise helps them by talking about the points mentioned below:

1. boosts metabolism for fat loss
2. release endorphins for mental freshness
3. helps promote body mobility for a pain free body

6. Use the Power of Reminders

Reminders, when used right, can do wonders for your employees. After every hour or so, you can announce a company-wide reminder to get up and walk for two to five minutes.
A deep focus session typically lasts for about 1.5 hours; beyond that, your employees are distracted. You can help them use this time to reorganize their minds by taking a short walk around the office.

7. Include Reading

Although the study is old, the University of Sussex discovered that a 6-minute reading session could reduce stress by up to 68%.
Reading has more benefits – it lowers blood pressure, acts like a cardio workout for the brain, stimulates thinking capacity, and helps you become more intelligent! As part of your corporate wellness program, ensure that you facilitate a library with multiple genres of books.

8. Help Them Quit Addictions

According to a study, the annual cost to a company for employing a smoker (in excess of his remuneration) was $5,816 (Approx Rs. 4,64,090). Multiply this figure with the number of employees in your workplace who smoke.
For holistic wellness and to save company costs, introduce addiction cessation campaigns for stimulants like smoking addiction and caffeine dependencies.

9. Introduce Breaks

Sitting at a desk for long hours can give anyone a backache, headache, muscle cramps, or a runaway mind.
Encourage your employees to take small breaks at regular intervals to blow off some steam and return to the desk refreshed. It keeps them motivated and productive throughout the day.

10. Top-Down Approach

Every employee at your workplace looks up to their seniors for guidance, motivation, and inspiration in the ways of work.
Adopting a top-down approach to teaching healthy habits helps to percolate a culture of healthy living and fitness at your organization. Onboard all your senior staff to actively practice wellness initiatives and promote the same in their respective teams.

11. Gamify Your Company

Talent LMS conducted a gamification survey not too long ago and found that:

1. 89% of the employees said that gamification made them more productive
2. 88% said gamification made them feel happier and more satisfied at work

Introduce gamified activities at your company to keep the employees engaged and productive. For example, random short-interval app-based treasure hunts with an incentive at the end.

12. Cleanse Your Surroundings

One of the significant aspects of employee satisfaction, productivity, and engagement is the cleanliness, hygiene, and greenery in and around the campus. Cleaner, greener environments boost mental stimulation and harbor feelings of wellness and positivity.
You can:

1. Outsource the hygiene and cleanliness of the premises to professional agencies and hire a landscaping contractor to maintain the aesthetic value of the outdoors.
2. Conduct monthly plantation or gardening drives to invite interested employees to destress through this soulful activity.

13. Organize Health Events and Fairs

There is no better way to raise health and fitness awareness than to hold a fair or wellness event.
You can invite experts from the health and fitness industry to host talks and one-to-one interactions with your workforce to motivate them toward a healthier lifestyle; that is, you can:

1. Invite chefs who focus on creating healthy recipes to share their insights and cooking styles.
2. Ask fitness coaches to highlight how to manage a sedentary lifestyle and add a few exercises to a busy day.

14. Conduct Surveys

Ask your employees what health and fitness initiative they want to see implemented. This is the best way to boost participation in the initiative and see results fast.
After the current initiative has settled into practice and normalized, you can take it up a notch and conduct a second survey to add to the wellness program. Implementing it takes time, but this method will see greater participation.

15. Ditch the Traditional Method of Working

The world has reinvented the way it does things after the pandemic. It is time to reinvent traditional methods of office-ing too, such as by:

1. Holding your meetings outdoors amidst greenery.
2. Discuss projects with your employees while walking around the campus.
3. Encourage remote work and flexible hours.
4. Let your teammates join a discussion virtually, from anywhere in the world.

The above mentioned methods, if taught, will do wonders for employee retention, as it displays that your company is open to embracing change.

16. Competitive Approaches

Conduct informal surprise events at your workplace that encourage competitiveness in terms of health and fitness. Incentivize this approach.
For example, announce a surprise coupon/discount code for the employee who ate the healthiest lunch today or a plank competition for a free movie ticket. Such events encourage employees to vie for the reward the next time, motivating them to make healthier choices.

Corporate Wellness with Vijay Thakkar Fitness

You can facilitate your employees’ physical and mental health initiatives with the help of corporate plans crafted at Vijay Thakkar Fitness.
You can also:

1. Provide stressbuster outlets in the workplace in the form of TT (Table Tennis) tables, indoor golf holes, air-hockey tables, etc.
2. Allow remote or flexible working hours when the employees are in need.
3. Any other assistance that can be professionally made possible for their wellbeing.

Doing this would help your company create a better work environment for employees and make them feel better about coming to work. It will help the employers keep them engaged and productive.
Let’s understand what the contemporary wellness ecosystem of Vijay Thakkar Fitness is comprised of.

CEO, CXO – Personalized Lifestyle Management Wellness Plans

The leadership teams of your corporation drive its progress and growth. For these individuals, Vijay Thakkar Fitness conducts health and lifestyle management sessions.
These sessions help them to control their stress levels and make the most out of their lives through establishing avenues for lifestyle discipline and good practices.

TFA – Total Fitness Assessment– A Complete Fitness Assessment Tool For Your Organization

White-collar desk jobs are taxing on the body. Common health issues like joint pain, stiffness and inflexibility, diabetes, risk of heart disease, and obesity may hinder employee productivity.
Vijay’s TFA is an assessment designed to discover if your employees are experiencing any such problems and to help them correct the root cause of the problem .

Health Science and Wellness Talk for Employees

Corporate wellness programs need to educate your workforce about living and eating healthy. They should understand the essence of wellness in a holistic light instead of looking at it as an isolated form of exercise or diet control.
The Health Science and Wellness Talk by Vijay Thakkar Fitness aims at this aspect of wellness.

8 Rounds for Busy Professionals

A fitness module of 30 minutes explicitly designed for corporate employees that lead the hustle life. Vijay Thakkar Fitness’s 8 Rounds for Busy Professionals is a program that lets busy individuals punch in their daily physical wellness without disturbing their schedules.

Holistic, All-Round Lifestyle Management Coaching for Corporates with Vijay Thakkar Fitness

At Vijay Thakkar Fitness, we design lifestyle management coaching for corporates to help your company improve employees’ lives while working better.

We coach your employees to manage their life and work together while giving them avenues to reduce stress and boost their overall wellbeing through our holistic programs.
You can book a consultation with us to understand how your company can achieve savings in healthcare costs through lifestyle disease reversal coaching for corporates.

We can design wellness programs for corporates and provide you with all the necessary resources to help you gain the response you expect.