NASSCOM Employee Wellness

Overview

This year began on a dour note, with the COVID19 pandemic throwing life out of gear. One of the earliest reported cases was an IT employee with one of India’s leading technology companies. This prompted an active and immediate response to the threat over India’s IT workforce, many of whom faced a high probability of contracting the virus on account of inter-country and international travel, meetings and many other corporate engagements.

India Inc went into shutdown, along with the rest of the nation in March. Eight months in, and majority of India’s IT companies continue to work remotely. This has, no doubt, helped keep infections in check. But it has also spurred a series of unintended consequences. Despite restrictions on working in an office, there are other ways to contract the virus. The levels of stress are exacerbated in India’s workforce as they juggle multiple responsibilities, and steer clear of the virus in every imaginable way.

The pandemic is far from over, and remote work looks to be the reality for the foreseeable future. As pre COVID life remains in abeyance, life has become infinitely stressful with no end in sight. And this is bound to affect productivity and wellbeing.

This initiative was started keeping these stressors in mind, as we all learn to navigate this new normal. The limits of our resilience and patience are being tested like never before, and these uncharted waters are bound to cause anxiety. But companies are mindful of this cascading effect of the new normal, and are collected in their efforts to support employees through this tough period.

The NASSCOM Employee Wellness Project aims to showcase the best practices in workplace wellness over the next few weeks, to help organisations streamline their employee outreach and assistance programmes and overall, build more sensitivity.
We are all in this together, and we will overcome this – by leaning on each other, and learning from each other.

We hope you enjoy reading the content we have curated for you, and walk away with learnings on coping with this new normal.

Stay safe, stay healthy and stay mindful.

Showcase

LiveWell – An integrated approach to holistic wellbeing

LiveWell is the award-winning employee wellness program at Optum. It was established in 2014 and has strengthened over the years to become an end-to-end employee wellbeing program.

LifeDojo Saves the Day for Adobe

With lockdown throwing life out of gear, Adobe immediately resorted to using technology measures to ensure business continuity and mental wellbeing

Employee Well-Being, Now and Beyond

Tools and services that promotes a culture of good health and fitness. Employee well-being goes well beyond the physical health of the employee. Find out how.

Employee Wellness at SLK Global Solution

Employees are at the heart of SLK Global. They are at the fulcrum point and we at SLK always consider the health and well-being of our employees as a top most priority

Driving Inclusivity & Culture of Openness

At Capgemini, wellness is a strategic imperative. During COVID-19, Capgemini stepped up its programme of holistic support for comprehensive employee care.

At the Heart of Holistic Wellbeing

A strong focus to create awareness and build a network of advocates to foster mental resilience has helped greatly in current times.

A Java To Jim Strategy for Employee Wellbeing

The lockdown led to PTC employees re-establish bonds with colleagues and foster a spirit of unity that would help them remain productive whilst happy.

TCS Cares Comes Through For Employees

Established in October 2018, TCS Cares focuses on the mental and emotional well-being of associates.

Creating a SAFE SPACE for Talent

Read on to find out how AstraZeneca’s wellness programmes have panned out.

Intensifying the Be Well Outreach Initiative

Barclays had taken steps very early, to understand and address the well-being needs of colleagues. With a dedicated ‘Be Well campaign’ and a structured wellbeing agenda.

Driving the Idea of Total WellBeing

Maersk group realized the importance of total wellbeing and devised a formal strategy in 2019.

Helping People Mind Their Minds Better

An opportunity to create mentally healthy workplace cultures that should have existed all along.

Communicating with Empathy & Transparency

In these uncertain times, WNS is engaging with ‘Empathy & Transparency’ to demystify a lot of anxiety.

Always Communicating & Maintaining a Definitive Frequency

As they went into lockdown in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Wipro upped its communication to employees & clients to support the changing needs.

Sustaining a Holistic Approach

RapidValue has introduced ‘Rapid Serenity,’ an initiative that provides counseling support to associates dealing with anxiety, stress, and uncertainty.

Enabling Multiple Communication Channels For Employee Wellness

Keeping communication as a key enabler, CISCO is cutting across varied verticals , to foster greater acceptance of the new normal.

Coping with the COVID Crisis Mindfully

From having one of IT hub Bangalore’s very first cases of COVID, Mindtree knows it better than anyone else what its like to handle a crisis like this one, and manage the health and psychological fallout.

Moving Forward Together

From neuro linguistic workshops, Ayurveda to Sudarshan Kriya & podcast series, Concentrix is harnessing the true spirit of collaboration in COVID19.

We are all in this together

There has been a stronger focus to ensure active listening with the help of an AI-based chatbot designed to understand how Fractalities were coping with the new normal.

HALE and Hearty Infoscions Powering The Organisation Ahead

Infosys has a strong internal employee wellness property, based on which it has pivoted to models and initiatives to help employees during, before and after COVID.

Blending Caution and Efficiency for a Healthier Workforce

A carefully blended approach of awareness building and timely assistance is helping Genpact and its employees.

One Team, But Virtually

At a time when teams are physically separated, VMWare fostered team spirit using technology creatively. Find out how.

A Rounded Approach to Employee Wellness

Why Bosch is determined to make it a high priority for the foreseeable future.

Supporting Employees, the HGS Way

Strategies to help employees and their families manage stress and anxiety in the past few months have been very effective.

The Bot will Now Speak to You

Find out how bots are now redefining counselling and mental wellbeing, especially exacerbated during the lockdown.

Empowering Employees During A Crisis

Paytm has ensured a free-flowing and communicative model to thrive even during the pandemic.

Wellness, Now and Later

Efforts to preserve employee wellness during lockdown has crystallised into long term strategic company goals.

Ensuring All-round Wellness in Extraordinary Times

RRD has turned existing wellness programs like Sole Survivor, and #MindMatters as strong springboards into COVID-19-specific programs.

Each One, Help One

A unique One-to-One model established as a pandemic response has bolstered communication across organisational levels and helped assuage employee concerns.

Lives First, Livelihood Later

Western Digital has spearheaded its employee wellness strategy basis of trust and empathy, driven by strong leadership communication.

Tips and Tricks For A Smooth Virtual Work Experience

The company is mobilizing its strength and forte in people management to tide over the perils of a new and undiscovered virtual workspace.

In It Together – the SAP Way

With rising uncertainty, SAP stayed committed to the safety and well-being of employees and invested in resources required to help them thrive in their new working & living conditions.

Enriching Employee Wellness During A Pandemic

The pandemic is an opportunity to enrich the mentally healthy workplace culture at Qualcomm.

Segmented Approach To Wellness

Mondelez’s wellness strategy puts the employee needs at the heart of its design, offering a segmented benefit focused on physical, emotional and financial wellness.

Helping Employees Own Wellness

High priority for mental wellness since 2013 has helped JLL support employees more ably.

Driving Happiness Quotient to Be A Great Place to Work

As a Great Place to Work, the focus for Global Logic has been on driving positive change, celebrating moments & milestones, and empowering our people to deliver exceptional outcomes.

#Wellbeing Matters #LetsDoItTogether

With an effort to promote behaviors that optimize physical and mental health, EXL designed a well-rounded wellness initiative covering a whole range of activities

Be Well, the Microsoft Way

Tech giant Microsoft has heavily invested in the cause of employee mental wellness, including the use of neuroscience for agile leadership and Machine Learning for r prioritizing expert counsellors' support.

Leaders Speak

In the tech sector, the most VALUABLE assets are its PEOPLE. Unlike physical assets, humans have feelings and we all have our good days and the not-so-good ones too. The idea of holistic employee wellness (physical & mental) has been a focus area for the industry for many years and companies have put in place definitive structures to roll out employee engagement initiatives and also measure their impact.

And then the pandemic struck!

In a matter of days, 95% of the tech workforce would be enabled to work remotely (WFH) and ensure business continuity for their end clients. The industry rallied around to work with multiple stakeholders and ensured that SLAs were met. As favourable client feedbacks started to pour in, the industry’s global standing as a trusted digital transformational partner went up by several notches. To be sure, the logistical support that went into this kind of massive exercise has few parallels, globally.

Debjani Ghosh

President, NASSCOM

The importance of holistic wellbeing has steadily caught on in the last few years, and particularly in the IT industry. Many companies have been running these programmes for well over a decade and helping employees balance their busy work schedules. At Infosys too, we have HALE – Health Assessment & Lifestyle Enrichment – and, it has contributed immensely towards sustaining a healthy workforce.

What the pandemic did was change three aspects of our lives dramatically, to script a future which could never have been imagined – work, workforce, and workplace. To our credit, the shift happened in a matter of days, and the way ~4 million people responded is quite remarkable.

UB Pravin Rao

Chairman, NASSCOM

It was heartening to see NASSCOM taking steps to study organizations. 2,800 members contributing nearly one-tenth of the GDP surely calls for some responsibility. The capabilities of the members have allowed industries and perhaps countries to keep up with economic activities. While the pandemic cut out physical experiences and routines, it also resulted in accelerated digitalisation of the world. It appears it will stay – not because we want it, but because it makes business sense. I wish the equation is that simple.

The transition to a new way of working had to take place in a greatly compressed timeframe. Indian corporates were amongst the fastest and the best to switch over to virtual platforms despite the obvious lack of infrastructure across the country. Individual resourcefulness and ability to solve problems quickly came in handy for us while dealing with the deadly health threat.

Abhishek Goel