‘In order to effectively grow a business, organisations must invest in human capital’

Ravi Krishnan, CEO & Co-Founder, Stepathlon Lifestyle Pvt Ltd.

Stepathlon’s 100-days initiative towards engaging employees from various organisations in making a better lifestyle has witnessed a huge response. It allows employees to achieve 10,000 steps per day and the participants (Stepathletes) have seen a remarkable change in their overall health post event. There were over 21,000 Stepathletes comprising 4,247 teams from 143 companies across 132 Indian cities participated.
According to a Stepathlon survey, 58% participants reported improvement in their quality of sleep, 45% experienced lower levels of stress, 61% saw higher energy levels, and 60% reported greater engagement at the workplace.
Stepathlon Lifestyle Pvt Ltd CEO and Co-founder, Ravi Krishnan, shares his views on the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and its direct impact on the employee productivity.
Excerpts from the interview:
Healthy life style is often correlated with higher productivity at work. What is your take on this? How is Stepathlon improving the employees’ quality of life?
Both physical and mental health is critical to productivity and quality of life. A healthier and fitter individual is less likely to fall ill or be prone to chronic diseases and this in turn enables the companies to build a healthier workforce aiding the company’s both top line and bottom-line.
Stepathlon brings about significant positive impact on employee wellness by increasing physical activity levels. This in turn can reverse the alarming effects of increasingly sedentary lifestyles. By wearing a pedometer (a step counting device), one can measure the amount of activity he or she does and with this awareness, can embark on a journey to improved health and quality of life.
How can employees adopt healthy habits? 
Many people do not realise how little they need to do to be significantly fitter, healthier and happier. Thirty minutes of walking a day can reduce your exposure to type II diabetes, heart disease, obesity and many other chronic diseases. Through modification of behaviour and increased awareness, everyone can achieve the 10,000 steps a day mark recommended by global health authorities.
Our research indicates that it takes 66 days to create a habit. We have therefore specifically chosen 100 days for Stepathlon, which provides a chance to increase immediate wellness and also turn it into a habit or a way of life.
Are companies incorporating programmes to improve their employees’ overall health?
We realise that the leaders and custodians of business do recognise that employee welfare is critical to business. The success of Stepathlon 2012 is an indication that companies are incorporating programmes that improve the overall health and wellness of their employees’.
What is the relationship between an employee’s productivity and company’s operational cost?
The many success stories of weight loss, reduced blood pressure, stress etc. were heart-warming. It was also gratifying to hear that participating company leaders received kudos from their staff for investing in their health and well-being. Leadership is responsible for bottom lines and the way to increase those is by protecting and providing for their most important asset – Human capital.
How is Stepathlon helping employees to have a better lifestyle? What has been the response so far?
Stepathlon 2012 began with each participant filling a pre-event survey about his or her health and fitness habits prior to the start of Stepathlon. After the 100 days of Stepathlon 2012, each Stepathlete completed a post event survey and it was evident, that making and inculcating small behavioural changes leads to positive change. 71% lost weight, 46% took less sick leaves, 58% reported greater teamwork within their company, etc.
Please list the top 5 participants of Stepathlon. Have you seen any repeat in participation?
HDFC Bank Ltd was declared the ‘Most Active Company’ in the inaugural Stepathlon 2012.  HDFC Bank Ltd enrolled 1,845 employees in Stepathlon 2012, who as a company walked a total of 780,556 kilometers at a daily step average of 11,114 steps (7.11 kilometers per day) by each employee. They were followed by Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd and Titan Industries Ltd., who placed second and third overall, respectively, as the ‘Most Active Company’ participating in Stepathlon 2012.
Lesser productivity leads to higher attrition rate. Does it mean having this kind of programme will help companies retain maximum number of employees?
It certainly does. Organisations with highly effective wellness programmes report significantly lower voluntary attrition than those who do not have similar initiatives. Wellness programmes were once viewed as a great company perk, but in fact, such programmes impact health care costs, company morale, leadership and overall productivity – both quantitative and qualitative.
Indian companies increasingly recognise that poor employee retention and health impacts their bottom line. The cost to hire, train and familiarise new recruits is much more costly. Therefore, in order to effectively grow a business, organisations must invest in human capital through such programmes.