Hypertension: A silent crisis @ India Inc.

With more than 30 percent of the workforce living with the life-threatening ailment, it’s time for organizations to address the dormant threat to its people and profits 

Heading the international business at India’s leading media house, the 40-something lady executive packed in 12-hour workdays and crisscrossed continents, passing off the frequent headaches as routine work stress. One day, she suffered a stroke at work, her kidneys gave away, and it was not only an abrupt end to a promising career but also the loss of great talent for the organization and a severe blow to her family. The cause: she was suffering from hypertension and wasn’t even aware of it. The alarming fact is that while over 30 percent of India’s workforce is suffering from hypertension, more than half of them lack awareness of the condition. 

A way of life

Stress is a sign of our times, a reflection of our lives. The modern working life is a series of stresses, starting from the morning commute with traffic delays and the tension of catching the right train or bus connections. A typical workday for most executives comprises hours of sitting at a desk or conference table. Mails, calls, messages, and notifications are constant. This is merely the background scenario. Add to that the pressure of performance at work -- KRAs and deadlines, budgets and deliverables -- and the necessity to balance family needs. Mobiles have led to a life of being connected 24x7, even during off duty hours and vacations. It’s no wonder that employees face a degree of stress most of the time; the cause for concern is the consequent health risks. 

Our 2018 Optum Health Risk Assessment survey that covered 800,000 respondents from over 70 Indian organizations threw up statistics that are a cause of immediate concern -- more than 50 percent of working professionals battle high stress; 43 percent of them have a skewed Body Mass Index (BMI); and over 30 percent are at a risk of suffering from hypertension. That’s one-third of human resources at high risk. It’s evident that today’s workforce is highly vulnerable to stress-induced lifestyle diseases such as type II diabetes, ulcers, obesity, high cholesterol levels, and even cardiac ailments, with hypertension acting as a key catalyst. 

Setting an example

Forward-thinking Indian organizations are already taking initiatives at the enterprise level to provide an environment to their employees that is less stressed and conducive to increased productivity and overall healthier living. From designing offices with abundant natural light and maintaining high standards of hygiene, to banning tobacco on the premises and providing recreational spaces to encourage physical activity during office hours, progressive companies, especially from the new-economy sectors like IT/ITeS, BFS and consultancies, are taking measures to help employees alleviate the pressure they feel due to today’s fast-paced lifestyles. On their part, responsive HR heads are devising intuitive policies to create a flexible and open work culture for employees, allowing them to deliver their life’s best work while taking care of their well-being. While initiatives like annual health risk assessments and investments in developing fitness centers on campus are positive steps forward, the challenge that HR teams face is to ensure that employees participate in these programs and benefit from the infrastructural amenities offered. 

The need to actively foster and promote a stress-free work culture calls for leaders to become the agents of change, driving wellness initiatives from the top. When leaders show commitment toward improving health, their teams tend to follow suit. In the same vein, managers need to be sensitized to ensure that they encourage their teams to take part in wellness activities and sessions. Otherwise, employees may shrink from participation lest they are branded as work-shirkers. To overcome this inhibition, managers’ support is imperative. Adoption through constant communication and recognition of success stories will not only help to increase takers for these programs but also create a healthier, more positive workforce. 

The way forward

Ideally, every employer should have a wellness strategy in place that focuses on holistic employee health, in other words considering not just the body, but also the mind and the soul. This perspective on employee health looks at deeper aspects of work life -- with activities that range from disease prevention to healthy eating choices, from tobacco-free workspaces to time set aside for meditation, from sports and games to activities for good mental health. Considering that one of the biggest workplace health risk factors is hypertension, it’s important for organizations to adopt methodologies such as meditation, pranayama, and yoga, which have proven themselves across geographies as wellness enhancers, improving emotional balance and reducing hypertension and diabetes. 

The fact that healthy employees are beneficial to employers worldwide has pushed the need to create healthy, safe and positive workplaces with reduced absenteeism being the prime motivating factor. Moreover, studies have demonstrated that health-promotion initiatives have led to significant cost savings in organizations across the globe. Findings suggest that a healthy workforce is likely to stay at work and remain productive for longer durations, thereby improving business performance. In fact, organizational efforts to ensure high standards of health, safety and wellbeing are known to boost employee morale, increase engagement and minimize medical insurance and recruitment costs.

It’s also an interesting trend of our times that employee health is now recognized as an enterprise success factor. Investors nowadays scrutinize health and wellness metrics while evaluating companies because they believe the ones with impactful wellness programs perform much better on the stock market.

The way forward for India Inc. is to create a culture of wellness through holistic programs, which will not just help employees keep lifestyle ailments like hypertension at bay, but consequently, through increased productivity, boost the organization’s bottom line. 

Box: Seven mantras to lead a healthy life/ Seven simple steps to a healthy life

Take care of your health every day.

Adopt good habits as your lifestyle.

Choose to eat healthy.

Reduce caffeine intake.

Ensure you get enough sleep.

Increase physical activity.

Meditate to calm the mind.