In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, conversations around the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle have gained more audience. And in an example of this, Zerodha, the financial services company, has launched an initiative to encourage its employees to get fitter and healthier. Over a period of 12 months, employees at the organisation will be encouraged to make a transformation in their living patterns and will be rewarded for the same. Speaking about the initiative, Nithin Kamath, founder and CEO of Zerodha, said on Twitter that the realisation that most members of the team were at their unhealthiest version after the COVID-19 lockdown was the inspiration behind the initiative.
Mr Kamath said that a combination of factors, such as a sedentary lifestyle, improper diet and lack of work-life balance, had led the team to this far-from-desirable situation. In a tweet, Mr Kamath said, "Post the first lockdown, like everywhere, our team at Zerodha as a whole was probably the unhealthiest ever, due to the lack of physical activity, work-life imbalance, bad diet, and more. "
"We thought of a way to nudge the team to get healthy and the results are phenomenal," Mr Kamath continued. To encourage people to switch to healthier alternatives in life, the company even offered its employees some perks. Explaining further, he said, "On our internal forum, we asked everyone to set a 12-month get-healthy goal and update the progress every month, to create accountability. To increase participation, we said everyone who reaches the goal will get a 1-month salary as a bonus and 1 lucky draw for Rs 10 lakhs."
The positive results have encouraged the organisation to make the initiative a permanent fixture. "The transformation stories are super inspiring and pushing others to take action as well. We also have proof that getting healthy improves professional performance as well. Our Get Healthy program will now run permanently," Mr Kamath said, asking fellow entrepreneurs to follow suit.
Reacting to the initiative, social media users praised the organisation for its efforts. One user said, "Lockdown has taught all of us to value health over wealth."
"Whoa. That is incentive indeed," said another.
Some of them on the platform called it a “great initiative.”
"I hope more and more companies adopt this approach. Glad to see companies taking initiatives towards employee's wellness which would actually work rather than just a PR exercise," said one user.
Tell us what you think of Zerodha's novel approach to employees' fitness.
