Companies can gain a lot through employee wellness

Iwould rather not generalise and put all millennials in one category. There are some people who can handle a lot of pressure, go the extra mile and take up initiatives. What I do see is that the majority of millennials think that opening your own business and venturing out on your own is easy.

The problem with companies is that they don’t empower millennials the way they should. If you keep them empowered and busy, giving them challenging work, you might be able to retain them a lot more.

A lot of studies indicate that a very large number of the workforce will be working from home in five to 10 years. So work mobility and entrepreneurship is playing a big role in changing their mindset. I feel like they are less career-oriented and have a more holistic approach. For them, spending three to five years in a job is too long.

I run a lot of corporate wellness programmes for our clients and I can tell you from data from my clients that ignoring mental health issues is prevalent. Mental health problems are worse than physical problems, yet you can easily get leaves for physical health issues. Physical problems can often be because of the burnout caused from depression and work challenges. Companies are not considering this threat seriously and if you look at the price they pay, it is very high. You can see it in the insurance costs, productivity rates and employee retention. All of that is because they are not paying attention to employee wellness. When clients do implement corporate wellness programmes, they have been able to see the benefits in less than a year – in the number of sick days taken, overall productivity and less attrition. From Mr Camil El Khoury Senior partner at a Dubai-based human capital consultancy