SMAARC Hosts a Virtual Panel Discussion on ‘Adopting the Manufacturing’s New Normal’

The pandemic lead to a lot of stress and anxiety being on the rise and especially among working professionals who had been trying to adapt to the new ways of working, meet their monthly financial requirements while seeing to it that any medical expenses, bills are duly paid and all of this while surviving pay cuts, no recreational social interaction and a remote working arrangement. Mr. Vighnesh Shahane who has been a crusader of wellness in both IDBI and even GALF is somebody who not just understands the significance of holistic, 360-degree wellness but also believes in vigorously practicing the same. “This ‘new normal’ has caused many people stress and anxiety as they adjust to these unprecedented changes. Delving into holistic wellness is essential as it will help employees to cope with these changes by allowing them to focus on wellness on all fronts – physical, financial, emotional, spiritual, family and social,” he said.

It is essential for employers to look after the wellbeing of the employees and encourage them to start adopting wellness as a lifestyle and not just look at it as a mere task to do. The COVID-19 pandemic has made us realise how important our health is. How one is nothing without their ability to wake up and show up fit and fine every single day. Certain words like ‘immunity’ and ‘mental health’ have never before had the kind of relevance that they do as of today. This is because the virus has forced us to think ‘what if’ and all of us now believe that precaution is most definitely better than cure. Adapting to change is an arduous process but we have been on it trying to cope steadily as the dynamics of the industry quickly adjust to what we call the ‘new normal’. Mr. Ramakrishna V., Head of Human Resources, HomeFirst said, “At HomeFirst we believe that a happy employee is the most productive employee. Happiness comes from body, mind and emotional well-being. This was always a priority for us irrespective of work from home or office. With GALF coming on-board, our aim is to make wellness a habit for our employees. The current pandemic has given us the opportunity to fast track this and we intend to take advantage of the same.”

Mr. Amit Vasistha, Founder and CEO of GALF

Mr. Amit Vasistha, Founder and CEO of GALF said, “We are delighted to partner with HomeFirst on account of employee wellness. It’s a huge misconception that wellness is only about hitting the gym or being on a diet. Wellness has a more varied spectrum that has several aspects to it; physical, mental, emotional, nutritional, social, etc. With the pandemic and the consequent new normal, health is an inexcusable priority. We at GALF help our clients celebrate wellness and embrace it as a way of life. This in turn ensures employees have an enriched lifestyle and are at their best performing self.”

The news has time and again covered issues about leadership level executives being under a high amount of pressure. GALF curates a wellness ecosystem that caters to executives from different parts of the corporate hierarchy spectrum thus making customised CEO/CXO training modules as well. Individuals at this level are most often middle aged and the pressure to produce outputs, the responsibility and the toll of work is at its peak. This makes it difficult for the individual to cull out adequate time to concentrate on his or her wellness. “We design an entire ecosystem for corporates that include various different modules for different categories of employees, catering to their specific needs and requirements. This approach is holistic and does not look at only physical fitness but covers all aspects of wellbeing at large,” said Mr. Amit Vasistha, Founder and CEO of GALF.

About being on board with GALF as an advisory board member, Mr. Vighnesh Shahane spoke on the relevance of a system like this one and what GALF brings to the table. “An online wellness aggregator app such as GALF is the need of the hour. It offers people a host of wellness offerings all from the safety and convenience of their homes. With time, I’m sure that such an app will only gain in popularity and momentum.” Further speaking on the relevance of wellness in corporates and how he looks at it as an employer, he added, “As a leader you have to lead from the front in every area including fitness. With more employees becoming fitness enthusiasts, we now have a much happier, more productive organisation.”