Health, Wellness, & Hygiene at workplaces — key pivot to an enduring enterprise ESG mission

The ESG context

As organizations repurpose their workplace strategies and plans as a part of their return to office (RTW) initiative, hygiene, health, and wellness remain the top priority for workplaces. In fact, in a recent LinkedIn RTW survey, more than 60% of the respondents voted in favour of hygiene, health & wellness as one of most important initiatives that they wish to see their employers focus on, if they were to come back to work.

Over the past two years, in the back drop of the pandemic, there has been societal, institutional, and governmental focus manifested thru legislations, grants, fiscal allocations towards public health, hygiene, and wellness

This in many ways has turned the spot light on health and wellness at workplaces including standards and benchmarks on sustainable and healthy buildings, as well as environments that promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Most organizations are taking action on these priorities by investing in ESG initiatives and goals. ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) is a way by which an organization can focus and measure the sustainability and societal impact of their investments. Instead of measuring an investment based on cost or financial impact alone, with ESG, overall health is measured by the balance of these three categories:

How ESG, health wellness and hygiene objectives are inter related

Amongst these ESG objectives, from an operational point of view, the Social and Governance aspects need microscopic attention, from a day-to-day operations perspective. Therefore, the need and demand for digital applications are most pronounced in these use cases, currently.

Psychologists define thriving as a state of mind where people experience a combined sense of vitality and learning. When one thrives, they are able to grow rather than feel stalled. People who are able to experience a state of thriving are healthier, more resilient, and just better at focusing on their work.

Helping people thrive at work is one of the fundamental tenets of ESG and Health and Wellness agenda of an enterprise.

Health and Wellness majorly underpins the social aspect of the ESG, influencing responsible investors’ real estate decisions and shaping companies’ ESG strategies.

Key SOCIAL enablers of a ESG framework

Here are the three key elements of a spatial and work experience model that prioritizes wellness and resilience in the workplace. The model was modified from the Six Dimensions of Wellness developed by Bill Hettler, co-founder of the National Wellness Institute (NWI).

• Emotional wellness relies on smart zoning of the physical work environment backed up with evolved people practise framework
• Physical wellness relies on user experience on matters like indoor air quality, hygiene acoustics, lighting, thermal comfort, F&B services
• Environmental wellness benefits from the design and smart space in workplaces that highlights sustainability, resilience and social engagements at work

Therefore, measuring, monitoring, analysing, baselining /reporting and remedying (as required) ‘enabling’ aspects to make employees or building occupants ‘thrive’ is one of the most critical success factors for any workplace administrator or an organization

At Caleedo, we are reinventing the workplace hygiene agenda by helping organization digitize health and wellness quotient through real time data and business insights on the Indoor Air Hygiene.

Workplaces are no longer just a place of work. The office is the melting pot for collaboration, leaning, innovation, co creation while setting career goals and professional aspirations. An inclusive workplace provides a sense of belonging. And it gives those who inhabit and occupy these spaces an ability to feel connected to a purpose — it’s a place to thrive.