Big Companies Using Virtual World For Employee Fitness

Apeejay Daredevils, Chandigarh Tigers and DHL Challengers are not names of squads from 20-20 cricket. These are India Inc's racing teams across the virtual world.

The initiative called Stepathlon, organised by global wellness company Stepathlon Lifestyle, aims to encourage activity and foster health and well-being among employees in a fun manner.

Companies see this as an opportunity to make their employees more conscious about health and fitness and help improve productivity. The event plays a dual role of promoting team-building and employee engagement, cross-functional interaction and networking, while creating an environment of bonhomie.

The event, which started on September 20 and ends on December 28, connects 21,000 stepathletes and about 138 companies across the globe. Each team comprises five employees from single or multiple locations and includes members from junior to top management.

Some of the industry bigwigs who are a part of the walk around the virtual world include Mahindra & Mahindra chairman Anand Mahindra, Godrej Group chairman Adi Godrej, Aditya Birla Financial Services Group CEO Ajay Srinivasan, Godrej Properties ED Pirojsha Godrej and HDFC BankBSE 1.23 % ED Paresh Sukthankar.

"We are very excited about the event. It reminds us that physical activity is important to remain fit and being healthy is a great contributor to productivity and innovation. Stepathlon in a fun way reminds us to remain fit," says Rajeev Dubey, president (group HR, corporate services and after-market), Mahindra & Mahindra.

"The event also has a group activity aspect and helps in employee engagement and team work," adds Dubey, sounding excited about clocking an average of 8,000 steps a day for his team Leg Forward. "I am trying for 10,000," he says. About 1,310 employees from the Mahindra Group are participating in the event.

Each Stepathlete wears a pedometer - a step-counting device - and enters their daily steps into the Stepathlon event website. These steps are converted into kilometres and the team's position is mapped on an online platform. Teams compete internally as well as against teams from other companies, in a race across more than 40 different locations on a map of the 'virtual world'.

"As an engagement initiative, it gives employees from across functions, departments and hierarchies an opportunity to connect with each other and network," says Naina Panse, head - employee engagement, HDFC Bank. "As a welfare initiative, it makes them more conscious about their health and well-being and inculcate it as a habit. Above all, there is a lot of bonhomie and fun involved in the event," she adds.

The enthusiasm that the event is generating among corporates reflects an increasing awareness in India that health and wellness can drive productivity at the workplace.

"Stepathlon provides opportunity for employees at all levels to grab some moments from their daily work schedules and get moving. It enables companies to have a happier, healthier, and more productive workforce," says Ravi Krishnan, CEO and co-founder of Stepathlon.

Adds Ashutosh Telang, executive vice president and head - HR, Marico, "The event fits well into Marico's Member (employee) Wellness programmes; we see it as an innovative way to get members together for a "healthy" cause. It has empowered our members to live Marico's purpose."

Besides health and fitness, the major motivation of course is competition to win the race.