Designing Corporate Wellness For Your Salesforce

Sales lie at the heart of the enterprise. Be it a product or service, sales are what drive bottom lines, profits, and the very existence and perpetuity of any business or endeavor. We are all selling, but some more than others. The salesforce of organizations is, in a sense, front line workers of the company working to meet (and exceed) organizational targets. Chasing and closing sales is no mean feat. Given their operational mandate, it’s important to recognize and appreciate that they will have stressors and specific needs to be addressed, beyond the general, for their wellness and wellbeing.

Does your Corporate Wellness Program deliver to address the needs of your Salesforce?

Or are they relegated to contend with ‘fitness/wellness’ programs, incognizant of real-time/domain challenges? Many corporate wellness choices seem to operate in the latter category.

If you haven’t done this need analysis earlier, now is a good time. 

Begin with understanding their stressors. Sharing a few I have learned dealing with many teams over the years.

PRE-COVID:

1. Frequent travel – often spending the better part of their lives living out of a suitcase (physical and mental fatigue)
2. Little or no structured mealtimes, frequent eating out (travel-related) with little knowledge of making healthier meals selections from choices available (poor eating and dietary awareness)
3. Erratic/inadequate sleep (inadequate rest)
4. Chronic aches/pains and lifestyle-related diseases (obesity, diabetes, hypertension, etc.) (ongoing poor health)

COVID-INDUCED NEW NORMAL:

It’s only recently that the world has shifted significantly to work-from-home format, imposed by the ongoing pandemic. Under the current ‘new normal’ selling might be shifting online to the extent possible, however, some challenges continue unabated and some newer ones have erupted.

1. Drastic dip in or no sales compared to pre-COVID times (substantial increase in stress levels)
2. Trying to adapt to digital formats – the online version of selling which may not be as effective or even possible for some products and services (skilling, adaptability, and industry challenge)
3. Work-from-home has presented with its own set of health challenges (more physical and mental wellness issues).
4. Long hours of online working on computers/phones (worsening of postural and ergonomic troubles).
5. Anxiety, depression, and an overall sense of dejection are real challenges that have surfaced and continue to do so for all. COVID-induced industry impact and disruption in the entire supply chain and talent has left the sales force bearing a large brunt of the fallouts (lowered resilience and coping ability).
6. With targets haywire, demotivation in the sales force (negative impact on physical and emotional health)

How can Corporate Wellness be designed BETTER for the Salesforce?

A more focused and empathic approach could make all the difference in these trying times and going forward. A few observations from my current corporate wellness experiences that are working well:

• Setting up communication channels for this cohort – interactions with superiors for allaying fears and freer expression- is working very well
• Feedback/survey-based live interactions with experts for stress, pain, physical and mental wellness is delivering better satisfaction than standard preset modules
• Dietary guidance – teaching basics of simple, good food choices at home and when out. Now is a good time to initiate long term healthier habits for the future
• Family-based wellness interactions that sensitize all members to constraints and how to work together as a self-supporting, feeder unit–valuable for current times and for the future
• Simplified training to help employees ease into the use of (preferably cost-effective) technology
• Provide them simple tools and solutions to better manage basics.
• My Corporate experience always throws up that they struggle with the basic stuff with time and health management. Most of these queries refer to the following:

1. Plan the day to extract time for self-care while handling work and already compromised family time.
2. Handle their recurring aches and pains better.
3. Eat better (esp. with existing health conditions)
4. Sleep better.

• Along with guiding them on practices for better physical and mental health, it’s imperative to also provide options on how they can integrate these with less effort and more willingly in their daily existence. The ‘How’ is a bigger challenge than the ‘What’.

“Good Health IS Good Business” – Paul Drechsler, Chairman/CEO, Wates Group Limited

About Vani Pahwa

Vani B. Pahwa is Health & Wellness Evangelist, and Founder, Body In Motion, who specializes in Functional-Fitness, and Cancer Exercise & Rehabilitation. With almost 2 decades of experience, and certifications from leading internationally-accredited and globally-recognized fitness institutions, Vani is the leading Wellness Expert for Multinational Corporations and is a recognized Speaker and Coach. An Indian Classical Dancer, Vani encompasses her learnings from dance to everyday movement making “exercise and training for life, not just events.” To know more about Vani and her premium wellness services, visit https://www.bodyinmotion.in