Mumbai: With many companies seeing improvement of quality of life for employees as a new lever for performance, about 66 per cent of top corporate managers, including in India, believe it is a strategic priority for their institutions.
"Improving quality of life is increasingly recognised as a top priority in organisations in developed and developing markets. The importance of quality of life will rise as end-users grow powerful, with new technologies amplifying consumers' voices and new generations taking a greater role in the workforce," Sodexo CEO Michel Landel said quoting Sodexo - Harris Interactive survey - How Leaders Value Quality of Life.
The survey is the first study of its kind examining the impact of quality of life as a factor of performance in organisations around the world.
Sodexo, working with Harris Interactive, compiled the report over three months from November 2014 to January 2015, drawing on interviews with 780 leading figures in the fields of business, health care and education across six countries, including India, Brazil, China, France, UK and USA.
"About 66 per cent of the top managers in corporate, healthcare and educational institutions in developed and emerging countries interviewed say they are totally convinced that improving quality of life is a strategic priority for their institutions," the report said.
The report said that 91 per cent of the leaders surveyed said they perceived a link between quality of life and performance in their organisation, with 57 per cent saying they 'totally agree' with this idea.
This is based on direct experience since 86 per cent of leaders have already implemented at least three quality of life initiatives within their organisations, it said.
'Improving quality of life' has diverse impacts on performance as 99 per cent said it has an impact on satisfaction (of employees, patients, and students), 94 per cent on image and reputation, 93 per cent on productivity or efficiency and 88 per cent on business performance, it stated.
The Sodexo study shows that the healthcare sector is ahead in this new approach, it said.
Among the health care, 90 per cent leaders said they give a high level of importance of improving quality of life in their organisation, compared with 71 per cent in education and 43 per cent in the corporate world.
About 83 per cent said they have specific metrics measuring the impact of Quality of Life on performance compared to 64 per cent in education and 40 per cent in the corporate sector.