As the Business Operational Planner at International Foundation & Garments (IFG), one of Asia’s leading lingerie manufacturers and Triumph’s first distributor in Asia, I pay particular attention to the well-being of our employees. Their health is an essential part of our corporate culture, which we’re particularly well known for. It was this focus that led us to introduce Workforce Nutrition programmes at our worksites and I subsequently signed up for the Workforce Nutrition Masterclass run by the Workforce Nutrition Alliance.
The three-month course was made up of live online sessions. They were very well structured, including input from different industries as well as brainstorming sessions on healthy eating in the workplace and its positive impact on employees and ROI of the business. What I enjoyed most was the cross-sectoral input: I learnt a lot from interacting with international peers, particularly best practices and the solutions people have found to overcome the barriers that are inherent in implementing workforce nutrition programmes.
Given the majority of IFG’s employees are 55 years old or older, we initially faced the challenge of convincing them to change their eating habits. We started an initiative with on-site training and brainstorming sessions to educate staff about the benefits of better nutrition, which eventually led them to change their eating behavior when food alternatives were offered.
In my experience, workforce nutrition offers the benefits of motivating our staff, as well as improving work culture by reducing conflict among staff. Especially when the things are supported by the Directors and the owners. Since we introduced workforce nutrition programmes, the absenteeism rates have improved, and we have also seen a reduction in administrative costs. In short, we have seen that improving staff health results in direct business benefits. Apart from the cultural shift, the results in terms of ROI are amazing.
Hamayal Tabassum
Business Operational Planner at International Foundation & Garments
Hamayal Tabassum is a business operational planner at International Foundation & Garments (IFG), one of Asia’s leading lingerie manufacturers and Triumph’s first distributor in Asia.
Hamayal has a background in Economics and Business administration. She holds a MA degree from the University of Karachi and an MBA (Supply Chain & Logistics) degree from the Institute of Business Management, Karachi, Pakistan.