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Is fitness working out for your business?

With fitness issues always in the media and more people than ever making exercise part of their daily lives, it is widely accepted that an active lifestyle is good for you. Many employers are taking this a step further by introducing fitness measures at work.

As fitness seems to be high on the agenda for many companies, we ask can a fit workforce be good for business?

 

Wellbeing in the workplace

It can be argued that the healthier the employee, the less likely they are to take time off work sick. According to the latest Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development research the cost of absence has increased to £666 per employee per year2. The David Lloyd chain of health and fitness clubs believes being active can help with the cost of sickness absence. Its research estimates that exercise can reduce absenteeism by 23.5 percent and staff turnover can be reduced by 16 percent3.

Employers may also be aware of the need to sustain the health of an ageing workforce for as long as possible. With recent research highlighting that HR professionals need to be aware of the health issues associated with the UK’s ageing workforce4, staying healthy and active can be perceived as a major priority.

Prevention is better than cure

Increasingly, with the help of research carried out by the British Heart Foundation, employers are realising that exercise could help protect their staff against major causes of long-term sickness absence. These include coronary heart disease, stroke, obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), stress, anxiety, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and lower back pain5. These conditions, all common to our society, are often debilitating illnesses. Employers would be advised to do all they can to support their employees to do more exercise.

Benefits to employers

Many employers are considering the idea that offering fitness incentives can help with recruitment and retention. With a healthy and active lifestyle high on the agenda of some new recruits, fitness measures could help attract the best talent and increase loyalty to an employer.

Widely recognised benefits of an active lifestyle can also apply at work. Mood enhancing benefits are reported by the British Heart Foundation. They point out that physical activity stimulates the release of endorphins – the ‘happy hormones’ which make you feel good.6

Practical solutions

Considering such compelling evidence it’s not surprising many employers are taking up fitness initiatives. These include gym membership and fitness subsidies as well as staff ‘sports days’ and general promotion of the fitness message.

Individual initiatives include ‘Active at Work’, a Fitness Industry Association (FIA) and Sport England project. Piloted in the Cambridgeshire and Berkshire regions, Active at Work involves a qualified fitness instructor going into workplaces once a week to give classes and actively promote fitness. Andre Deane, communications director at the FIA, says: ”Across organisations, take-up of the programme by employees has been 60 percent on average.”7
 

 

Taking responsibility

Many would argue that when it comes to staying fit and healthy, responsibility falls with the individual and not the employer. However, as we have seen, there are many potential benefits of actively promoting a healthy lifestyle. Even if in-house fitness isn’t an option, there are other, more cost-effective ways to help staff get fit. Here are just a few examples taken from the British Heart Foundation’s campaign for Health@Work:

 
Getting active
Before work:
  • get up 30 minutes earlier and start the day with a swim, walk or cycle
  • park at the furthest end of the car park so you have to walk a little further each day
During work:
  • do some simple stretches at your desk
  • use the stairs instead of the lift
At lunchtime:
  • pick a place to dine at least 10 minutes walk away
  • set up a lunchtime walking group for you and your colleagues
After work:
  • stop off at the gym on your way home
  • play games with the family before your evening meal
(Source: British Heart Foundation Health@Work, Workplace Health www.bhf.org.uk/thinkfit)

Next steps

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    2 Absence Management, Annual survey report 2008. CIPD. 2008
    3 David Lloyd Health and Fitness research - quoted in Employee Benefits Wellbeing Supplement 2005 - Workplace Fitness Programmes. Employee Benefits, http://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=565, date accessed 18 May 2009
    4 Healthy Work – Challenges and Opportunities to 2030, Bupa 2009, http://www.bupa.co.uk/about/pdfs/reports/health_at_work.pdf
    5 & 6 BHF Think fit. British Heart Foundation, Health@Work, www.bhf.org.uk/thinkfit, date accessed 18 May 2009
    7 Employee Benefits Wellbeing Supplement 2005 - Workplace Fitness Programmes. Employee Benefits, http://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=565, date accessed 18 May 2009