Why Good Employee Fitness Can Improve Your Business

Team bonding, both in terms of intra-team and in terms of company-wide relationships, is something that many managers spend huge amounts of time and money on, usually by organising dedicated team-bonding days as well as longer-term activities such as charity fundraisers. Often, these activities are seen as an unwelcome nuisance by frazzled, stressed employees at all levels of the company’s hierarchy, who by the end of the mandated activity can’t wait to be allowed to peel off and go home. By contrast, encouraging the development of a company culture that values fitness and sports games is much more likely to result in employees choosing to socialise together in their own time and in ways which genuinely appeal to them. This is especially true if the company is paying for everyone’s membership of a sports club which offers a variety of team game facilities as well as a gym. A recent survey by Nigel Frank revealed that the majority of workers in the UK only socialise with colleagues once a month or less; creating a fitness culture in your company could change that.
 

Fitness = happiness = higher productivity

 
As much time and money is spent to improve team bonding; these figures are probably vastly outranked by the amount of investment that goes into trying to improve workers’ productivity levels, for rather obvious reasons of wanting the maximum return on investment. A study by the University of Warwick’s Department of Economics found that happy people worked 12% harder than those who were unhappy, and another study conducted by the universities of Cambridge and Essex established a link between levels of physical activity and levels of happiness. Even in purely economic terms, employee fitness is good for business.
 
Of course, most business owners and senior-level managers built a successful career by working long and unsociable hours, with little time left to dedicate to eating well and exercising. If you are a business leader who has now established themselves in their field, it’s now time to do for yourself what you might already be doing for your employees in terms of company perks and focus on your own fitness. Fortunately, there are companies like Truth Fitness out there who specialise in offering science-based fitness packages to busy business leaders and sessions for whole teams. Workplace fitness culture, sorted!
 

Fit employees incur fewer accidents and injuries

 
Finally, higher employee fitness levels lead to fewer workplace injuries. According to a report by the Trade Union Congress the biggest cause of work-related sickness is musculoskeletal disorders, which can be prevented through regular, appropriate exercise. So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to hit the gym!