Employee Fitness Programs

Employee Fitness Programs: Striving to Increase Activity Levels

Employee fitness programs that support regular exercise and a more active lifestyle are easier to start than you might think. Employee fitness programs can also cost minimal amounts of dollars for your company, which is wonderful on the budget!

Promoting activities like these are wonderful ways to educate workers about ways to accumulate more exercise into their day, especially in the workplace since we spend the majority of our waking hours there!

Getting your workers to become more active will also help your company's bottom line as active workers are less costly and more productive. This is a prime reason that employee fitness programs are growing in popularity.

Employee Fitness Programs: Ideas for Promoting Exercise at Work

• Develop a safe walking path around your workplace (inside or outside) to encourage workers to take a 10-15 minute walk before, during or after work. Make sure to include maps, distances, steps, and durations of the routes selected. Place them in a location where all workers can access them either on a corporate site, newsletter, or regular fliers.
• Ask upper management to support environmental changes at the workplace. Recommend implementation of policies that include opportunities for workers to obtain exercise during their workday. An example of a policy might include fitness breaks (15-20) at least once per day for all workers.
• Implement a workplace stretching program before, during, or after each shift. Even starting with one stretch break a day will make a big difference.
• Give or subsidize the cost of pedometers or step counters for all workers. This will help them keep track of how much exercise they accumulate each day. Help them locate their baseline and then provide regular challenges for them to enhance daily step activity.
• Educate workers about how much exercise they can accumulate by walking to a co-workers' office or workstation rather than using the telephone or email. Post parking stall signs that encourage workers to park further away from the entrance.
• Encourage workers to take the stairs by hanging signs near elevators and stairs and educate them about how many steps they can accumulate by doing so.
• For workers that do want to join a health club provide reimbursements to workers based on usage of the facility. Many places will have the ability to give usage reports on a monthly or quarterly basis to help keep track of attendance.
• Encourage workers to host walking meetings when possible to enhance exercise while in the workplace.

Employee fitness programs should strive to enhance exercise at the workplace and outside the workplace. Think creatively and ask your wellness committee to help out in designing and maintaining your employee fitness programs.