Investing In Fitness In The Office – What Are The Options Anyway?

The current trend of encouraging physical and mental fitness in your employees has plenty of supporters. Its propionates cite evidence that shows that fitter employees work harder, are more likely to stay with a company, and are even happier overall. But what are the options for promoting fitness in the workplace? Read on to find out.

Gym membership

The first and probably most obvious way of encouraging fitness through employment is to offer a free or subsidized gym membership. They are many discount deals available to companies because having an entire company sign up is a great way of filling the gym and classes. It’s also a regular source of money income for the gym provider. That means that employers that wish to run this sort of program can often secure significant discounts on the per person price.

However, gym memberships are not always the most effective way of improving the fitness level of your workforce. This is because they still require the display of attending a gym session and motivating yourself to work out. Also while so people enjoy working out with their colleagues, this factor might put some off, and cause them to avoid the gym even more!

Classes

Another way in which to get your workforce physically fitter is to offer classes like yoga or pilates at your work location. Then people do not need to travel to the gym before or after work. If you are planning on doing this, makes sure there is a room that can be used regularly for that purpose. It will need to have enough space for everyone that will want to participate.

Or you can run the classes on a sign-up sheep system if you have limited spaces. Just don’t let a few people sign up weeks in advance so no one else can get a look in.

Another factor to consider when running class in your work building is hygiene. Particularly athletic classes will need to be done after work finishes if you don’t have any shower facilities. Your employees are unlikely to want to sit at their desk for the rest of the day, not smelling too fresh.

Meditation courses

Another thing that can be done to improve your employees well being is to run regular meditation sessions. Meditation is known to promote calm and mental health. Thus making your employees happier and more productive. Providing a quiet time in the day for people to reflect can be a great way of minimizing stress in the workplace.

It is likely that many of your employees have not meditated before. So it might be worth investing in a Mindfulness practitioner to come in and run on a course on the ins and outs of the method. After the initial outlay all it won’t cost anything to maintain. All you will need is a quiet room, in which to set an up a regular group practice.

Office furniture

Also, some offices choose to promote fitness while their employee are working,  instead of on their breaks. A great way of doing this is to use fitness equipment office furniture.

While this might seem a bit intimidating to some, it doesn’t have to be. Make sure employees are included in the process, and they have the choice of whether to use the items of equipment or not. No one responds well to be forced into things.

The types of equipment you can use are pretty varied, but you might like to start off with a swiss ball chair. Which is designed to be unstable, therefore encourage your course to work to regain that stability. Or how about an electric standing desk. These are desk that is designed to be adjustable so you can either sit or stand at them while working. Standing in an upright position while working burns more calories and can help to prevent back pain. It can even make your employees more up to 10% more efficient at their jobs.

Sick Day Bonus Plans

Something else that is used within the professional sector, in tandem with a wellness plan, is sick day bonuses. These are rewards offered when employees do not take sick days.

A word of caution, though, common sense does need to be used here. Do you want someone with a contagious illness coming on to infect the rest of your workforce, just because they don’t want to lose their bonus?

Also people can feel cheated when they are genuinely ill, and have to sacrifice their bonus for their health. So it important to think through all of the issues before you implement this.