Physical activity at work is not yet widely recognised as a tool to combat absenteeism, although its effects on workplace well-being and employee engagement are multiple and proven. Only 23% of employees mention sport when asked about ways to improve the quality of life at work.
However, the development of sports programmes and challenges for employees has enabled many companies to measure the positive impacts of sport on the sense of social cohesion within teams, the improvement of performance, and ... a direct decrease in absenteeism rates, up to 18% for some programmes. Here are five good reasons to engage your employees through physical activity!
Physical activity in the workplace has a direct impact on health
To deny the health benefits of sport would be like joining the flat earthers or moon landing sceptics.
- 24% of employees want to do sport to maintain good physical fitness
- 23% want to unwind, 17% want to get a breath of fresh air
- 16% want to stay in shape
- 6.5% want to improve their performance
- 6% want to meet friends and 3% want to strengthen social tie
Some of these reasons are connected to managing stress, which can be caused by difficulties related to managerial practices, sedentary lifestyles, or poor working environments.
Governments are now starting to ask whether companies should shoulder the cost of short-term sick leave that experts attribute to excessively high stress levels, and whether to refer to them as “therapeutic breaks”.
At United Heroes, we believe that “prevention is better than cure” and it is better to incorporate well-being into everyday life than to wait until it is almost too late. By means of proof, companies that have introduced sports programmes for their teams through challenges or championships have seen a significant improvement in stress reduction, mood improvement (more employees claiming to be “happy” at work) and lower costs related to absenteeism.
Physical activity strengthens team cohesion and improves the social atmosphere
Taking part in sports challenges together, whether this involves counting steps, running, cycling or swimming, encourages employees to have more interaction with one another, as well as to enter into contact with staff they wouldn’t normally meet in their daily professional lives. Taking part in sport breaks down barriers within the company and acts as lever for team building, which ultimately contributes to reducing absenteeism.
Physical activity in the workplace improves the corporate brand
The attractiveness of companies that implement a wellness programme increases significantly. They are perceived as caring for their employees, as being dynamic, modern, innovative and attractive. Young people are particularly sensitive to the implementation of such programmes and tend to have lower absenteeism rates. These results are confirmed even in the years following recruitment, when absenteeism rates are usually higher on average.
Physical activity (also) reduces staff turnover
Well-being programmes also aim to build staff loyalty in the medium and long term by improving the general working environment and helping employees find a better work-life balance. Absences and early departures are significantly reduced, provided that active wellness programmes are maintained over time.
Physical activity contributes to increased productivity
There are more and more studies on the link between productivity and well-being at work: it has now been shown that a happy and fully-integrated employee is more involved, productive and creative. Through the combined effect of action on physical health, mental health, social life and stress reduction, sport at work contributes to improving productivity but also increasing the feeling of job satisfaction, which has a lasting impact on employee engagement. Move more, work better, a real programme.
"Short-term sick leave, omnipresent and often linked to employee stress" (in French), 23 August 2018
