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By Mary Pearsall
Co-Creator of Trainer To Go

What is the most important asset of any business organization, large or small? Is it the investors who supply the capital, the equipment that manufactures the products, or the building that houses those tools? While all of these factors play a vital and necessary role, the most important asset that business owners and managers can claim are their employees. Without them, nothing happens - equipment does not run, products are not manufactured, and services are not rendered.

The business owner or manager who realizes the importance of employee health and fitness, will benefit from the increased energy and sense of well being that the employees bring to their jobs everyday. Encouraging employees and business professionals to embrace fitness as a lifestyle choice pays off in numerous ways.

1. Fit employees are less likely to get sick. A person who is physically fit is generally more resistant to the latest germ circulating through the office, than a person who is not fit. Reduced absenteeism and reduced health care expenditures are the result of a fit employee base. For instance, Dupont reduced absenteeism by 47.5% over six years for their corporate fitness program participants. In a year long study of 884 employees who took part in a workplace fitness program, those who exercised as infrequently as once a week, cut their average sick days in half (Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 1997).

2. Fit employees have more energy. One of the many benefits of regular exercise is increased and sustained energy throughout the workday. This energy allows the employee to stay focused on the task at hand, allowing them to bring the best of themselves to each task.

3. Fit employees have more self-confidence because they have proven to themselves that they can accomplish what it takes to achieve physical fitness. This self-confidence empowers the employee to challenge himself or herself, and to strive for higher levels of achievement in the workplace.

4. Fit employees inspire confidence. A person who maintains a high level of fitness tends to be a person in whom others have confidence.

5. Fit employees tend to take on more leadership roles, and are therefore recruits for executive positions.

6. Fit employees set and achieve goals they set for themselves. Physical fitness necessitates goal setting, and the employee who has seen their goals through to completion, naturally brings this skill to the workplace, making them a valuable asset to any organization.

7. Fit employees tend to have better attitudes, and a physical and mental “balance” that helps them to stay positive and pro-active. In a study by Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, 63% of employees enrolled in its fitness program cited improved productivity and 75% said it boosted morale. (Good Health Good Business, Johnson & Johnson 1990).

8. Fit employees are less stressed. Regular exercise releases the physical and emotional tensions that life can bring, improves sleep patterns, and helps one cope more effectively. Less stress equals greater productivity, which certainly contributes to the bottom line.

9. A fit employee base presents excellent team-building opportunities. Team activities like softball, baseball, racing or tennis are wonderful ways for employees to take their professional relationships to new levels, and to discover new ways of working together. Obviously, employees that are fit are more likely to participate in these activities.

10. A fit workforce has a reduced turnover rate. Employees notice when an employer shows concern for their health and well being through a variety of wellness programs, so they tend to have more loyalty to the company. The Canadian Life Assurance Company found turnover among fitness program participants was 32.4% lower over a seven year period compared with non-participants. (Canadian Journal of Public Health, 1988)

What is the most productive way to achieve management's as well as the employee's goal in a fitness and wellness program? Any such program will provide the individual employee with an awareness of their current physical conditions through basic fitness assessment by a fitness professional.
The employee should be educated on the benefits that improved fitness will bring, and the program should be easily incorporated to their lifestyle and into the company culture. A very essential ingredient is accountability to each other and to a fitness professional who offers guidance, education and coaching. A system of tracking progress and providing constructive feedback gives the team concrete data to spur them on to meet their goals.

In a world where health care costs are taking an increasing bite into corporate profits, implementation of wellness programs that yield a substantial reduction in these costs, or help to at least contain them, must be a necessary consideration of any financially prudent organization. Keeping the most important asset of any company - the employee - fit and healthy, will go a long way toward achieving and maintaining fiscal fitness.

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