How to get employees to exercise

Getting employees to exercise can be a challenge.First of all, someone's weight is an uncomfortable and personal topic to approach.Secondly, the workplace is not the appropriate place to mandate a healthier lifestyle.For these two reasons, some companies choose to completely dismiss the issue and importance of employee health.But doing this is definitely a mistake.Obviously, you can't force anyone to exercise. But the following are some ideas that will help your employees realize not only that it is important to be healthy, but that they would be supported by their workplace if they were to start taking more dramatic steps towards weight management and health improvement.

Lead by example

No matter your age or social standing, it is difficult to do something that you have never done before of that you are uncomfortable doing unless you have someone who you can look to for inspiration.As the owner of a business or the leader of the wellness program, it is your responsibility to lead by example and to really embrace the weight loss principles that you will be presenting to your employees and encouraging them to take part in.Show enthusiasm for the program and stick with it.Your employees will watch not only how committed you are but they will also be looking for what kinds of results are possible if they too were to start participating in the program.

Provide opportunities

The most common excuse for failing to get into shape is the excuse that there is simply not enough time to get it done.As an employer you have the opportunity to provide a solution to this lack of time issue that does not necessarily mean cutting back on hours worked for the sake of health improvement.You can provide opportunities to exercise by doing things like considering the installation of a gym in your office building or a track built on your company grounds.You could look into the possibility of providing gym memberships at a discount.Many gyms will provide you with a corporate discount given a certain number of employees pay for the plan.

Be supportive

Some individuals will come up with weight loss solutions that work well for them, but may require some flexibility with work hours.For example, someone may become a member of a weight loss club that meets at a certain time and day that may conflict with work.Being able to work with that employee to provide these opportunities is a great way of supporting their desire to lead a healthier lifestyle.

Provide rewards

We all have at least a little bit of competitiveness in us and everyone likes to be rewarded for working hard, so creating a system to reward employees who lose weight or to host a weight loss competition, can really give your employees that boost that they need.Be creative with how you create your rewards system and don't be too stingy.If your employees feel that the incentive is insufficient, it won't really be much of a motivator. Have a contest.Your contest could award prizes based on total hours exercised or amount of weight lost.Think of ways that you can spark your employee's competitive spirit.Another idea is to start a company sports team.You can create teams by department and accomplish two goals in one; encourage teamwork and weight loss.

See employee health as an investment

You are a business person.You see the value of helping employees to become healthier by losing weight, but you also see the bottom line.Take a step back and really consider employee health as an investment in your company.Having a health and wellness program and employees who are actively involved in those programs often results in lower health premiums drop and in higher job satisfaction.Employees who lead healthier lifestyles are also more likely to take less sick days and be more productive on the job.