We know physical activity boosts employee morale, productivity, teamworking and wellbeing. Even at moderate levels it delivers, strengthening immune systems, enhancing mobility, dissolving stress and protecting against a raft of chronic illnesses. Absenteeism may be dropping, but it’s still a huge problem – in 2017 over 131 million UK working days were lost to illness, and the evidence is clear: much of that can be addressed through physical activity.
The big challenge is how to get people moving.
Here at UK charity Active Nation, physical activity is part of our DNA. We’re a team of doers, not talkers. And we’ve successfully built activity into our workplace, partnering with Myzone, an innovative heart-rate based wearable that uses wireless and cloud to monitor – and to motivate. It tracks heart rate, calories and exercise time, converting them into Myzone Effort Points (MEPs) – giving real-time reward.
The results are impressive. With our 26 strong leadership team and 150 full-time staff signed up to the wearable, we have firmly embedded the wellbeing strategy in our organisation – by the end of 2018, 100 per cent of our full-time team were consistently achieving 1300 MEPs a week.
At Active Nation we want more people to be more active, more often. To do that we must lead by example – we can’t ask others to change if we don’t change ourselves. As MD Stuart Martin explains: “Persuading people to be active starts from within – we have to lead by example. Now with a culturally aligned team, we can successfully create and implement activity strategies to get people moving.”
In 2018 five of our senior team were in the top 20 of Myzone’s Global Industry Leader Board. 2017 saw Managing Director, Stuart Martin lead the global table, gaining over 100,000 MEPs in 12 months. Dave Rolls, Kevin Lane and Mark Learnihan, all directors, finished in the top 10.
Mark Learnihan, Business Development & Partnership Director says: “We’re more successful as an organisation since implementing the workplace wellbeing campaign. Myzone has created a real buzz in the team; it has been incredible to see the increased motivation, morale, energy and productivity.”
2018 saw 130 days slashed from absenteeism in our leadership team, with increased year on year commercial performance, the most active leaders achieving the higher commercial gains.
“We’re in an incredibly powerful position to influence the lives of the general population,” confirms Learnihan. Operating 20 UK sites, as well as a range of parks and open spaces, Active Nation uses every opportunity to promote the benefits of activity tracking solutions such as Myzone. And it’s not just about physical activity – there’s the social side of exercise, using technology to build active communities, bringing critical support and motivation.
Learnihan explains: “Ten of our venues offer a Myzone hub on site, but we actively encourage our supporters to use their Myzone belts whether they are skiing on our slopes, out on the water or enjoying our outdoor venues. Our latest venue, Atmosphere Trampoline Park, located in Basingstoke will also actively encourage people to use Myzone to track their fitness.”
We’ve transformed the activity levels of our teams. Why not email partnerships@activenation.org.uk and talk to us about doing the same for yours.
