Should Companies Allow Employees To Exercise On Work Time - Case Study Example

Should Companies Allow Employees To Exercise On Work Time? Introduction Employees who exercise during work days are normally more productive and happier plus they endure less stress compare to employees who that are basically non-gymnastics type (CDC 1). Researchers have uncovered that workers who freely take part in exercise during, before and even after work are more prepared to deal with whatever the day throws at them (ACE Fit 1). The research also uncovered that an individual’s general mood improves on days that he or she exercises, but they more moody on days that they have not undertaken any exercise (ACE Fit 1). On exercise days, workers’ mood considerably improved following an exercising session; however, their mood deteriorated on the days they did not exercise (ACE Fit 1). Critically, people performed better on days that they exercise and across all three areas that most researchers dwell on: (1) mental-interpersonal, (2) output and (3) time demands. Unfortunately enough, not many organizations have realized this as most of them are still strict on the old conventions that the number one objective is to ensure that their workers are working endlessly in order to achieve the organizational goals (Wattles and Chad 21). This means that they will be required to seat down on their desks or report to their stations from the time they walk in to work in the morning till lunchtime and also after lunch till the time they leave for home (Wattles and Chad 21). This gets really boring in the long-run as humans normally hate being tied up to one routine during a longer period of time (Falkenberg 512). To top it all up, with the kind of sedentary lifestyle, coupled with stress that a majority of Americans have adopted today, it is significant to ensure that you are always fully fit in order to be productive. The general idea of this paper is to discuss whether companies should allow their workers to exercise during their time at work. Extensive research has been carried out on this topic together with experimentation (Medibank 2; Paul et al. 7 and Oregon.Gov 1). This research paper reveals why maybe it is significant for a company or organization to keep their labor force or staff physically healthy because if they do not, it will be difficult for them to fulfill their tasks in a suitable amount of time that would leader to much higher profits for the said company or organization. Scope of the Problem Companies are always complaining of how not all of their workers are able to handle a strong work pace for an entire work day (Sharifzadeh 3). For example, RHC LLC, a construction company headquartered in the greater Tulsa, OK, conducted a research on why not all of their construction workers can fully handle their days job as most of them tend to get tired just after lunch break. In such a company, heavy lifting, carrying and moving are all involved in one’s normal job so you would understand why people get tired before the day end, but other constructions companies have their workers work at the same rate for the entire day without getting tire or even 24 hours (Sharifzadeh 3). However, after close research, it was noted that RHC LLC did not look into the physical and mental health as much as these other construction companies of their workers. In order to understand the importance of exercise to their labor force, PCL Construction Enterprises Inc., Denver, Colorado, studied each employee on a particular day, when he or she had exercised and when they had not (Sharifzadeh 3). The days were randomly selected and none of the workers knew that they were being evaluated. Nevertheless, the project went ahead to prove the benefits that the workers, customers and employer, as well as the company gain from exercise. Significance of the Project Many organizations have workers, which have to sit or stand, for a large amount of time per day (Wattles and Chad 24). Exercise has benefited a lot of people and organizations. Studies have also proved that individuals, who have regular high stress, are less productive at work, do not live as long and normally have to take more time off because they fall sick more often than others. People who exercise have revealed less absenteeism, enhanced production rates and attitudes compared to those who lack any exercise plan (Wattles and Chad 24). The advantages to the organization are workers who have a high morale that enhances the core of the organization (Wattles and Chad 26). The workers with their improved production rates show as well an improvement in the time of getting their jobs done and overall profits. The clients also benefit by being offered high quality products at less expensive prices in considerably less amount of time compared to how they would have received it prior to this (Waikar and Bradshaw 16 ). Also, the company, as a whole, benefits from exercise since it maintains a hardworking worker who can grow not just the company’s profits but also its customer base (Wattles and Chad 26). The objectives of any organization are to offer the client with impeccable customer service whereas still generating substantial profits (Waikar and Bradshaw 16). Review of the Literature Being healthy and fit has been significant to any kind of job from manual labor to officer jobs to those that are physically challenging. The two best methods for a person to stay healthy are through exercise and eating right (Dodson 1). In order for one to understand the benefits of exercising to an organization, you have to understand the benefits that exercising brings to an individual in general (Dodson 1). Exercise can be the answer to reducing stress in someone’s overall life, and enhancing better health. There are many companies that have put in a number of fitness choices, which have aided in giving their workers an incentive to exercise. Below are a number of benefits that exercising can present to an organization (Dodson 1). Decreased Levels of Absenteeism Research has proved that with healthy workers, the rate of absentee at work reduces of unhealthy workers. Employees who have been in good physical shape are more opposed to diseases, which go around from individual to another (Dodson et al. 51). Many organizations have uncovered that setting up a fitness center on site or providing in an allowance package of maybe a membership to a gym has allowed their workers to be more fit (Dodson et al. 51). On-site fitness programs have grown in popularity due to the potential to lower job turnover, absenteeism, and enhance job morale and productivity (Dodson et al. 51). This eradicated the justification that one cannot have enough money to go to the gym or normally that the gym is far away. Increased Energy Levels From the PCL Construction Enterprises Inc. study, we could see that one key element in manual labor roles have been to get as much as they can out of their workers. Normally most manual labor roles have had to create high production levels. In a research presented by Sharifzadeh (7), more than 90% of the people tested concurred that exercising contributed to their productivity at work. This report implies that with a higher productivity level there are certainly greater energy levels, which arise from the exercise (Sharifzadeh 7). Workers who showed higher energy levels normally set greater standards for themselves during their time of work, which is of benefit to the employer plus the company as a whole due to higher production levels (Sharifzadeh 7). Workers have revealed a greater approval of what they are doing. Higher standards and greater satisfaction resulted from higher energy levels, which can be created from a normal daily exercise plan (Sharifzadeh 7). Additional Benefits from Exercise Day to day health and high energy levels and are not all the merits that arise from regular exercise. Weight loss, for example, is a positive impact, which has arises due to exercise for a number of individuals. Taking part in a lot of physical activities has been proved to burn a lot of calories that aid in reducing a weight loss plateau (Henderson 5). Physical activities have not just proved to lower disturbing body fat, but decrease levels of cholesterol, blood pressure, as well, and reduce the risk of diabetes and cancer (Henderson 5). This allows someone to live longer and much healthier only with minimal exercise. Discussing weight loss, Lachapelle (75) argues that taking part in exercise activities can also be an appetite suppressant; this is because exercising has been prove to leave people with less appetite, thus their drive to eat aimlessly will be minimal. Furthermore, a majority of the people with heart problems can be attested to being overweight (Lachapelle 75). Regular exercise has proved to safeguard people against illnesses linked to chronic low-grade systematic inflammation (Henderson 6). Being overweight does not entirely imply one might not be in shape. Many people have proved to carry more weight because it is the nature of their body. For instance, one study by Falkenberg (515) showed that people with bigger body mass also enjoy the benefits of exercise despite their body mass. The study argued that being fit does not necessary implies that one is thin. You can even look at the works of athletes from boxers to runners and observe that overweight people are also in great shape. Furthermore, some forms of exercise do not mainly take the fat away as they deal with other more significant mental matters. Exercise has also been associated with lesser stress levels. It has been proved to initiate a number of brain chemicals that might leave someone feeling better and much happier, as well as more relaxed compared to the way they were before they decided to exercise (Falkenberg 518). Higher stress levels can damage a person physically or mentally. Stress has led to a number of heart problems and ulcers. Stress has been proved to affect people’s careers. Higher stress levels mainly decrease productivity and lead to a lot of errors, which can be evaded. There have a number of findings relating to the benefits of exercise for a human’s brain. Cardiovascular exercises, for instance, has been linked to enhanced cognitive working in aging humans (Dodson et al. 51). These impacts have been considered to be the highest in higher order cognitive processes, such as switching between tasks, working memory and inhibiting inappropriate info, all of which are considered to be subserved partly by the frontal lobes of the human brain (Dodson et al. 51). Some fitness activities are better compared to other, thus researchers advise that people should not beat themselves up if they can only endure a 20 minute workout session, 4 days a week (CDC 1). It is better to have a short exercise compared to crashing and burning yourself during a workout routine that you cannot maintain, or even better avoid it totally. Medical practitioners advise that you schedule your exercise breaks on a calendar in order to have the period in your day kept and can plan work meetings on that time (ACE Fit 1). If you arrange the exercise of your employees during mid-day, then you can try taking a session like Pilates where people are less prone to working up and intense sweat. By this way, employees can simply change their clothes and get back to work after the break, fitting in more intense sweat or cardio sessions over the weekend (Medibank 8). There are a number of shortcuts organizations can teach their employees that lasts only 30 minutes, which will make a big difference when it comes to ensuring your fitness. It is up to the organization to realize what works best for their workers relying on their personal preferences, what is available at their workplace and commute logistics (Medibank 8). The physical activity that one can be able to fit in should be shaped around whether or not you have an onsite gym, a hazardous free place to jog or if your organization has paid for your gym sessions at your local gym (Oregon.Gov Website 1). Recommendations Some organizations argue that in spite of establishing a worker wellness program, it can be hard to encourage their works to exercise (Paul et al. 16). Here is what such organizations should to know on how to encourage their employees to exercise: Setting up an onsite fitness center - This is maybe the gold standard in ensuring the wellness of employees (Sharifzadeh 15). The workers, who work at such organizations, can go to work only to find a complete gym, which have the latest, state of the art, exercise equipment. At times, workers have even erected swimming pools, which permit workers to great take advantage of water fitness (Wattles and Chad 26). In addition to this type of employers at the fitness center, it will also provide showers and dressing rooms, so that everyone can come before the day begins in order to work out. Nevertheless, if your organization lacks the significant resources in order to go this big when it comes to setting up a wellness center for your employee, even a space with some weights, elliptical and a few bikes, can be utilized and valued by your employees (Waikar and Bradshaw 24). Enough time to work out - One of the key complaints from workers who do not do any work out is that they lack time to (Dodson et al. 52). However, organizations can help by providing flex time, which permits workers to utilize some of their time of the day to work out. Many organizations have stopped being concerned about keeping workers on the clock, and rather, offer them free rein to utilize their time, as they consider best. This implies that when the required work is accomplished, workers can utilize their time all through the day, as they consider best (Dodson et al. 52). Many organizations report that rather than this freedom being wrongly used (which is normally the concern); they see that their workers are far more useful, and receive their exercise period, as well (Wattles and Chad 26). If your organization cannot provide an onsite gym, then providing the chance, for workers to leave earlier, or come in later in order for them to exercise, can actually pay off in a huge way (Wattles and Chad 26). Conclusion This paper has discussed why it is significant for a company or organization to keep their labor force or staff physically healthy in order to fulfill their tasks in a suitable amount of time that would leader to much higher profits for the said company or organization. There are a number of reasons why such as better productivity and reduced stress levels. The findings of this paper were discussing the labor industry in general and we are not sure whether they might apply in all fields of labor. Thus, as a recommendation for future research, researchers should research on the benefits of exercising in different labor in order to make the topic meaningful and bring out its significance. Works Cited ACE Fit. Fostering a Workplace Culture of Physical Activity. N.p, 2015. Web. CDC. Workplace Health Promotion. N.p, 2015. Web. Dodson E et al. “Worksite Policies and Environments Supporting Physical Activity in Midwestern Communities.” American Journal of Health Promotion 23.1 (2008): 51–55. Print. Dodson, E. A. Physical Activity at Work. N.p, 2015. Web. Falkenberg, Loren E. "Employee Fitness Programs: Their Impact on the Employee and the Organization." The Academy of Management Review 12.3 (July 1987): 511-522. Document. Print. Henderson, Ryan. Benefits of Exercise in the Workplace. N.p, 2015. Web. Lachapelle, Frank. “Transit and Health: Mode of Transport, Employer-Sponsored Public Transit Pass Programs, and Physical Activity.” Journal of Public Health Policy 30.7 (2009): 73-94. Medibank. The health of Australias Workforce. N.p, 2005. Web. Oregon.Gov Website. Physical Activity at Work. N.p, 2015. Web. Paul, Ankita, et al. Fast Food Industry. N.p, 2012. Web. Sharifzadeh, Mansour. "Does Fitness and Exercises Increase Productivity? Fitness and Productivity Relationship." American Journal of Management 13.1 (2013): 1-21. Web. Waikar, Avinash and Bradshaw, Martha. "Exercise in the workplace? Employee preferences," International Journal of Manpower 16.9 (1995): 16-30. Wattles, Matthew G and Chad Harris. "The Relationship between Fitness Levels and Employee’s Perceived Productivity, Job Satisfaction, and Absenteeism." Journal of Exercise Physiology 6.1 (2003): 24-32. Web. Read More