|
What does becoming "Fit For Business" involve?
Becoming a Fit for Business Member requires each organisation to work towards the following scheme criteria:
1. Undertake an assessment of your work place that will help you to identify the ways in which you already support healthy lifestyle choices and to highlight areas which could be developed
- Recognising what you are already doing to support your employees is a great first step
2. Consult employee views and feedback on how the workplace could be better utilised to create a positive working environment and what changes they would like to see introduced- Understanding what your employees are interested in becoming involved with will ensure better buy-in from the start and avoid effort being wasted on activities that no one wants to participate in. It's also an opportunity to inform your employees about the benefits already provided to them.
3. Identify a workplace champion(s) to help drive your project forward-
Fit For Business is similar to every other project undertaken - it needs someone to take responsibility for achieving objectives.
- Workplace champions are absolutely key to the success of workplace health schemes so selecting the right candidate is really important and we can help you with this.
-
But workplace champions cannot succeed without the support from their management team and work colleagues.
4. Prepare an action plan outlining what you intend to do over the next 12 months- Setting out what you want to achieve helps keep focus, gets the right individulas involved and ensures that you meet the scheme criteria.
5. Review and/or create work based policies to promote healthier choices - mandatory for physical activity and smoking (templates and examples are available for members)- Workplace policies are individual to each organisation and set out the organisation's commitment to supporting and encouraging employees to make healthier lifestyle choices.
6. Establish a regular mechanism for communicating "Fit for Business" initiatives with all employees- You need to let employees know that you are working towards this award, but how you achieve this is will depend on existing communication channels available within your organisation - it could be something as simple as an update on a notice board or a note attached to payslips, alternatively you may already have company intranet capability or regular team meetings.
7. Provide a range of leaflets and posters, in and around your place of work, that will help to sign post employees to making lifestyle changes when they are ready.- Fit For Business is all about supporting change not imposing it, so providing information in different formats is key. As a member you will be helped to source the information required.
8. Provide all employees with access to drinking water- Workplace Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations place requirements on the employer with respect to the provision of drinking water. In this area of the scheme criteria you are asked to review these requirements and demonstrate how you encourage staff to drink more water.
9. Over a 1 year period you will be asked to organise an activity (we like to call them 'interventions') that will promote:
- Physical activity
- Healthy eating
- Mental health promotion
- Smoking Cessation
- Drugs & alcohol reduction
The Fit for Business technical support team have an
endless supply of ideas to suit all workplaces! But are always keen for new ideas
- By becoming a Fit For Business member you will be linked up to other organisations to share their experiences.
- Key activities promoted each year include Alternative Wimbledon; 'Fruity Friday' (Cancer Research); National No Smoking Day; and World Mental Health Day.
10. You will also be asked to organise 'regular' activities that contribute towards the recommended 30 minutes of exercise 5 times per week for those employees that want to take part
- The focus here is on the 'regular' as this will contribute towards the sustainability aspect of this recognition scheme. Once again the Fit For Business team are available to help you with suggestions on what might be appropriate for your workplace setting; by putting you in touch with service providers in your local area who might be able to offer further support.
- The range of activities already up and running are really varied and include - beginners running clubs; regular bookings for badminton courts, historical themed lunchtime walks
11. And finally, you will be asked to select from a wide range of optional extras to top up each health promotion category. These actions meet the needs of your organisation and the interests of your employees.
|
Healthy eating directly relates to business performance
Bin the biscuits for a leaner, keener team.
To subscribe to our newsletter enter your
email address
|
