The month of May provides an opportunity for employees to refocus on employee health and physical fitness. The long distant New Year’s goals of getting in shape and exercising have been replaced by more current issues and distractions.
And in the Northern Hemisphere, summer is on its way, making May a great month to encourage employees to get outside and start moving more.
About Global Employee Health and Fitness Month
Global Employee Health and Fitness Month (GEHFM) was founded in 1989. At that time, it was uncommon for employers and employees to partner together for excellent health and wellness. Employees weren’t as proactive in their health.
Since then, health-related benefits have become more mainstream. Many employers offer on-site gyms or gym memberships, healthy snacks, rewards for physical activities, and wellness programs.
Although wellness incentives don’t rank highly among sought-after employee perks, employee wellness does significantly impact employee happiness levels.
10 Inspiring Ways to Promote Employee Health and Fitness
If you want to celebrate Global Employee Health and Fitness Month or National Physical Fitness and Sports Month in the USA, check out these ideas.
1. Host a Fitness Walk During Lunch
Encourage employees to get out of the office by hosting a fitness walk during lunch. Host 2 or 3 so that employees can all participate, even if they take an early or late lunch. Have the CEO, Team Manager, or another leader at your workplace lead the walk.
Walking tames sweet cravings, reduces the risks of breast cancer, and helps promote a healthy weight. It eases joint pain, boosts immune systems, and increases heart health.
2. Stock Vending Machines and Snack Baskets with Healthy Snacks:
While it may not be good to eliminate junk food options from employee break rooms, consider adding healthy alternatives. Fruit, vegetables, health bars, and protein drinks can provide employees with an energy boost without the sugar and additives.
3. Sponsor a Quit Smoking Program
Nearly 70% of smokers want to quit, while a Gallup poll shows that 85% of smokers have tried to quit within the last year. Smoking is a single change that increases health the most.
Consider sponsoring a specific program and making it available to employees. Having a choice ready makes it easier for employees to start the program and helps them have a higher success rate.
But, you might also consider sponsoring individual programs that employees want to participate in based on their personal needs and preferences.
4. Gamification Around Increased Activity
Use the Thanks Platform to create recognition and gamification around physical activity. Award points to the employees who park the farthest away, take the stairs, or bring their own healthy lunch to work. Encourage peers to recognize and award points when they view healthy habits.
Then, have a healthy celebration at the end of the month and recognize the winners!
5. Sponsor a Healthy Meal
Sponsor a healthy meal. Depending on your employee’s schedule, you could cater a healthy breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Since employees will differ on what’s healthy, make sure to poll your employee to find out what aspects of healthy eating they care the most about.
Vegan, vegetarian, low fat, low carb, low sugar, raw foods, and many other diets focus on specific healthy eating habits.
6. Encourage Employees To Hand Deliver Messages
During May, encourage employees to walk messages to each other instead of sending an IM or email. This can increase the physical activity in the office and create more opportunities for employees to connect and get to know each other, an important aspect of emotional wellness.
7. Sponsor Activity Clubs At Work
Workplace clubs can be a great way to build overall wellness, not just physical. They encourage physical fitness, build teams, and increase connections at work.
There are many types of workplace clubs you might consider sponsoring. Survey employees to find out what clubs they would like to participate in (which gives them increased autonomy and say at work).
- Walking or Running Club
- Gardening Club
- Bicycling Club
- Swimming Club
- Martial Arts Club
- Work Sports Team
- Yoga or Pilates Club
- Cooking Club
- Hiking Club
And, don’t forget to check out 101 Great Ideas to Promote Employee Wellness.
8. Invite a Chef to Demonstrate and Cook a Simple, Healthy Meal
Make healthy eating easier for employees by inviting a local chef to come and share an easy, delicious, and healthy meal that employees can use at home. Or collect healthy recipes from employees and share them in an employee cookbook. Alternatively, a recipe swap can be a more low-key way for employees to share healthy recipes and gain support for better eating habits.
9. Purchase Standing Desks
Add standing desk options for employees to use. Instead of only giving a few specific employees a standing desk, add extra standing desks as part of your optional spaces. Standing has great health benefits over sitting down for hours. Even a couple of hours a day of standing can reap health benefits.
10. Offer On-Site Bike Storage
Encourage employees to bike to work by offering on-site bike storage. This can be a bike rack, an empty room, or bike lockers.
Other/Special Days You Can Help Employees Focus on Physical Fitness and Wellbeing
The month of May is recognized globally as Employee Health and Fitness Month. In the United States, May is also recognized as National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. May 19th is National Employee Health and Fitness Day, while May 26th is National Senior Health and Fitness Day.
There are plenty of days to focus on fitness in May!
Check out this full list of physical wellness days to inspire better health:
Month | Day | Event |
January | 15 | National Take the Stairs Day |
February | Whole Month | National Heart Month |
March | Whole Month | National Nutrition Month |
April | 2 | National Walk to Work Day |
7 | National Walking Day | |
May | Whole Month | Global Employee Health & Fitness Month |
Whole Month | National Physical Fitness & Sports Month | |
Whole Month | Health Awarness Month | |
9-15 | National Womens Health Week | |
19 | National Employee Health & Fitness Day | |
21 | Bike to Work Day | |
26 | National Senior Health and Fitness Day | |
June | Whole Month | National Fruit & Vegetables Month |
14-20 | National Men’s Health Week | |
2 | Global Running Day | |
23 | National Hydration Day | |
August | Whole Month | National Wellness Month |
September | 30 | Women’s Health and Fitness Day |
But, you don’t have to wait for a specific day or month to promote employees physical wellness. Anytime of the year can inspire great physical health and unique outdoor physical activities!
Conclusion
Physical fitness is important, but many employers focus on physical wellness and fail to promote mental and social wellbeing. As your overall employee wellness goes up, their happiness levels and satisfaction at work will increase.
About Thanks
Thanks is a leading provider of a recognition-based platform that increases communication, builds teamwork, and makes recognition a part of company culture. Fast, easy and simple Thanks makes it easy to bring data-driven employee recognition to your entire organization. O.C. Tanner purchased the Thanks platform in 2019 to fulfill the recognition needs of smaller businesses.
Thanks customers benefit from the same decades of research in employee motivation and company culture that O.C. Tanner enterprise clients enjoy, but in a product that is geared for fast, easy and simple deployment. Whether you’re starting a recognition program or improving and expanding on what you already have, Thanks has everything you need to engage your people with effective, scalable recognition.