October is recognized in Canada as Healthy Workplace Month! Every year, LIV North Fitness Management staff set out to assist our corporate clients creating a culture of health and wellness in the office. This year, that assistance included a virtual challenge!
Mission:LIVWell is a challenge that includes elements of physical, mental, social and emotional wellbeing, and includes physical fitness, nutrition and mindfulness components.
During the 4 week challenge, participants were asked to select tasks from a carefully curated list and report back to LIV North on their completion of these tasks. All of the items on the list were selected as they would not only help to improve the individuals health and wellbeing, but would also provide some transference to co-workers and others in the office.
Below is some data collected using self administered questionnaires at the start and end of the challenge. As you can see, most participants reported positive changes in their lives which in turn always helps to improve attitudes and behaviours in the workplace!
If your workplace is interested in improving employee health and wellness and could benefit from a challenge such as Mission:LIVWell, reach out to the LIV North Fitness Management team at virtual@livnorth.com to arrange a time to chat!
Managed Fitness Amenities Lead to Greater Tenant Satisfaction
Providing health and fitness amenities is not a new trend, however it continues to be one of the highest sought after amenities! Whether it be an onsite fitness centre, virtual wellness solutions or wellness programing. For property owners and managers, a fitness amenity is designed to achieve 2 outcomes:
Attract/Impress prospective tenants
Create value for current tenants to renew leases
In a recent study, findings show that access to health and fitness is a top priority for employees. When employees were asked which aspects or perks would be most likely to make them stay if they were considering whether to stay or leave, nearly 40 percent said health amenities. (1).
Good Intentions don’t deliver Great Results
Armed with this knowledge, it is important to note one important fact- a “build it and they will come” approach may be misguided.
Providing fitness space and equipment is a nice intention. However, many of the tenants likely already own or have owned fitness equipment in their homes that ended up never being used. This is often the same outcome for unsupervised fitness centres offered as a tenant amenity. It can also become a low value amenity causing frustration for owner/managers and tenants with unmaintained equipment or lack of centre care potentially resulting in limited use and an unsafe environment.
Many building owners/managers are realizing investing in a fitness amenity and leaving it unstaffed is a mistake. Those who invest in proper design and provide a professional atmosphere are achieving better returns on their investment.
Initially the first impression of a fitness facility is judged by the condition, variety, layout, moderness and maintenance of the equipment. Also by the general feel for the facility, the colours, the music (is it welcoming, does it represent the building tenants demographic, etc.). These are all key areas to consider during design.
Deliver Ongoing Value and Build Long-term Relationships
Once an initial impression and expectation is set, it is critical to maintain a positive, lasting impression. The follow up to ensure you do not over promise and under deliver includes details like etiquette enforcement, safety and services (available services and classes) .
In many cases tenants will justify paying an additional fee (membership) if the value is there.
Tenants who would typically never use a “self-serve” or un-supervised facility, will join and use a staffed facility. On-site staff provide the necessary comfort level, connecting tenants with tenants and recruiting new tenants to be engaged all creating more value in the building.
When looking at staffing your fitness amenities, the team you have in place is also important to consider. Here are a few key benefits to hiring a management company, such as LIV North, versus leasing space to a private fitness operator:
Consistent Service
Professionally Managed
Access to additionals resources and programming
Equipment Maintenance and Procurement
30-40% of tenants use a professionally managed amenity vs only 8-10% for unstaffed fitness amenities
Decreased liability risk
Revenue and expense management
Shared vision with Property Owner/Manager
Help build community within companies and buildings
With over 45 years of experience in club management across Canada, LIV North is prepared to work with your team and develop plans and programs to meet and compliment your organization’s goals. Whether the goal is engagement, usage, revenue or tenant retention, we can help.
If you would like to learn more about LIV North’s Fitness Management division, don’t hesitate to contact us at amenities@livnorth.com or visit us online at www.livnorth.com.
It is no surprise that when employees are highly engaged they are highly productive, and that’s a good thing for businesses. On a more realistic note though, when we look at the numbers, according to latest Gallup report:
51% of employees are disengaged
13% of employees are actively disengaged
they spread negativity about the organization to their colleagues
Only 36% of employees are engaged
Another interesting number is 21%! Organizations with more highly engaged employees see profits increase by over 21% due to the commitment and productivity of their employees.
So how do we start to create more engagement? More staff meetings? More bonuses?
You may be surprised to hear that employee wellness programs play a large role in boosting employee engagement, particularly when delivered by an organization outside of your own.
Engaged employees can lead to increased profits of up to 21%. Employee wellness programs can help increase employee engagement.
By offering employees an outlet to relieve stress, whether through an onsite fitness centre or wellness program, or through a virtual offering such as LIV North’s Virtual Services, it can greatly impact engagement levels. These programs help to lower stress levels, create non-work related connections with peers and develop a sense that the organization does care about the employees and their well being.
By having a contracted organization deliver these services, it also allows the employees to feel as though they are stepping away from work and they feel more free to be more receptive and fully benefit from the activity. Also, the contracted organization typically specializes in employee wellness, like LIV North, and knows exactly what needs to be programmed and how to engage the employees at a higher level.
LIV North Fitness Management works with many clients in the corporate sector, providing fitness services and working alongside their Human Resources and Wellness teams to deliver impactful, meaningful programming. All of these services are flexible and customizable to any organization. We work with our clients to determine their desired wellness outcomes, size and scale of their programing, marketing, and more.
We also provide reporting data to verify the effectiveness of a program and to aid in future planning. For more information on our planning and reporting, see our blog post Programming with a Purpose.
If you would like to learn more about employee engagement through wellness programming, contact us at virtual@livnorth.com and a LIV North consultant will be in touch with you shortly to discuss your organization and offer some solutions for you.
Believe it or not, millennials now make up the majority of the workforce1. Has your employee wellness plan adapted?
Millennials get a bad rap. They are actually a hard working, problem solving generation as they have been forced to adapt to less than ideal conditions in a lot of areas of life. Many also feel the pressure to prove the stereotype of millennials wrong.
With that being said though, millennials come with some different needs than the Baby Boomers and GenX that share the workforce with them.
Here are 3 key points that the LIV North Fitness Management division keeps in mind when planning an employee wellness program that includes Millennials:
Make it adaptable.
While millennials may be hard working at work and do as they are instructed, in their own personal lives they expect programming to fit their wants and needs. This may include activities they can do on their time when they are ready and not scheduled activities. It should also fit into the area of wellness they enjoy – not just reading nutrition labels and the importance of sleep.
Make it available.
One stereotype of millennials that is true is that they live by their technology. Any wellness offering needs to ensure it is utilizing technology (mobile, wearables, etc.) and be as accessible as possible. Apps, gamification, and on demand services are very important.
Make it FUN!
In the past few years we have seen our traditional programming that involved checking the boxes in a scorecard transition to more grand, beautiful and engaging challenges to attract the millennials in. Everything from the website, emails and apps have to be considered for the look and the flow. Take the virtual Amazing Race challenge that LIV North ran in the Spring of 2021. A team of LIV North staff created and ran a very immersive virtual challenge offered at 10 facilities across Canada – from Halifax to Vancouver – with 126 participants joining in. It was fun, it connected individuals from across Canada and hit all aspects of wellness with options to fit the needs of the user.
This all sounds like a lot to consider and it is worth it! A workforce that can be slightly more engaged can result in profit increases as high as 12% – and that is just slightly more engaged, not even highly2.
If you would like to learn more about creating challenges and programming for your millennial workforce and to see how LIV North is offering engaging on site and virtual programming to 75+ clients across Canada, we’d love to hear from you!
1 – PEWResearch.com – Millennials are the largest generation in the labor force 2 – Achievers.com – 5 Ways Wellness Programs Can Enhance Employee Engagement
For over 45 years, LIV North Fitness Management has been providing consulting, management and programming solutions for fitness facilities across Canada! Whether your facility is a corporate site, tenant building, community centre or virtual, we have a solution for you!
Learn more about the services that we offer by watching the video below. If you would like to learn more about how LIV North Fitness Management can assist your facility, contact us at amenities@livnorth.com.
