Sweat Equity

Companies are encouraging their  employees to sweat.

In waging a battle against the bulge, corporate Trinidad and Tobago is putting money where their mouth is by investing heavily in gyms and pushing wellness programs. Fitness has become the new mantra of the Trinidad and Tobago at the board room level, and it is paying handsome dividends : Lower abseenteeism, more productivity and less work-related stress. Carnival is no longer the only incentive to race to the gym to reduce that ten pounds packed on during the Christmas holidays. At 6 am the Queen’s Park Savannah is a hive of activity as  joggers make their way around the circumference, the rising sun at their backs, pushing themselves to go that extra mile. The gyms and health clubs are also overrun with sweat-drenched, breathless individuals, straining to lift those extra pounds or spend an additional fifteen minutes on the stair master. Doesn’t anyone sleep past 5 am anymore?

A number of local companies have jumped on the fitness band wagon. bpTT, Unit Trust Corporation, Central Bank and Atlantic LNG have all plunked money into setting up gyms for their employees.   At Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union (SWWTU), employees filter in an out at all hours. The feeling is that corporate TT is following in the footsteps of corporate America, which has been lobbying for employee fitness over the past decade, with an eye on curbing additional health care expenses. Still, one insurance consultant said it will take a long time before premiums on health rates are affected because insurers must have the figures to collate data and this is done over a long period of time.     

Three months ago, Atlantic LNG opened the POS Wellness Centre for employees at its Keate Street offices. In October, the Clifton Court Wellness Centre was opened at the Point Lisas office to accommodate staff there. Public Relations officer at Atlantic LNG, Avian Joseph, explained that the establishment of a Wellness Centre was one of several elements that persons at Atlantic felt they wanted to see in a “preferred employer.” In the formative years of the company, she stated, between 1996 and 1997, a group of the original 40 employees came together to and put forward a bunch proposal to Atlantic LNG. The list specified pension and health benefits, education allowances, housing and travel allowances, policies on acceptance of diversity, policies on AIDS in the workplace and sexual harassment. The focus on employee wellness was one of the last things to be added to the list, Joseph said, noting that with the passage of time, other benefits have been included in the company’s practices. “The establishment of the Wellness centres is the icing on the cake,” she said.

Although the centres are still a new concept in company policy, Joseph said,  employees who frequent them have already begun to recognise the benefits. In Atlantic’s latest newsletter, Point Lisas employees praised their centre’s state-of-the-art equipment, the versatile hours, personalised attention from experienced trainers and the all-round comfortable environment. Both centres have the latest in technological gym equipment, including gliders, stair masters, treadmills and weight machines, among other things. However, staff at the Point Lisas facility have the added benefit of a 25 meter swimming pool, with external patio and bar, as well as a pool table room with three pool tables. Employees at the Port-of-Spain offices are  allowed access to this new facility. The two centres see visits from at least 100 employees and executives on a weekly basis. Joseph said that since the centres, which are free to all employees, are open between the hours of 6 am and 8 pm, staff has the option of training on mornings before work, during their lunch hour and after work. Each employee is also allowed one guest on off days.

A Human Resources official at Atlantic LNG said that although the company does not have a problem on employee absenteeism, there have been signs that the centres have had an impact on employee productivity. Reports show that staff members are less stressed on the job, have increased energy levels and improved morale, all which have had an impact on their levels of productivity. At one company, the cost of the gym is subsidised. “It’s something other companies should give consideration to,” said one manager. At bpTT’s gym, located on the ground floor of their headquarters, Queen’s Park Savannah, employees say they wished more companies would invest in fitness. “It shows that companies are interested in reducing stress,” said one employee, who works out three times a week. Terrance Follen, Vice President of Finance and Assurance at Atlantic, frequents the POS Centre at least five times a week. He noted that since he started training at the centre he has felt “more alive and alert.” He said, “with the type of jobs and lifestyles we have, stress will always be a factor. However, working out at the centre has given us the strength to counter the effects of stress by burning pent up energy. I started working out to be fitter and to reduce the spare tyre. “There are three things we need to live - food, drink and exercise.”

Receptionist, Rita Alladin, who has been with Atlantic for three years said she works out three to four times a week. She says it helps with the stress and  boosting her morale. “I am getting smaller and looking better,” she said. Dr Geoffrey Frankson of the Wellness Centre agreed that a proper exercise regime helps to boost employee morale. From his research he has found that some companies have yielded returns of between $3 to $5 for every dollar invested in employee wellness. “The best way to deal with stress,” he maintained, “is to get more exercise.” Fitter people tend to cope with stress much better, he added. “One aspect of employee wellness,” Frankson said, “is the empowerment of the individual to take better care of their health, which in turn improves their work ethic.” Employee productivity depends on a number of factors, he said. Giving workers a sense of corporate  health and promoting higher standards of health is better than just just having health insurance and the like, he said. “It is better to be proactive than reactive,” he asserted. Dara Healy, Communications Manager at  Central Bank, said the bank was one of the first entities to set up a gym for its employees. The gym is soon to be refurbished and be upgraded though.

Employees say it is easier to train in-house as it cuts out the hustle of driving and allows them the opportunity to utilise that extra time in the gym. The Seamen and Waterfront Workers (SWWTU) gym was opened six years ago at the Union compound on Wrightson Road, to union members and their families. The gym was recently refurbished. According to President General, Michael Annisette, the idea behind the construction of the facility, was the recognition that “a healthy body and mind is critical and important.” Said that before the gym was opened, a number of the union members were found to be suffering from hypertension and diabetes. Exercise, he said, was the best mechanism for dealing with these problems and ensuring that his workers were in “tip-top” shape. Also, the officers at the union work under a great deal of stress and the gym facility allows them to release this stress.

Presently, the facility is used not only by workers but by members of the public, other state enterprises and private companies. The union employs two certified gym instructors on a daily basis and occasionally invites nurses and doctors to discuss health matters with members. “We see it as our contribution to a healthy and fit society which is critical to development and helps in cutting down health care costs,” he said, adding that this expenditure can be channelled to other areas like education. Membership at the gym, Annisette said, fluctuates at an average of 200 persons per day, six days a week, from Monday to Saturday. The facility is open between the hours of 6 am and 9 pm. Annisette revealed that the initial cost of constructing the facility stood in excess of $250,000. However, since the official opening  the union has been forced to conduct some renovations on the facility since, he stated, the membership of the gym had outgrown the size of the facility. The final cost of renovation was set at approximately $500,000.