Gym’s the tonic Staff who are members of the Sony UK Tec Sports and Social Club can, of course, access the onsite gym 24 hours a day. For those needing advice and guidance on getting started Halo’s Fitness Instructors are available in the Sony gym on a Monday or Wednesday between 4.15pm - 6pm and support Sony staff so they can maximise the benefits of their visits. Personal Fitness Plans have been developed for users by a member of our fully qualified team who created these exercise programmes based on individual goals and requirements. We also ensure staff fully understand each and every exercise or piece of kit.
Free Swim Fridays and discounted sports club membership for staff and their partners For staff who prefer to tread water than treadmill, they have the chance to take a dip at their local Halo swimming pool for FREE every Friday and kick start their weekend the healthy way. The opportunity is available at pools in Bridgend, Maesteg, Pencoed, Pyle and Ynysawdre. We are also hoping to see more staff take up the opportunity of Sony’s discounted corporate membership package which can save them around £180 a year and allows them and their partner (even if they don’t work for Sony) to build on their healthy lifestyle outside office hours.
Kirsty and Richard work out and wind down in the Sony gym
They can enjoy unlimited access to Halo’s pools, gyms, racket sport facilities, spas and exercise classes at their nine centres across the county, and enjoy priority booking of sports facilities.
We know it can take time to change attitudes, see a real change of behaviour, and so an improvement in long term health and wellbeing - but Halo have been bowled over by the support of employees for this programme and hope we can continue to support those who are taking action and extend the programme to make a long lasting impact on everyone at Sony UK Tec in Bridgend. We are looking forward to the next 6 months and to seeing the difference a full year of the programme can make. We are so pleased how staff have embraced every aspect of this initiative and we have been invited to enter the Sony UK Tec Workplace Wellbeing Initiative into next year’s UK Active Flame Awards as an example of best practice between a leisure operator and employer in addressing the health and wellbeing of its workforce. Sony staff taking a breather after bootcamp workout!
Workplace Wellbeing Programme
Get with the Programme… They certainly have! July - December 2013 - 6 months review
Your Workplace Wellbeing Programme has now been running for over six months, offering a schedule of events and opportunities all designed to keep your workforce in the best of health and giving support to those who want to get more active more often and so lead a healthier lifestyle. “Health is like money. We never have a true idea of its value until we lose it.” American humorist Josh Billings Halo Leisure was delighted to see a company like Sony UK Tec invest in the health of their workforce in such a direct, dynamic and very different way. It has been a real pleasure to bring all our knowledge of health and fitness into people’s working lives, to build relationships with your staff who have taken a fresh look at their health, and committed to look after it more effectively. We are proud of the difference this is making, and excited about how some of the early initiatives could be developed. Over and over again we see how by simply becoming aware of their own health status, men and women tune into their body, feel in control of their health, are motivated to act, and - when they feel better as a result - are motivated to do even more.
“I think something has changed at Sony because of this wellbeing project. Before it launched, people would come to work, work hard, enjoy work, and go home. Thinking about your health while you were at work - and doing something about it - was not even on the agenda. I cycle to and from work every day (covering a total of about three miles) but apart from that I was pretty inactive. Sony and Halo have helped me - helped all of us - think out of the box. It’s changed our mindset, the culture of work. It has changed the way a lot of people view their health, including me - I feel so much better in myself; energised, motivated and very happy to be looking after my health.” Mike Sewell has worked for Sony UK Tec for 12 years and is currently a Planning Officer in the supply chain department.
Workplace engagement - staff survey Our survey early on in the programme demonstrated that most of the staff recognised exactly where they were (in terms of their lifestyle) and where they’d like to be. Over 80 people replied and while nearly all knew how important fitness is nearly half did not consider themselves active, with some recognising they were completely inactive. When it came to nutrition, nearly two thirds of staff said they eat five portions of fruit and veg a day less than three times a week. Not surprisingly some 43% of respondents had varied or poor sleep patterns and more than half wake not feeling refreshed half the time, if at all. Less than one in five rated their current state of health very good or excellent. We also sensed a real commitment from respondents. Over half recognised they needed to eat better and be more active, and over a third wanted to seek professional advice about how to live a more healthy life. Nearly one in four wants to relax more and improve their work life balance. There were also significant numbers who wanted to cut down on cigarettes and alcohol. Your staff told us that: • while 40% had good energy levels, over half had varied energy levels. • over 40% reported varied or poor sleep patterns • while the majority felt in good spirits and calm most of the time, a proportion (more than 10%) felt cheerful and relaxed less than half or none of the time • over 25% feel invigorated less than half the time • over 50% wake up feeling refreshed less than half the time • over half said they wanted to be more active and nearly as many said they wanted to eat more healthily • over 15% said they wanted to cut down or cut out alcohol, and nearly ten per cent wanted to cut down or quit smoking • over 20% wanted to relax more and find a better work life balance • nearly 40% wanted professional advice on exercise, diet and relaxation We will be collecting staff opinions again at the end of the 12 months to see how attitudes, behaviours and feelings of health and wellbeing have changed.
More people, more active, more often This was one of the key drivers behind the programme and we are delighted the exercise classes have been such a success. We saw higher numbers than ever this January, with 40 or more attending classes each week. Exercise classes are, for many, the perfect way to work out and spend time with friends. We know those who exercise together tend to stay exercising for longer. Classes don’t need to be hard work to make a big difference. We’ve seen continued uptake (over 850 spaces in classes have been taken up since we launched the programme) of our range of workplace workout classes including low impact aerobics, Zumba, Circuits, Stretching,Yoga, Bokwa, Pilates, Fab Abs and core classes specifically for men. Each session is run by our registered exercise professionals to ensure staff of every age and ability can access the class and feel the benefits. Our instructors aim to make the classes fun but also produce real results which demonstrate how gently improving flexibility and tone, core strength and posture can build fitness, reduce stress and promote better sleep.
A typical daily Group Exercise Timetable for the Sony UK Tec Wellness Centre looked like this: Mondays 4:15pm - 4:45pm Zumba 4:45pm - 5:15pm Cardio Kick 5:15pm - 5:45pm Fab Abs Wednesdays 4:15pm - 4:45pm Circuits 4:45pm - 5:00pm Stretching 5:15pm - 6:00pm Bootcamp
More health awareness, more health support • We’ve notched up over 80 health assessments (50 male staff, and 31 female staff), over half in the 40 - 49 age bracket. These assessments included height and weight, body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, hip to waist ratio, peak flow (lung capacity), and a flexibility and fitness test. We have just launched a second round of assessments to reach even more of the Sony team. • Routine blood pressure testing is something organisations like The Stroke Association would like to see done in workplaces and shopping malls across the UK. Through the programme at Sony (and we’re offering a cholesterol testing programme at the moment) we’ve been able to take the blood pressure of 151 staff and helped them become aware of how their body and health reacts to stress, diet, fitness and much more. And - crucially - how they can take control of their levels (through diet, fitness and relaxation). • Programmes like these have been backed up by information about heart health and stroke prevention in our newsletter where we signpost relevant health awareness weeks like Stroke Awareness (coming up this Spring). Someone has a stroke every five minutes in this country, but research suggests half of these could be prevented by a healthy lifestyle, monitoring of blood pressure, and by increased awareness of the warning signs: issues we will be reinforcing during the next six months of the programme. • We’ve been delighted by the success of our workshops, which have given staff the opportunity to try new sports, learn about sport volunteering opportunities, and to try new foods. Over 20 staff attended each of our healthy eating workshops, and 21 staff signed up to the seven-week Foodwise Course, and over 70% of them reported weight loss. • We’ve been able to bring relevant money-saving initiatives to the staff. For example last summer Adidas at McArthur Glen Outlet Shopping Village offered all Sony UK Tec staff 30% off everything in store including already discounted items for a ten day period.
• And there is so much more. We’ve raised awareness of important health issues through our regular newsletter, canteen notice board and other staff communication channels. Not only has this enabled us to bring them news of important health issues, like cancer prevention (during Breast Cancer Awareness Week in October and Testicular Cancer Awareness Week in November - or Movember as it’s now been named by the charity), but throughout the programme we have been feeding staff a menu of accessible ideas/tips/facts and inspirational quotes - the very stuff that shifts perspectives on health, easily educates and which effectively celebrates this new programme of workplace wellbeing. We’ve had brilliant feedback as a result.
Five staff so far have signed up to our smoking cessation programme, including the aforementioned Mike Sewell. Smoking is, of course, one of the biggest preventable causes of premature death in the UK. It’s linked to a range of serious and often fatal conditions including heart disease and lung cancer. Staff who do smoke have been told that no matter how old they are, or how long they’ve been smoking, the benefits of quitting are immediate. If you’re under 35 and stop now you are likely to live just as long as a non-smoker. Even if you’re between 65 and 74, if you give up smoking you’ll have a better life expectancy beyond 75 than those who continue to smoke. In the run up to No Smoking Day on March 12 we’ll be running a series of initiatives to help more staff quit AND get fit.