Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong

By now, everybody knows that regular exercise is vital to health and happiness. It is commonly recognized that staying active with a busy schedule is not easy. Meanwhile, joining a gym can be costly and booking space at a sports venue in Hong Kong can frequently be a hassle. In spite of these challenges, there is a way forward: workplace fitness initiatives! These initiatives help raise employee productivity, since having healthy and happy staff members means fewer absences due to illness. Whether you are a business owner or an employee, workplace health initiatives create a win-win situation for all of us.

The results of a survey on individual well-being conducted last year show that Hong Kong’s overall well-being index has fallen for the fourth consecutive year. The survey reveals that 92 per cent of people in Hong Kong are stressed, with 40 per cent of the respondents indicating work was the primary cause of this stress. Physical inactivity and sleep deprivation are common problems for people with long working hours, and this creates direct impacts on organizations: every year, an average of 78.5 days is lost due to health-related absenteeism and “presenteeism” (coming to work while sick) per employee, accounting for 30% of the average total work hours. This costs every organization in Hong Kong over HK$3 million a year!

However, when employers help employees develop healthy physical fitness habits, not only are the costs of absenteeism and sickness significantly reduced, productivity levels rise and stress levels decrease.

Against this background, Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong is pleased to introduce the “Sport-Friendly Action” campaign, which aims to encourage all employers in Hong Kong to promote workplace fitness and improve the health of their employees through providing on-site exercise facilities and sponsoring employees to participate in organized sports. The ultimate goal of the campaign is to help organizations improve their image and productivity and help to create a society where everyone enjoys the benefits of a positive mind, body and spirit.

The Sport-Friendly Action campaign launch ceremony, which will be held on 25 April in the Crystal Ballroom of the City View Hostel, will remind enterprises, organizations and institutions around Hong Kong of the importance of incorporating fitness equipment and activities into the workplace, and highlight the campaign’s objectives and eligibility requirements.

Representatives of the Kowloon Motor Bus (1933) Limited, one of the company to have received the Sport-Friendly Action decal, will attend the event and share their workplace fitness initiatives with those in attendance, like the company’s fitness facilities, specific workplace fitness training schedules, and the various allowances and subsidies the company offers its employees to participate in sports. KMB representatives will also share their thoughts on the positive impacts of workplace fitness and the importance of healthy employees to their corporate image.

Sunlight REIT, one of our Y-Care corporate gold partners, has sponsored our “Sunlight Little Ironman” campaign for four consecutive years. Sunlight REIT will also be sending representatives to the event to explain why they are so enthusiastic to support Sunlight Little Ironman and the impacts on the company and the community.

As an employee, wouldn’t it be great if your company had a fitness room, offered fitness training classes to you and other employees, and provided you with subsidies to participate in healthy activities outside of work? Employers across Hong Kong need to understand that making fitness and an active lifestyle part of the company’s culture can boost employee efficiency, happiness and productivity – a win-win situation for both parties.

We encourage enterprises, organizations and institutions across Hong Kong to join us!

To learn more about ‘Sport-Friendly Action,’ please click here.