Providing Employees with Company Sponsored Fitness Memberships Essay

Providing Employees with Company Sponsored Fitness Memberships - Essay Example Introduction In an age of increased competition business organizations are looking forward towards generating overall excellence in business. The role of human resource management is very important in this regard as they form the most important asset for any organization. Organizations are trying to provide various benefits to employees in order to retain the best talents and increase the job satisfaction levels. In addition to monetary rewards and benefits, companies are also providing non material benefits like meal passes and other recreational items to the employees in order to ensure motivation among the employees. The present study would analyze the aspect of providing fitness center memberships to employees as an added benefit. The study would analyze the various advantages it can have on the employees of the organization that in turn can lead to generation of organizational excellence. The study would analyze the fitness center programs of LA fitness center that is based in U K and offers fitness center facilities to the members. In addition to this a comparison would also be made with two other competitors namely Virgin Active and David Lloyd with regards to the facilities and cost of each of these centers. Advantages of Memberships The aspect of providing fitness club memberships for employees has far reaching benefits for the organization. Some of the possible benefits for employees and the organization include reduction of insurance premium costs for the employees; generation of disability based benefits as well as reduced expenses on medical related reasons. In addition to these benefits a fitness center membership can also help in improving the physical fitness of the employees. This would help in reduced absenteeism due to lesser instances of an employee being unfit. This can also lead to generation of more productivity that can help the organization in the long run. It has also been found that sponsoring fitness schemes for employees leads to imp rovement in the morale of the employees that affects their performance at the organization which in turns affects the productivity of the employee. Certain other derived benefits of health club memberships for employees include attractiveness among the new and prospective candidates, reduced turnover rate of employees that in turn helps a company to not only get the best talents but also helps in retaining the talents of the organization that helps generate competitive advantage for the organization. Inclusion of family members in the fitness club membership can increase the satisfaction levels of employees manifold and would help the organization generate greater motivation for the employees. The effect of fitness center memberships can multiply if education and promotional programs are included as a part of the fitness program offering. Special efforts should be made to popularize these aspects especially among employees who have chronic problems such as blood pressure and diabete s as well as workers whose tasks are largely sedentary in nature. Physical fitness programs can help generate a healthy balance of mind and body