Tesco expands wellness programme to offer physical activity benefits

This year Tescos have collaborated with Gympass, a corporate wellbeing provider, to ensure that all of their employees based in the UK as well as the Republic of Ireland, have access to over 1,400 gym facilities.

In recent months it has been reported that many employees aim to improve their fitness and would appreciate their workplace accommodating for this. With the 2018 Great Perk Search Report by Perkbox, finding that of those who are interested in sports-based workplace activities, 15% said they would enjoy a company fitness challenge undertaken with colleagues, such as a marathon or cycling peloton. In addition to this, they found that a significant number felt as if this has a positive impact on the workforce.

James Goodman, People Director at Tescos, discusses their reasoning behind this new partnership, saying “Our annual colleague health survey showed that a huge number of our employees struggle to find ways to improve their general health and wellbeing. By partnering with Gympass we are able to help combat this, delivering convenient and easily accessible solutions to engage our workforce in greater levels of physical activity,”

He goes on to discuss the benefits of using a service like Gympass, saying “Gympass has a vast network of fitness operators, making this a fantastic benefit to offer our employees. The flexibility of the Gympass service means all our employees will be able to choose from leisure facilities up and down the country, across multiple price brackets, ensuring everyone can find the perfect fitness solution and activity for them.”

It is becoming more of a common strategy to follow in ensuring that a workforce is receiving the best treatment, as a wellbeing report by Premier discusses it’s fast growth in recent times “ Even two years ago employee wellbeing was lower down the priority list with budgets constrained by pension auto-enrolment and the slow improvement in the economy. Today, however, employer focus has shifted and there is ever growing recognition that investing in employee wellbeing is good for a business’s bottom line as well as being good for employees.”

On top of subsidised gym memberships, Gympass will be working closely with Tesco to host live wellness events and breakfasts, engaging directly with employees and sharing the benefits of physical activity.

Pietro Carmignani, CEO for UK&IE at Gympass talks about this recent partnership news, saying “We are really excited about working with Tesco, offering corporate fitness memberships to its huge workforce and encouraging staff at all levels in the business to be more physically active,”

He goes on to discuss the benefits of the perks of adding this regime into a wellbeing programme, “There are multiple statistics which highlight the benefits of a healthy active workforce, including greater productivity, fewer sick days and improved general wellbeing. We are looking forward to monitoring uptake in the coming months and helping Tesco realise the benefits of a healthy, active workforce.”

In the year it celebrates its 100-year anniversary, Tesco is extending its wellness package to the complete workforce, from head office employees to in-store workers and home workers to delivery drivers. In addition to this, Tesco has also successfully partnered with three charities in the UK in order to further develop their workplace health programme. This partnership will five years and will involve research projects and policy development.