Walking and cycling charity Sustrans Scotland outline how an active workforce can benefit your business.
An active workforce can bring rewards for businesses of all sizes. As well as being a simple, low cost investment, it helps to foster a happy, healthy working culture and active employees take fewer days off due to sickness. However, the information and support needed to bring about change can often be confusing and hard to find.
This is why Sustrans [http://www.sustrans.org.uk] have partnered with nine active and sustainable travel organisations in Scotland, to create Way To Work [https://www.waytoworkscot.org/ ] an online tool which supports employers to help staff to travel in more active and greener ways.
A better Way to Work
Way To Work is a one-stop-shop for funding, training, support, awards, challenges competitions and travel planning opportunities from across the country in one place.
The site guides employers and staff to information on walking, cycling, car sharing and public transport, and features the latest active and sustainable travel news.
Having all sustainable travel updates and offers in one place makes it easier for workplaces to make greener, long-term changes to their organisation, which will improve the health and wellbeing of their workforce.
Why should businesses be more active?
Fostering a healthier workplace culture benefits both employees and organisations as a whole.
Research [https://www.healthyworkinglives.scot/resources/publications/Pages/Promoting-physical-activity.aspx] has shown that having more active employees’ leads to reduced absences, increased productivity, lower turnover and higher morale.
Even small changes, such as encouraging people to swap short journeys made by car or public transport with walking or cycling can make a huge difference, helping to save organisations money, and resulting in happier employees.
Accreditations such as the Healthy Working Lives [https://www.healthyworkinglives.scot/Pages/default.aspx ] award or being a Cycle Friendly Employer [https://www.cycling.scot/our-programmes/cycle-friendly/employer ] show that a workplace cares about their workforce and strives to improve all aspects of working life.
And, as well as being great for existing employees, valuing staff’s health and wellbeing results in a healthier, content, engaged and highly motivated workforce which, in turn, makes organisations more attractive to potential new recruits.
Get active today
Using the Way To Work site is a simple way to help create positive, lasting changes to your workplace. From demonstrating corporate social responsibility to improving staff wellbeing, promoting active and sustainable travel in the workplace is a good return on investment for the employer and its workforce.
Make your changes today: https://www.waytoworkscot.org/
Sustrans Scotland
We are Sustrans. We are the charity that makes it easier for people to walk and cycle. We are engineers and educators, experts and advocates. We connect people and places, create liveable neighbourhoods, transform the school run and deliver a happier, healthier commute. Sustrans works in partnership, bringing people together to find the right solutions. We make the case for walking and cycling by using robust evidence and showing what can be done. We are grounded in communities and believe that grassroots support combined with political leadership drives real change, fast.
