The Buzz

April 14, 2016

By Amy Gaglardi

Here at Beelineweb, we not only strive for a positive work environment, but we strive for healthy, happy individuals that make up our team! Some of the health initiatives that we offer our team include optional 30-minute fitness breaks daily, personal training sessions, adjustable, stand-up desks (if desired), personal days (instead of sick days), and organic fruit and teas.

Several years ago, before we were in our new office (pre-2009), we read studies that stated 30 minutes of exercise during the workday increased productivity. So we offered everyone the option to use 30 minutes of their workday for fitness activities. Our fitness initiative went so well that we built a full gym in our new office consisting of multiple cardio machines, free weights, bosu balls, exercise balls, a squat rack, and more so that individuals can use them throughout their workday. While the fitness initiative is optional, we are proud to say we have 100% participation!

Since we realized that not everyone necessarily knows HOW to work out, a few years ago we started offering an optional hour of one-on-one personal training time every week. Almost our whole team has decided to train with our AWESOME personal trainer, Sarah Fraser, from Crave Fitness. Each week, Sarah spends an hour of one-on-one time, with each participating team member, to help them meet their fitness goals.

To keep moving forward with our health initiatives, this spring, we started researching the idea that “sitting was the new smoking.” The research detailed how bad it was for individuals to sit ALL day, no matter how healthy the rest of their lives were. So we decided to implement an adjustable, stand-up desk as a test for individuals to try. And for fun, we also looked at how many additional calories were burned on a daily basis from switching to standing instead of sitting at work, and the numbers were huge! (Click here to play with the calorie-burn calculator!) So many people loved working at a stand-up desk, from both a health and energy standpoint, we ordered VeriDesks for everyone who was interested so they could stand all day, or part of a day, if they wanted!

Additionally, with our focus on pro-active health, we decided to implement personal days (instead of sick days) with the idea that while it is inevitable that some people will get sick from time to time, not everyone does. So now, team members have 6 days a year that they can use for sick days, or they can use them as guilt-free days off to do something healthy – like snowboarding, training, etc.

Lastly, we order Urban Harvest, an organic fruit (and veggie) delivery weekly so that everyone has the option to eat healthy, organic fruit throughout the day. We also keep a ton of loose-leaf tea at the office for anyone to help him or herself to. Our favourite is a Canadian company committed to pure, organic ingredients, Lemon Lily!

While all of these things are optional, we are impressed at how many people use the fitness breaks, our personal trainer, standing desks, personal days, and munch on the organic fruit, which all contributes to our healthy team that makes up Beelineweb.com!