Taking steps to company health

It's game on for Hawke's Bay businesses, now that NZCU Baywide has accepted Heinz Wattie's challenge to register for the worldwide walking competition - the Global Corporate Challenge (GCC).
Wattie's was last year's GCC national champion and the only Hawke's Bay business to compete.
This year the company is encouraging other local businesses to get on board to ramp up local competition and bring better health to the workplace.
The Wattie's Workfit team presented the challenge in the form of a "Better Business Health Challenge" can and NZCU Baywide was the first to snap it up.
NZCU Baywide chief executive Gavin Earle and HR manager Louise Alexandra were instantly sold on the idea that would see employees clocking up steps on a pedometer over a 16-week period.
The aim was 10,000 steps per day per person, but participants would need to really pound the pavement to beat Wattie's 2010 daily average of 12,000 steps per person.
The GCC was a workplace health initiative designed to get workers to incorporate walking into their daily routine. In teams of seven, participants recorded steps in an online database that compared tallies of teams from 1200 companies across 65 countries.
Mr Earle liked the competitive angle of the GCC and was easily convinced of the positive benefits.
He was personally looking forward to getting fitter, losing weight and fostering teamwork across the business.
"Supporting our staff and encouraging their participation leads to them being healthier and happier and developing great lifelong habits," he said.
Ms Alexandra said the challenge would have spin-off benefits for the company.
"It's a fact that the healthier people are, the happier they are and the better they will perform. This benefits the business through productivity and decreased absenteeism. Also, as the GCC is a fun team-based event, this is great for staff morale," she said.
Watties Workfit Challenger Sarah Bryant said local businesses had shown "tremendous" support, with about 40 teams from Hawke's Bay businesses signed up. The challenge starts on May 19 and is supported by Sport Hawke's Bay's Workfit Programme.