The future of sport: Sports science can boost profits
BUSINESSES that learn lessons from sports science have the chance to steal a march on their competitors.
While traditionally employers have focused little on staff welfare beyond the office or factory door, more enlightened firms have realised that a broader approach to employee wellbeing can boost the bottom line.
Sheffield Hallam University is using knowledge gleaned from helping elite athletes perform to the best of their potential to help businesses develop healthier, happier and more productive workforces.
“The investment into wellbeing by businesses in the UK was initially slow. In the past it was generally not considered as their responsibility. However, this
landscape is changing,” says Anouska Carter, senior sports science officer at Sheffield Hallam University.
“My feeling is that most large international companies now see it as a must have, whilst small and medium enterprises often still view it as a nice to have. However, this is not always the case and really depends on the views and aspirations of the management at the company.”
The impact of sport science on the workplace is considered in a new free supplement, The Future of Sport in Yorkshire, published by TheBusinessDesk.com in partnership with FrontRow Legal and Sheffield Hallam University available to download here.
At a time when businesses are facing pressure to keep costs down, many will be sceptical about investing in workplace wellbeing programmes.
“We can show it works but this does rely on clear key performance indicators being set at the start of the programme and a robust evaluation being designed to measure these,” says Ms Carter.
“This is crucial as it enables the business to see what impact the programme has had and how it can be improved to increase the impact in the future.”
