Ready to Ride: Promoting a Healthy Workplace

Bike to Work Week 2015 is happening this week (May 25 – 31, 2015) all over British Columbia and it is a great way to continue to build healthy activities into your workplace. It is also a great opportunity for you, or your Healthy Workplace Committee if you have one, to set up various events and contests to support building a healthy team, although these activities don’t have to be specific to just this week. Employees may bike to work all year, and there may be lots of opportunities to celebrate a healthy workplace at different times during the year.

Here are some ideas for how you can incorporate Bike to Work Week (or biking to work in general) into your company:

1. Set up a bike locking area so that people don’t have to worry about the safety of their bikes. Keep this in place all year to support and encourage the bike riding option for transportation.
2. Register a team with the Bike to Work Week Society so that your company and your employees are a part of the excitement of the annual event.
3. Initiate a “how far did you ride” contest between riders – keep track of daily kms or # of days ridden by each employee and award a prize for the person who rides the most kms/amount of days.
4. If you have enough riders, set up a local Cycling Shop in the parking lot one morning and provide Employees with free bike tune ups. Or, make arrangements for the employees to receive free or discounted tune ups when they take their bikes to the local Cycling Shop.
5. To encourage your bikers, have healthy breakfast options waiting for them during the week, like oatmeal, protein bars, and juice in the fridge. Let them know that you notice that they are making healthy choices by biking to work.
6. Take a photo of all of your bikers and their bikes and post it on your company Facebook page and/or website to show the team spirit you have in the office. Don’t forget to take a photo of the winner who rode the most kms/days as well – celebrate their commitment!

“Finding something your employees are excited about is important for your company’s morale.”

Sometimes, setting the example for things like biking to work can be important as well. Check out Accent Inn’s President & CEO Mandy Farmer and her example of how to bike to meetings!

Having fun with employees and encouraging their good health can go hand in hand and will make a difference to your overall employee engagement.

Your Engaged Assignment: Do you actively encourage employees to bike to work? What can you do to make biking to work and Bike to Work Week more of a reality in your company?