THE FITNESS INDUSTRY
Incentivized wellness programs are bolstering the fitness industry
We all know the many benefits of regular exercise, like lowering your risk for diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Now employers are realizing more and more how encouraging their employees to exercise not only reduces health care costs but can also boost productivity in the workplace.
According to the study “Exercising at work and self-reported work performance” conducted by Leeds Metropolitan University, it found that exercising during the workday can improve “workers’ mood and self-reported performance on days when they exercise at work over days when they do not. There are clear implications not only for employee wellbeing, but also for competitive advantage and motivation by increasing opportunities for exercising at work.”
When it comes to company-provided wellness programs for employees, it’s a benefit that companies are jumping to offer. The Kaiser Family Foundation’s “Employer Health Benefits” 2020 Annual Survey found that of large firms providing health benefits, 81% offer workers one or more wellness programs, which could include benefits like smoking cessation programs, weight loss resources, and free or subsidized fitness memberships. Additionally, the survey found that 44% of large firms offering one of these wellness programs also offer an incentive to encourage workers to participate in or complete the programs.
The beauty for fitness centers, clubs, studios, and gyms is that employers who offer fitness memberships are paying for claimed memberships whether the employees use them or not. In an analysis conducted by DataHub and imin of hundreds of thousands of gym memberships from 2018, they found that corporate memberships have almost double the average retention across all membership types, coming in third overall. The analysis also found that corporate memberships are not only retained well but used well. When looking at corporate memberships that used their benefit at least once in a year, they found that corporate memberships were used an average of 5.2 visits per month — 15% higher than the equivalent figure for non-corporate memberships.
Corporate memberships are used an average of
As more employers continue to understand the benefits of offering subsidized or free gym memberships, it’s a win for everyone — employees, companies, and the fitness industry. When you dig into the data, it becomes clear that it pays to get employees to the gym.
United Leasing & Finance is a customer-focused and growth-oriented leasing and finance company committed to providing custom financing solutions to businesses across the U.S. and Canada. For almost 60 years, United has partnered with clients to achieve mutual success from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies and has been lending in the fitness space since 2000.