Executive Summary:

This report provides an analysis of the present and possible usage of the Fitness center in Rocky
Moutain Mutual's Headquarter and why the existence of Fitness center need not be disputed.
Approximately 35% of RMM's employees use the fitness center at least once per week, and this
number is steadily increasing with the constant influx of young professionals. As the company is at
its highest growth, the trend of hiring young professionals will continue and fitness center can be
leveraged to attract them. 

The three main advantages of Fitness centres can be stated as follows:

1. Employees easily find time to exercise and fit everything in their busy schedules
2. Due to improved health, there is a reduction in sick leaves and absenteeism
3. It boosts employees' morale and instils a sense of giving their 100% to the company, seeing
that the company is providing them such an added advantage

Based on these, there are two recommendations:

1. Encouraging employees to have active participation in the gym by developing wellness

programs across departments.
2. A Bi-monthly Intra department sports event to increase the physical activity of all the
employees.

Background:
The Fitness Centre was inaugurated three years ago as a part of the new office complex for RMM.
The Centre serves to provide a state of the art facility for the employees to engage in physical
activities without having to go through the stress and hassle of finding a centre away from office.
The Centre was made at a cost of approximately $1 million and requires a small staff for
maintenance and daily upkeep.

Records show that 35% of the employees on campus make use of these facilities at least once a
week, with 10% of all employees using it at least thrice a week. On further analysis, it was noted that
employees using the Fitness Centre showed considerably lower medical costs, and an increase in
general productivity as well as a decrease in the number of sick days availed. The effect of the gym
on the employee psyche is considerable, and programs and initiatives have been undertaken to
ensure maximum utilization of the Fitness Centre by the employees is taking place. The Fitness
Centre also serves as a source of attraction for new hires to the firm, due to the lack of similar
services around the office complex.

Data from research has shown that there is a positive correlation between exercise and work
performance. It is reported that exercise has shown to ‘improve white collar worker’s mood and self-
reported performance’ and also helps employees stay motivated to do better at work. It has also
shown to alleviate stress for working individuals, while helping them boost their brain activity

Problem Statement:
Rocky Mountain Mutual, Utah is a remotely located firm where employees work all day long
in front of computers. There is a need of physical activity and exercise which RMM’s Fitness
Center provides to the employees. But the high maintenance cost of the facility questions its
continuation. RMM faces the dilemma whether to continue with the facility which helps in
increasing productivity, reducing absent days and improving the health of the employees or to
shut the Center down to avoid the high costs associated.
Criteria:
Rocky Mountain Mutual is looking forward to decreasing the operations costs to improve cost
efficiency. Three criteria need to be taken into consideration:

1. Fitness Center acts as a significant draw for the recruitment of young employees
2. The management of RMM considers exercise an essential benefit for its employees.
Eliminating the Health & Fitness Center will send the mistaken message of RMM being
indifferent towards the health and wellbeing of its employees.
3. Closing down the Fitness centre would lead to an increase in absenteeism and a decrease in
productivity with added costs for Employee medical expenses. 

Assessment of the Criterias:

A recent study by Aviva reported by investing in health care programs, companies can increase
employee attendance by 89 percent, along with an increase in productivity. Per the researchers,
workouts help produce certain chemicals that are required by the brain to perform certain functions
such as memory, multi-tasking, and problem-solving. 

Regular exercise keeps employees more energetic, motivated, and happy when they are at work.
Happier people are 12% more productive. 

When companies incorporate on-site gyms as part of the employee health and fitness benefits plan,
it would be considered as one of the greatest' perks' by the staff members. On that note, RMM is
right on point, and that's why we should continue having the Fitness centre facilities at our
headquarters. Employees would scare of losing the benefits if they decided to leave the company.
Let's think this way; if employees took this fitness initiative positively and continuously partaking and
are performing better, it would be harder for them to leave the job unless some other serious
factors involved.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Fitness centre

Type Highly active Moderately active Inactive Employees

Percentage 10% 25% 65%

No. of Employees 25 62 163

Cost saved 400/Person 200/Person 0

Total cost saved 10000 12400 0

On top of that, the number of employees using the employees is increasing gradually. With the
positive influx of young professionals joining the company, this growth will be radical soon. When an
employee is fit and healthy, performing well at work, and are less stressful, he/she might have a
higher level of appreciation. This will help us in retaining these valuable employees in the long run. 

Recommendations:
Fitness experts believe that working in a team make an employee less likely to quit, more energetic
to train, and highly motivated to achieve their goals. Gym with proper gear is the only place where
group members interact during their free time and discuss projects during group exercise sessions.
Based on this research, I have two recommendations:

1. Encouraging employees to have active participation in the gym by developing wellness

programs across departments.
2. A Bi-monthly Intra department sports event to increase the physical activity of all the
employees.
We can adopt this approach to create groups, either within their existing teams or with the other
departments that contribute to improving internal relationships, which is necessary for team
building and eventually, the success of the company

References:
1. Exercising at work and self‐reported work performance
(https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/17538350810926534/full/html)

2. 3 ways staying physically fit can boost your work performance

(https://www.businessinsider.com/how-physical-fitness-boosts-your-work-performance-
2016-7?IR=T)