The Global Corporate Challenge is a health and well-being event aimed at improving the fitness levels of office workers and raising the awareness of the relationship between employee health and a company's bottom line. Herb Elliott AO is the chairman of the group, he talks to Business Spectator's James Frost and says:
James Frost: Could you tell us a little bit about the Global Corporate Challenge and how you got involved?
Herb Elliot: Well, the idea was originated by these two guys Glen Riseley and Shane Bilsborough and they came up with this idea and asked me whether I'd be prepared to chair the company that they were setting up. At the time I just thought putting a pedometer on somebody's not going to change their lifestyle or their level of health, you know, this will never work. So, just shows you my judgement wasn't too good. It's been absolutely fantastic. I did accept the chairmanship and I'm very pleased that I've had a very small part to play in the success of the whole thing. So, that's how it all got started.
JF: How many teams or participants did you have last year?
HE: Last year we had 50,000 participants. The first year we had 2,800 if I remember correctly. This year all of the signs are showing that we'll get about 80,000 participants. So, its probably the largest single corporate event in the world, you know 80,000 people participating in the event is very significant.
JF: Herb, commercial entities by definition exist to make money, so why do you think there's a reticence for many businesses to get involved in employee health issues?
HE: Well, it could only be for a couple of reasons. One is they don't understand the importance a good frame of mind in their employees and health of course is probably the most vital thing in terms of having a good frame of mind or else they can't see any way where they get an effective return for their investment. I can't think of any other intelligent reason why they would not get involved.
JF: The program also has delivered much lower absentee levels in its participants both before and after the event. From the literature I've read absenteeism among participants over a six month period was down almost 50 per cent on those that didn't?
HE: Yeah its really remarkable. Each year I have the privilege of visiting a number of the organisations that participate in that year's event to present them with awards or something like that and I remember one company, an international company with operations in Australia where they actually had a sick room. So they had a doctor and a nurse there on site all the time and they had a certain level of sickness and absenteeism as a consequence. They decided to do away with that and put the Global Corporate Challenge into effect and the level of sickness just dropped. It plummeted actually. It made an absolutely huge difference to the level of absenteeism. One because having the doctor and nurse there made them conscious of any niggles or pains and also because they weren't doing anything positive to help them get that wonderful sense of well-being you get out of a sensible level of exercise.
JF: I guess from an employee perspective at the moment people might find themselves under a bit of pressure to enhance their job security by putting in overtime, working longer hours and perhaps neglecting their health a bit instead of getting some exercise. Is that a kind of false economy, do you think?
HE: Yeah. I think that sort of culture misrepresents what you're at your desk for. You're there to produce and productivity is as much from the way you feel as it is the way the company presents itself to you and the type of job that you're doing. And if you're one of these people who sits down at a desk day after day after day and you get that tight feeling behind the belt and you eventually get that feeling where you're hanging over the front of the belt, you just get that lethargy which not only affects your job but affects your whole life.
And of course there're a lot of other things that go along with that such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol count, the tendency towards diabetes and all of the illnesses that can come from being unhealthy, so yeah it just makes an absolutely huge difference. We get hundreds and hundreds of communications from people who've participated in Global Corporate Challenge and I've read some of them myself and there was one from a guy that was agoraphobic, locked himself in his house and he was in the depths of a severe depression. His workmates got together, twisted his arm, signed him up for the event and got him outside again. We got a letter from him some months after the event just saying that he was back at work, he had just entered the Frankston Marathon and his whole life had turned around just because he went for a walk every day.
JF: That's remarkable.
HE: Yeah. It is.
JF: You mentioned the point about businesses looking for return on investment and I guess perhaps at the moment there's a temptation for many businesses to cut spending where they can't see that, so for organisations that might look at programs like this or putting in a new bike rack and thinking that's too expensive, I guess again they really need to be a bit broader with their thinking?
HE: I think it depends on the culture of the organisation. If the culture of the organisation and if there is a genuine caring for the well-being of their staff then... You can't just switch that on and off. You either care or you don't care. And so, I mean whether you're going into a recessional period or not, you may have to reduce staff because you have a responsibility to shareholders as well but the caring environment for staff should be consistent through whatever the economic conditions may well be. We know this anecdotally even if you can't prove it scientifically; that staff perform better when they feel that their company cares for them and takes an interest in them.
JF: Herb, most of our audience is going to be familiar with your own sporting achievements. What's your fitness regime like these days?
HE: I ran for about 40 years to keep fit and I used to deride walkers. I thought look at those people, that sedentary sort of stuff ... that pedestrian sort of stuff going along the footpath is going to keep them fit. I've now got two titanium hips from my running and I've got all of these testimonials and evidence of people who walk everyday and I know that I should've actually walked instead of run in those 40 years up to this particular point ... but these days I paddle a wave ski. I live at Byron Bay. I get out in the surf, catch waves and if the surf's too big or not enough for me, then I go for a walk or a swim.
JF: Alright Herb, that about wraps things up. Thanks very much for your time today and good luck with the Global Corporate Challenge.
HE: Thanks very much for your interest. I appreciate it.