1. 3
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1: The problem of stress.
One of the leading causes of productivity loss in the workplace is job-stress. The accumulation of
job-stress can seriously lead to mismanagement of time during work. The stress is often a
consequence of strict deadlines and high volumes of work. An employee could find that they are
no-longer able to cope with the environment they are subjected to at their office. Unchecked,
work stress can rise to a level that could cause a company severe setbacks, or work stoppage.
This is the situation that was met with when Otranto Domestics (OD) realized that they must find
a solution to combat the hindering force of job-stress. The employees at OD were required to
manage a significant work load, strict inflexible deadlines, and a high volume of co-worker
group participation. The employees found that the high demand of their job was overwhelming.
A need arose for the company to find a way to rekindle the productivity of OD’s workers.
In short: They needed a break!
Without a diversion from the demands of work, the stress would cause problems like personal
issues between workers, a slower turn out of work, missed deadlines, loss of morale, or a
breakdown in production. Stress of this sort is a detriment to progress, but there are ways that
stress can be managed, and I have a specific goal in mind.
1.2: My purpose and goals.
This report is intended to discuss the positive benefits that a company may accrue through the
installment of an at-work fitness seminar program. The fitness program is intended to provide
three concrete solutions to job-stress:
1. It will give employees proper information and training in stress management.
2. It will allow employees to participate in stress-reducing activities.
3. It will encourage bonding between employees to strengthen workplace relationships.
This report is intended to draw conclusive connections between the reduction of stress and the
installment of a fitness program in a company. The previously mentioned solutions naturally
occur throughout the seminar. How will these solutions positively affect productivity though?
They will help to reduce stress to a level that does not affect work.
They will provide employees with companionship to work better in group oriented tasks.
They will help modify lifestyles so that healthier living may contribute to reduced stress.

2. 4
The subsequent sections of this report will outline how the Fitness Initiative Program (FIP) will
work, as well as give an overview of a successfully completed seminar from a previous
company. The report will also detail FIP's cost, and effective research on the subject of health
and fitness in the workplace.
1.3: The means and method.
The primary method that I use in this program is the dissemination of information. Rigorous
presentations will be the main focus for half of the seminar sessions. These weeks will include:
•Questionnaires
•Tests
•Personal evaluations
•Work evaluations
•Detailed informational presentations
The allocation of detailed information to the seminar is to train employees to make positive,
well-informed and healthy choices in their lives.
The main tenant of the FIP is: Healthier people are happier people
They are also better working people. A large portion of these sessions will focus on what
employees can learn about health and stress management. The activity sessions will be centered
on the goal of promoting group work and co-worker bonding, these activities will be used as
morale boosters.
The FIP is designed to unlock the potential of each employee so that they themselves may solve
their own issues in the future. The best solution to a problem is to make it not a problem.
The rationale behind such an approach is that: without training, stress can lead to bad lifestyle
choices. This, in turn, leads to a cycle of negative choices spurring on negative behavior. It can
become overwhelming to employees if they do not have the proper know-how to fight stress.
Fig.1: The stress cycle chart.

3. 5
With the FIP, employees will be given all the training that they need to make stress a non-issue.
As well, they will participate in exercises that will provide invaluable data to the company about
their staff’s opinions about stressors at their work. Finally, each activity is designed to provide
bonding sessions; I hope to have the employees develop more trust in their fellow co-workers.
The method of choice for the FIP is knowledge; it is the main tool to fight stress.
1.4: The limitations of this program.
It is important, however, to understand that there are limitations to a program like this. With
diversity in the workplace it is important to note that some people may have different
requirements for this program to work. There are two categories of people who pose a possible
issue to this fitness program:
1: Differently-abled or significantly aged employees.
2: Employees who, for any reason, are unmotivated to participate.
The problem that is presented with these groups is that they may feel excluded, or may not want
to participate in the activity portion of the seminar program. This limitation will be addressed in
a following section.
2. THE RESEARCH AND THE FINDINGS
2.1: The Fitness Initiative Program (FIP).
Though I mentioned that knowledge is the primary method of this program, the Fitness Initiative
Program (FIP) actually focuses on two sorts of interaction:
ACTIVITY
AND
INFORMATION
The eight-week seminar will consist of eight shorter sessions for information (two a week), and
four longer sessions for fitness activities. The weeks will alternate between information and
fitness for the duration of the seminar. The reason why the information sessions are divided into
twice weekly shorter sessions is because I believe information is better retained from shorter
sessions. I also want participants to be able to think about what they learn and bring their
thoughts to the next meeting. The activities however will be done only once a week.
The following table shows the schedule for each of the seminar sessions. Included in this table is
a short description of what each activity or presentations consists of, and the main goals for each
week.

4. 6
Fig.2: The seminar schedule.
Week one: Stress
management.
The beginning presentations
focus on the management of
stress and the gathering of
employee data.
- Trains employee in
stress management
- Familiarization.
- Obtainment critical
environment
information.
Week two: (Activity)
Relaxation.
The sister activity to the first
week will involve the visiting
of a gym to provide lessons in
relaxation techniques and
physical stress relief exercises.
- Physical training in
stress management.
- Useful skill building
for work stress.
Week three: Consequences of
stress in the work place.
The presentations and
exercises in this week are
devoted to the application of
stress knowledge to the work-
front.
- Helps employees to
understand stress
effects.
- Informs about adverse
stress effects.
Week four: (Activity) Yoga. This activity is a well known
stress reliever. It will be taught
to the employees as an
advanced form of relaxation.
- Deeper bodily
relaxation.
- Gets employees
prepared for the
subsequent weeks.
Week five: Nutrition and rest. This seminar will focus on the
positive health benefits of
proper nutrition and sleep. It
will introduce the first notion
of healthy change for
employees
- Informs employees
about healthy eating.
- Provide nutritional
alternative.
- Reduce health
concerns.
Week six: (Activity) Hiking. A non-intensive four-mile
hike through an easy to follow
Mont-Royal path. Employees
will be provided snacks and
drinks to take with them.
- Group bonding.
- Trusting relations
being developed.
- Empowerment.
Week seven: What comes
next.
The final information seminar
will be used to gather
feedback and employee
concerns. It will also be used
as a F.A.Q for those that have
an interest in continuing
health.
- Ends as an impromptu
forum for discussion.
- Employees voice their
concerns or ideas.
- Employees make
suggestions for
changes at work.
Week eight: (Activity) Sports. The last activity will involve a
light-hearted team sport that
will be used to solidify the
group in friendly competition.
- Stronger bonding
exercise.
- Promotion of future
fitness activities.

5. 7
The information I have given in the above table is designed around a principle of relationship
building. The FIP is organized in a way that allows the employees to warm up to the richer
exercises and information. On a timeline, our efforts would look like this:
Familiarization  Information  Training  Change
Job-stressor  Relaxation  Exercise  Management
In the opening weeks of the program, the focus will be on relaxation and stress management.
These early sessions are designed to let me get to know what makes employees stressed and how
they react to it. The main focus of the first four weeks is to allow me to get to personally know
the strengths, weaknesses, and motivations of each participating employee.
The first half of this seminar acts like a befriending process.
I will achieve this by requesting the employees to complete a couple questionnaires and exercises
during the informational sessions. I ask participants to provide me with feedback about job-
stressors that they encounter at work. I want to elicit a trusting relationship between myself and
the employees; I want them to feel like I am speaking to them individually so that their needs
may be accommodated to the best of my ability. Gathering personal information allows me to
gain emotional intimacy with employees. I will also begin by teaching the most important stress
relief methods in the early weeks of the seminar.
The second half of the seminar has an alternate goal than the first. It is really summed up by
answering two identifiable questions:
How can we promote lifestyle change in-and-out of work ?
How can we best promote stronger relationships between co-workers?
The presentations in weeks five and seven will be centered on diet adjustment, proper rest, and
motivation for furthering health efforts post-seminar. The importance of healthy living will be a
main focus of the information sessions. Detailed recommendations about healthy life alternatives
will be presented throughout the sessions. This is a way I can help to stimulate interest in
continued health after the seminar is concluded. My main goal in these culminating weeks is to
motivate as many employees as I can to continue to follow my program’s instructions.
The latter half of this seminar acts as a force of training and change.
There is a specific goal associated with the latter two activities. As stated in my schedule (Fig.2),
the major goal of the exercise activities is to stimulate group cohesion. The hike is meant to
allow participants to achieve a group fitness task while being away from their stress
environment. As a group, the employees will be expected to work together to complete the task.

6. 8
Several employees will be charged with supplying snacks and water throughout the three hour
hike. The allocation of supplies to a couple of employees is meant to encourage bonding between
co-workers through mutual benefaction.
The final activity will be a competition game of the employee’s choosing (usually between
soccer, basketball, or baseball). The game will be regulated so that the employees work together
closely and rely on each other. As with the hike, the friendly competitive game is meant to
sponsor bonding and trust between participating employees.
The point of these exercises is to allow the workers to better understand and trust each other.
Often, one of the issues with work stress is that employees feel cornered and do not know who to
turn to for advice. These games and activities are meant to give the employees an opportunity;
the ability for them to bond over the shared experience of the seminar’s activities.
There is a method involved with the setup of the FIP. It is to first, gather information, inform,
and provide stress reduction tools; second, to recommend changes, and promote group solidarity.
The FIP is designed to ensure the success of my goal to create a happier, healthier, and more
productive staff.
2.2: The initial success at Otranto Domestics.
The success of this type of program, though, has already been realized. Otranto Domestics, after
implementing the FIP, recorded a marked increase in productivity. As noted in (Fig. 3), the late
projects has stabilized at a 25 percent reduction in April.
Fig.3: Details the amount of missed deadlines in a four month period between 2013/14.
The incidence of missed deadlines lowered significantly when comparing the two years’
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
January Feburary March April
ProjectsLate
Comparisonof First TrimesterMissed
Deadlines 2013 & 2014
2013
2014

7. 9
trimester reviews. There were no significant staff changes to account for this discrepancy. The
numbers in the figure represent a marked change in late-work production. It was reported by the
supervisor at Otranto Domestics that employees seemed more able to handle their workload and,
though no significant changes had been made to level of work, the work-ethic had improved.
A post-seminar evaluation survey was conducted a month after the seminar had been completed.
It was an effort to establish if there had been any lasting positive effects of the seminar.
Questions from the evaluation included queries about:
Had there been any improvement in their health since the seminar was completed?
Were any relationships formed during the seminar that had not previously existed?
Did they gain the proper tools and abilities to combat job-stress?
Had their work experiences improved after the seminar’s completion ?
The following table evaluates the answers I had been given. The survey I conducted was based
on the sample of the 17 employees currently employed at Otranto Domestics who participated in
the fitness program. Of the 17, eight were women and nine were men. There were no
differently-abled employees but there were two employees who were in an age bracket of 60+.
Fig.4: Data associated with questionnaire answers for the post-seminar evaluation.
Question Answer: Yes Answer: No ReasonGiven If No
Have you had any
improvement in your
health post-seminar?
71% 29% 3 - Mentioned that
they preferred their
own lifestyle.
2 - Declined to say.
Did any new
relationships form
because of the
seminar?
47% 53% 8 - Mentioned that
since OD was a small
company they were
close already.
Did you gain the
proper tools to relieve
job-stress?
88% 12% 1 - Mentioned that
they did not like the
exercises.
1 - Mentioned that
they already knew.
Has your work
improved since the
seminar?
77% 23% 2 - Noted that they
had no previous
problems.
2 - Declined to give
answer.
The most relevant information from this evaluation is that a majority of the staff believed that
their work had improved since the program’s initiation. This data, coupled with the trimester
report, indicates that there is a direct connection between the seminar that was conducted, and

8. 10
job productivity. One of the female employees that answered yes to the final question remarked
that she “felt that [she] could handle the work better because [she] knew the signs of stress.”
Another male employee noted that he “feels better about working in teams because [he] knows
his group better.” These testimonials were similarly voiced by the majority of the group.
When I discussed my program with the CEO of Otranto Domestics, I was given a few figures
that represented the difference in the production and its corresponding monetary value.
Fig.5: The monetary value of
gains in the year proceeding
after the seminar.
The 25 percent decrease in time lost from missed deadlines translated into a $76,870 decrease in
projected costs. This number follows the data from the compared months of the two first
trimesters of 2013-2014 (Fig.3). The CEO of Otranto Domestics informed me that he attributed
this gain to the success of my Fitness Initiative Program.
2.3: The health care benefits.
There was another success, however, that the CEO of Otranto Domestics attributed to the
implementation of the FIP. He was pleased to share with me some of the information regarding
health care benefits and the reduction of sick-days for the company. I was informed that the
company had reduced their insurance premiums by a considerable amount due to the health care
program that I began at OD.
The implementation of the FIP allowed Otranto Domestics to file for a reduced-cost health care
plan. The change in the company and the use of a health program to train employees allowed the
company to be eligible for a better coverage plan. The following table shows both the current
and the previous coverage plan and their associated costs.
Fig. 6: Comparison of the two health care plans.
Healthura Centrium basic coverage plan: $4700 Per Employee X 17 Employees:
$79,900
Healthura Centrium plus+ plan for small
businesses:
3600$ Per Employee X 17 Employees:
$61,200
The difference in costs amounts to an $18,700 reduction for employee health insurance.
This reduction, however, is not the only health benefit attributed to the FIP. the program can
Year and # of late products Projected costs of time loss
2013 – 37 missed deadlines. $307, 481
2014 – 20 missed deadlines. $230,610.75
Total Reduction of costs: $76,870.25

9. 11
also be tied to the overall reduction of sick-days that each employee took. Another comparison
between 2013/14 shows that the staff at Otranto Domestics were experiencing better health in
general. The following figure was pulled from the yearly review at Otranto Domestics. It outlines
the comparison of sick-days taken before and after the implementation of the seminar.
Fig.7: Average yearly sick-days of employees.
The mean yearly paid sick-days that each employee took during 2013 averaged out at eleven
days per employee. After the seminar was conducted, the average dropped to five. This data
points to the seminar as the reason for the reduction in sick-days. Those employees who made a
nutrition and fitness change after the seminar was concluded, had remarked in the evaluation that
their health had improved so much that they rarely took ill.
2.4: The limitations findings.
It has been previously noted that a program such as this comes with limitations; the possible lack
of motivation, shyness, age differences, or differently-abled staff are the commonest of these
limitations. To counteract these possible limitations then it is important that we first assess the
situation before beginning the program. If there is low, or no, incidence of differently-abled/
older-aged employees, or other limiting factors, then only small amendments could be made to
the program to account for their minor presence. If the incidence is high though, then the
activities and informational sessions will have to be restructured to conform to the special needs
of the majority of these employees.
In other words, I can adapt my program to fit the needs of any diverse workplace.
I would like to point out though that this would not detract from the overall goal of the FIP. A
seminar program on proper health and fitness retains its merit no matter how much adapting it
goes through.
Lack of motivation, or shyness, on the employee’s part is another tough limitation to confront.
There could be a decided lack of enthusiasm for fitness activities or longer information sessions.
There are two ways that this could generally be addressed within the program.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
2013 2014

10. 12
1: Incentivising the activities with a points system.
2: Promoting team effort and company pride.
Incentivising the seminar program may have the most decided response for motivation. Although
this might raise the overall cost of the program (depending on the incentive), it would also ensure
that employees will be motivated to complete the seminar program for a chance at a prize.
The other possible solution to lack of motivation is to enforce the idea that this program is
important to the success of the company. It is recommended that employees be reminded that a
program such as this has the potential to make seriously positive changes, not just on a personal
level, but on an occupational level as well. My part in sponsoring the company and motivating
employees is:
Befriending  Advocating Loyalty  Gently Persuading
Since I am already promoting a familiar basis with the employees, it would be easy to include
promotion of the company alongside my training.
These limitations are accounted for easily because this program is adaptable to a major degree.
The adaptability of this program is a key component to its success. Since the program is largely
based on health and fitness, it comes with a pre-existing trust. Positive change is within reach for
any person willing to take the time to listen and participate.
Similarly the implementation of a highly adaptable health program stands to increase the positive
image that a company puts out. With the attention and care I put into making each program fit to
a specific company the limiters end up strengthening the program. People would want to work
for a company that cares this much for them.
2.5: Outside research.
Although this program’s merit speaks for itself —considering the results from Otranto
Domestics— we must allow room for outside research to be considered. The concept of health
and fitness programs in the workplace is not new; there has been a wide array of research
devoted to studying the effects of health programs in the workplace.
One of the definitions of job-stress in Human Stress, Work and Job Satisfaction states that:
“Stress arises when there is a deviation from optimum conditions that cannot be easily
corrected, causing an imbalance between demand and capacity” (Wilford, Qtd. in Fraser,
44).

11. 13
This imbalance is the cause of job dissatisfaction. The unsatisfied worker, because of stress, is
unable to work at full capacity.
In the concluding chapter of Fraser’s book recommendations are made about how stress can be
reduced in the workplace. He notes specifically that “Humanizing” the workplace is oftentimes
the most visibly positive influence on stress reduction and productivity increase (59, 63-64).
What Fraser means by humanisation is that employers can institute radical management
procedures to allow employees to feel treated well in their jobs.
Fraser’s humanisation asks us to add a human
element and innovative programs into the
workplace. He wants us to realize that cold
efficiency creates stress.
My FIP is an innovative way to treat stressed
employees with familiarity and warmth. I
promote humanisation by always making sure
everyone is treated thoughtfully.
Jack Santa-Barbara relates in his essay “Corporate Health and Corporate Culture” that the
concept of health care should be understood as an exercise in self-care (35-36). He notes that the
majority of health care programs should be made aware that the main goal is to educate people to
make their own decisions. A program will only succeed if the people can be persuaded to their
own goal of healthy lifestyle changes. How he proposes that be achieved is to use a program that
is “people oriented” (38-40). His notion of people orientation is relevant to my program in three
important respects. He shows that people orientation requires:
Creating a value systemthat shows employee respect.
Promoting the employee to achieve a better self-image.
Cultivating an image of employer care.
These three tenants that the people-orientation is based on, resonate well with the Fitness
Initiative Program. My program is constructed to take these tenants in mind throughout the
seminar. In placing themes from my FIP beside Santa-Barbara’s research it becomes clear there
is a striking resemblance.
The Tenants of People-Orientation The Fitness Initiative Program
Create a value system that shows respect
for your employees.
Familiarizing myself with the participants
of my program.
Promote employees to have a better
self-image.
Training that I provide participants leads them
to make healthy life choices, improving image.
Cultivate an image of employer care. Advocating job pride, and work loyalty

12. 14
The last piece of evidence that I want to compare to the Fitness Initiative Program is a list of
reasons that was given by the Washington Business Group for Health in 1985. These four
reasons are advocated as being the contending motivation behind small businesses adopting
health and fitness programs at work (Baun, Bernacki and Herd, 220). These reasons are:
1: To improve human relations through improving morale, engendering greater
commitment to the organization, and enhancing employees’ sense of belonging.
2: To improve productivity.
3: To lower health care costs.
4: To improve the company image with the community.
As this report has unfolded, each of these four reasons have been addressed by several of the
previous sections. For ease of access, I have included a small list of where these could be found
1) To improve human relations. Section: 1.2, 1.3, 2.1
2) To improve productivity. Section: 2.2
3) To lower health care cost. Section: 2.3
4) To improve company community image. Section: 2.4
2.6: The cost-analysis.
After seeing the relevant research and taking note of the previous success there is still one
question to answer; how much will this program cost? For that to be answered there are two
costs that must be considered: material costs, and my personal charge. The following table
outlines all of the basic costs of materials that will be needed for the program to succeed.
Materials needed: Projected cost:
Projector for PowerPoint presentations. $800
(If no projector is present in office)
Transportation costs. $480
(Per four activities)
Beverages and snacks. $100
Day-pass for gym. $240
(For two gym activities)
Paper and materials for written exercises. $25
Stipend for extraordinary occurrences. $400
(To be returned if not used)
Total: $2045
Fig.8: A list of the materials needed for the full seminar.
The materials represented in this above table are easily negotiable. Depending on place of work,
and willingness of employees, some of the transportation costs can be adjusted. If a projector is
already present at the office then there is no need to rent one. As well, the stipend will serve as a

13. 15
petty cash for unforeseen materials or expenses that may occur over the course of the seminar (in
the case of the Otranto Domestics seminar, the leftover money from the stipend was $305.)
As for my own personal cost, I charge $45/hour for my services. As you can see from the table
below I have broken down my tally of hours into a list of items that I will be responsible for.
This table shows the total number of hours for the entire seminar. As the table outlines I will be
responsible for an estimated 65 hours of work; at $45/hour it comes out to $2,925 for the cost of
my services.
Fig.9: A table representing the allocation of my work hours.
Responsibility: Hours estimated:
Researchfor information sessions. 12
Organization of presentations. 5
Travel between activities. 8
Activity sessiontimes. 16
Information sessiontimes. 16
Weekly on-site consultation. 8
Total: 65 Hours
A combination of the two sums brings the total cost of the Fitness Initiative Program to:
$4,970
This program cost is an expenditure that could greatly reduce revenue. In the case of Otranto
Domestics when comparing the figures, a cost of $4,970 led to a reduction in health care
premiums by $18,700, a reduction in lost revenue by $76, 870, and an uncalculated reduction in
the cost of sick-days; from what is calculable, that amounts to a $95,570 reduction. The FIP
could stand to account for the reduction of many unwanted expenditures, while not presenting a
significant expenditure on its own.
3. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
3.1: The report summation.
The main goal of the Fitness Initiative Program (FIP) is to inform and train employees in proper
health and the management of job-stress. As it has been shown in the report, the way that this is
achieved is by the rigorous efforts of a well-executed eight-week course that involves
information and activities. With a combination of sociable exercises and informed training, I

14. 16
intend to change the staff's abilities to cope with detrimental work issues. An employee
undertaking this seminar course stands to improve three important aspects of their lives:
Their health.
Their ability to manage high-stress environments.
Their co-worker relations.
These three foci of the program also stand, in turn, to help the company produce profitable
results. The training that I provide in these areas has been known (through the previous iteration
of this seminar at Otranto Domestics) to reduce the costs of several areas at work. Most notably,
the reductions were:
Health care premiums.
Reduced sick-days.
Reduced productivity loss.
The actual benefits of these three reductions amounted to a yearly cost-reduction in the sum of
$95,570 at Otranto Domestics. Besides the benefits accrued from the company, staff at Otranto
Domestics presented a higher level of job satisfaction.
As it has been noted by Jack Santa-Barbara in the previous outside research section, orienting a
program such as this towards the employees is a sign of successful health initiatives.
The FIP is a program engineered specifically for the employees or a company. It endeavors to
personalize the experience of making healthy life choices, and to accrue real profitable benefits
from this training. In so doing this, the FIP also advocates on behalf of a job, the care that
employers have for their employees. This has been shown in this report to be a crucial step in the
proper administration of a health care program.
This program comes with limitations but those limitations can be adapted to. The FIP is a highly
adaptable program that can alter itself to fit almost any clientele. For a cost of $4,970, the
benefits are immense.
3.2: Conclusion.
This report is based on the findings of the first implementation of the Fitness Initiative Program
in the company that I work for, Otranto Domestics. Although future success cannot be
adequately judged on a single source, it should be noted that this success has relevant support.
This report points to a wide range of scholarship that attests to the implementation of health care

15. 17
programs. My program, when compared to this research, was found to be in concordance with
many of the main tenants for health program success. It is with this support that I believe that the
FIP can be successful in future endeavors. The coupling of my personal findings and the research
conducted provides me with confidence to say that when conducted again, this seminar program
can produce like results.
Given a chance, The Fitness Initiative Program could be the right fit for any company.
3.3: Recommendations.
As I have stated previously in this report, there are ways in which the FIP can be fine tuned to
produce better results. Before initiation of the program, it is recommended that the company seek
to conduct a small survey of their employees so that any limiting factors can be found out. This
would provide me with data I could use to adapt my program to the needs of the company’s
employees.
Besides this factor, an assessment of the locale in which the company is situated and an
assessment of resources available could help me to readjust the cost table to a lower amount. In
having this information provided to me, I can easier figure out the most cost-effective application
of each activity session.
These two assessments could allow for a smoother implementation of the Fitness Initiative
Program. With a preliminary examination provided, the rate of success could be higher than
previously anticipated.