The FINANCIAL — Magticom and British Petroleum Georgia are among the few companies in Georgia providing free access to sport utilities for their staff. The majority of leading companies have no such facilities however they believe that the promotion of healthy lifestyle amongst their employees is important.
“Management of the company should encourage staff to pursue a healthy way of living,” Tatuli Gviniashvili, Magticom PR Manager, told The FINANCIAL.
“My health and lifestyle is my private matter and isn’t a matter for the workplace, although it would be a great motivation to have free gym access or at least some discounts,” says Rezi Nijaradze, Marketing Manager of development company Axis.
“The main promoter for having a healthy lifestyle is self-motivation and society in general,” say the majority of representatives of leading Georgian companies, enquired by The FINANCIAL.
“Having a healthy lifestyle must be supported by the whole of society. Everyone has their share in society, pharmaceutical shops too. Caring about a healthy life is not only looking after you. A healthy life is healthy thinking, healthy relations. It is impossible to accept drug users and consider them cool people. This is a disease and if society accepts it as natural, then we can conclude that the society is diseased. Healthy thinking is a basis of everything. If you do not have a healthy way of thinking, you should not be in a position of responsibility at all,” says David Kiladze, director of the pharmaceutical company GPC.
“Everyone should make the decision to pursue a healthy style of life,” says Gviniashvili, Magticom.
Mako Jaoshvili, Manager of Public Relations of the company Nikora says that people working in the health and beauty business should promote healthy living the most.
“Healthy food producers, fitness centres, and other companies that are more or less involved in the same business should encourage the population to adopt a healthy lifestyle,” she says.
Jaoshvili thinks that the Government should be more active in supporting healthy lifestyles.
“The Government, celebrities and society can most be considered the main tools for promoting healthy living to the population,” Nijaradze, Axis, notes.
Tamar Shavdia, PR Manager of Bank Republic, says that the media, government, educational institutions, and employers should promote healthy lifestyles. She says that BR management can be considered an example of this.
“Bank Republic provides employees with the best conditions and encourages them to lead a healthy life,” Shavdia says. “The management of Bank Republic encourages the participation of employees in sporting activities. The Bank provides health insurance to its employees, the package includes discounts to several gym clubs,” Shavdia says.
“I think that management plays an important role, but not critical,” says Tamila Chantladze, BP.
Rusudan Kbilashvili, PR Manager of Wissol Petroleum Georgia, says that sportsmen are the main drivers, but management also has an important role. “During healthy lifestyle promotional campaigns, like lately at World Environment Day, Vasil Khorava, Wissol General Director, was among the bicycle race participants inspiring other people to join.”
“People need to understand that a healthy lifestyle gives them more strength and energy for work and life,” Julia Enukishvili, HR Manager of BasisBank, declares. “Health is a private matter and has less in common with the workplace, she said. However the Bank is actively organizing sport events.
“Employees of BasisBank are regularly, twice per week, competing in football. Besides this, the Bank is organizing and financing all of the expenses in competitions of billiards and bowling,” Enukishvili says.
“Friends who are involved in sport can stimulate others to start going to the same gym,” says Ella Karapetian, Director of BusinessTravelCom, tour operator company. Karapetiani notes, “All people are individuals, and have their own opinions and views, accordingly, the management of a company cannot stimulate them to change their lifestyles.”
Georgian pharmaceutical companies publish magazines focused on healthy lifestyles. But this theme has not so far attracted a general audience.
“I do not buy such magazines. I think that today you can get such information from the internet easily,” says Chantladze, BP.
“It is not enough to promote a healthy lifestyle by special magazines. This needs to be enforced by mass events. I read special magazines about healthy lifestyles periodically,” says Gviniashvili, Magticom.
Greater incentives at work can encourage you to improve your health and fitness, our respondents claim, but still they feel that their health is a private matter that does not belong in the workplace.
“My company gives me access to recreation facilities which is very important, but I still think that self-commitment is crucial,” says Chantladze, BP.
“I think that the matter of health is a private issue and that great incentives to be “healthy” are going overboard a little. However it is accepted that each person should try to improve their health and fitness,” declares Jaoshvili, Nikora.
“Every worker has their own regime and lifestyle, it is hard to influence them,” notes Karapetian, BusinessTravelCom.
Annually companies are awarding employees in different nominations. Like best worker, best manager and so on. Among the awards are nominees of Most Sporty Employee.
Written By Madona Gasanova
