Spending an hour during the lunch break swimming in a pool is nothing unusual for residents of many Western countries, but many Swedish employers have recently begun to gradually introduce this practice as a requirement.
Among them are the public water distribution company Kalmar Vatten and the company of tennis player Björn Borg AB, whose eponymous fashion brand is very popular worldwide.
Every Friday, their employees leave their work environment and spend an hour at a sports center in a nearby district.
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Sports activities are impossible to avoid: for more than two years, a schedule of mandatory weekly sports activities has been hanging on the bulletin board, initiated by the director of Björn Borg AB, Henrik Bunge, a ‘fit’ forty-year-old who resembles a Bulgarian wrestler in physique.
“If you want to work in this company, but do not want to respect the company’s rules…., you will have to leave,” Bunge says without hesitation, adding that no one has left so far due to one hour of sports obligations during working hours.
He states that the goals they aim to achieve with sports activities are productivity, profitability, and employee socialization.
And that the goals have been met is shown by the results of a study conducted by Stockholm University in 2014. Sweating during physical activity within the workday has proven positive for both employees and employers.
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At Björn Borg’s company, says director Bunge, since the beginning of organized mandatory sports activities during working hours, all key figures have increased.
Employees have been more focused, concentrated on work, and in better shape. On the other hand, the employer has benefited from this as well. It has been shown that mandatory sports activities during the lunch break were key to reducing absenteeism from work, as well as sick leave.
There has been a recorded 22 percent decrease in absenteeism, which is significant considering that in Sweden, the percentage of sick leave is twice the European average.
With rosy cheeks and smiles on their faces, about sixty employees who participated in a yoga class say that the “sports break is a great thing.”
Nature and Outdoor Physical Activities
Swedes have inherited a Lutheran culture that values asceticism and physical activity, reminds Carl Cederström, a scientist at Stockholm University and author of the book “The Well-Being Syndrome.”
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“We believe that good shape, strength, and happiness are achieved through constant movement outdoors and in nature,” says Cederström, emphasizing that he does not advocate for sports activities at all costs, as it does not mean that you are necessarily a better person because of sports.
Every community member should be in good shape; this is an imperative that dates back to the 1930s when the cult of youth, energy, and “social hygiene” was promoted. At the same time, good shape is a kind of imperative regarding the relationship with the employer, says the scientist.
Swedes take pride in the fact that they are the most athletic nation on the Old Continent. According to Eurobarometer data from 2014, 70 percent engaged in some sports activity on a weekly basis, and 51 percent two to three times a week. The physically least active Europeans are Bulgarians. Only 22 percent of the population exercises once a week.
Subsidies for Sports Activities
Since the late 1980s, most Swedish companies have subsidized their employees’ sports activities, from golf to water gymnastics, with an average of 500 euros annually, and these are exempt from tax payments.
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At Björn Borg’s company, says director Bunge, since the beginning of organized mandatory sports activities during working hours, all key figures have increased.
The mandatory sports hour, usually in a group, brings employees from various departments closer together and reduces hierarchical differences at work.
“When we enter the hall, we are all on the same level. The job you do in the company does not matter; we are all equal,” says Ida Lang, an accountant at Borg’s company, adding that mandatory sports activities during working hours are a “great thing.”
