Workplace Health, Employee Fitness and Exercise

Citation

Lee, M. (1998), "Workplace Health, Employee Fitness and Exercise", Personnel Review, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 156-158. https://doi.org/10.1108/pr.1998.27.2.156.1

This book is the first in a series on Issues in Occupational Health and the quality and scope of Workplace Health augers well for the success of the series. Workplace Health is an edited collection of papers that, together, provide a well referenced and thought provoking overview of research into the relationships between fitness and activity, and the benefits (or otherwise) of these for the individual and for the organisation. It brings a range of (multidisciplinary) perspectives to bear on the issues and exudes clarity of argument and presentation, yet, ultimately, it fails to clarify its purpose. It leaves the reader feeling interested, yet unsatisfied (perhaps the ideal start to a series?).

The preface is short and gives the aim of the book as an attempt to understand the various factors ‐ organisational, financial and individual ‐ which determine the effectiveness of workplace health promotion, and to generate sure knolwedge of the processes that underpin its design, delivery and evaluation. The target audience is given as those involved in the teaching, implementation and evaluation of employee health promotion programmes. What the preface does not do is explain the thinking behind the structure of the book ‐ assuming perhaps that the reader is reasonably fluent with the area. In other words, the lack of signposting implies that the book was derived from and written for co‐researchers and not directly for a practitioner audience.

Location of Workplace Health within the field, and complexities of the field, are addressed in the first and last chapters (by Griffiths and Kerr respectively), while the remaining eight chapters each approach the field from their own particular viewpoint. In the first chapter Griffiths points out the atheoretical nature of the field (to date) and raises methodological problems that have dogged research in the area. In particular, she questions the support for the (often assumed) link between physical and mental health, and distinguishes between physical activity and fitness. This pattern of questioning commonly‐held assumptions, awareness of potential methodological falibility, and a search for conceptual clarity characterises the remaining chapters. Unfortunately, what is missing, is guidance on how the chapters might fit together.

For example, there is a strong methodological debate within the book. Jex and Heinisch, in the third chapter, raise a wide range of methodological concerns about research in the area. They assume that psychological traits are stable and measurable, and they call for an improvement in the quality of measurement. The calls they make for increased rigour and “scientific” understanding of the area are repeated by several other contributors. This chapter, however, contrasts strongly with Chapter 7 by Flood and Long. Flood and Long adopt constructvist metatheory to explore the psychological processes that might underlie the link between exercise and the reduction of stress. They employ a qualitative approach to that which they argue are essentially qualitative phenomena ‐ individual preference, interpretation and construction of “reality”. These two chapters present two sides of a debate that is impacting on all social science ‐ yet, within the book, the challenge of this is lost ‐ they become just another two chapters.

This frustrating lack of overall structure is apparent in the placement of the other chapters. Some chapters explore the central questions ‐ the relationships between exercise and health, and between activity and fitness. After careful analysis, Thirlaway and Benton, Chapter 4, suggest that the greatest psychological and physiological benefits accrue to those who exercise moderately, and not necessarily to those who are fittest. Similarly, in a search for the factors that promote “wellness” Fahlberg and Fahlberg, Chapter 6, engage in an interesting exploration of different facets of empowerment within programmes of exercise, suggesting that while organisations see increased empowerment of their staff as a reason for introducing exercise programmes, such programmes can instead lead to psychological dependency. Within this collection of papers, Fahlberg and Fahlberg are unusual in extending their analysis to include suggestions (based on their research) about how practitioners and those designing exercise programmes might avoid or identify some of the problems discussed in the chapter.

Each of the remaining chapters is an interesting read in its own right, and together they form the bulk of the book. In the second chapter on financial aspects of employee fitness programmes, Shepard examines the opportunity costs for the individual and the organisation, as well as the purported benefits, and concludes that the data necessary for a full review of the situation are not yet available. Three other chapters by Harma (ch. 8), Svebak (ch. 9) and Kerr (ch. 10) are looking at shiftwork, alcohol abuse, and absenteeism respectively. Each takes an organisational “problem” and analyses the role that exercise can play in influencing this. Finally, in their examination of the psychological benefits of physical exercise for women, of all the contributors to this volume, Choi and Mutrie, chapter 5, are perhaps the least critical of commonly held assumptions about the link between exercise and welll‐being.

One can question why, as deduced from the structure of the book, “women” appear to have been reduced to a phenomenon similar to that of “shiftwork” or “finance”. As both Griffiths and Kerr take pains to emphasise, however, data on women in organisational fitness programmes are relatively hard to come by. The vast majority of such programmes are located in large, affluent, westernised bureaucracies, and cater predominantly for the male middle manager.

Workplace Health is limited in scope. It does not address different organisational forms ‐ indeed, it does not address organisational theory much. Several of the contributors point out that it is the wider organisational factors that have the strongest influence on an individual’s sense of well‐being, but that this is beyond the scope of their investigation. What the Workplace Health does do is acknowledge its own limitations. It succeeds in bringing together contributors who have something to say, and who can say this in a clear and interesting way. It succeeds in laying the ground for future work and in establishing this as an important area of study. It consistently presents one strong message: that it is important for researchers, practitioners, organisations and individuals to understand the parameters of employee fitness; that research into what these parameters might be is nascent and promising, and thus; that more research is needed.

It does not, however, meet its proclaimed aims ‐ instead of generating understanding of the various factors which determine the effectiveness of workplace health promotion, and sure knowledge of the processes that underpin its design, delivery and evaluation, we could, perhaps, say that it generates a consideration of some of these factors and points to where knowledge needs to be furthered. Instead of suggesting a target audience of those involved in the teaching, implementation and evaluation of employee health promotion programmes, we could, perhaps, look to a target audience of those researchers and practitioners involved in furthering this as a legitimate and rewarding area of study.

An additional market exists ‐ that is you and I. It makes very interesting reading for any individual concerned with their own well‐being and ill‐health within the organisational setting. It makes important reading for any manager concerned with the well‐being of others. It is not a “how‐to‐do” book; it does not promise panaceas; but it is well worth borrowing, if not buying.