Dionne Phipps-Clancy of walking and cycling charity Sustrans Scotland outlines how an active workforce can benefit your organisation

An active workforce can bring rewards for businesses of all sizes. As well as being a simple, low cost investment, it helps to foster a happy, healthy working culture and active employees take fewer days off due to sickness. However, the information and support needed to bring about change can often be confusing and hard to find.

This is why Sustranshas partnered with nine active and sustainable travel organisations in Scotland, to create Way To Work an online tool which supports employers to help staff to travel in more active and greener ways.

A better Way to Work

Way To Work is a one-stop-shop for funding, training, support, awards, challenges competitions and travel planning opportunities from across the country in one place.

The site guides employers and staff to information on walking, cycling, car sharing and public transport, and features the latest active and sustainable travel news.

Having all sustainable travel updates and offers in one place makes it easier for workplaces to make greener, long-term changes to their organisation, which will improve the health and wellbeing of their workforce.

Why should organisations be more active?

Fostering a healthier workplace culture benefits both employees and organisations as a whole.

Research has shown that having more active employees’ leads to reduced absences, increased productivity, lower turnover and higher morale.

Even small changes, such as encouraging people to swap short journeys made by car or public transport with walking or cycling can make a huge difference, helping to save organisations money, and resulting in happier employees.

Accreditations such as the Healthy Working Lives award or being a Cycle Friendly Employer show that a workplace cares about their workforce and strives to improve all aspects of working life.

And, as well as being great for existing employees, valuing staff’s health and wellbeing results in a healthier, content, engaged and highly motivated workforce which, in turn, makes organisations more attractive to potential new recruits.

Get active today

Using the Way To Work site is a simple way to help create positive, lasting changes to your workplace. From demonstrating corporate social responsibility to improving staff wellbeing, promoting active and sustainable travel in the workplace is a good return on investment for the employer and its workforce.

Dionne Phipps-Clancy is project officer for Way to Work at Sustrans Scotland