Rainforest Seafoods recently became the latest corporate company to hook into health and wellness by earning the 2018 Jamaica Moves Corporate Challenge title.
Though unknown to some, Rainforest Seafoods has been actively pursuing various executions related to health and wellness for its staff and family members of staff over the last few years. This includes participating in road races, personal trainers to conduct workout sessions in office, building in-house football teams and competitions, and hosting health fairs featuring nutritionists, dentists and counsellors.
Internal Challenges
Marketing manager at Rainforest Seafoods, Bethany Young, in commenting on the company’s health and wellness mandate, said, “We did some internal challenges to keep us fit in-between races, one of which was a skipping challenge. The team members had one week to post a video of them skipping – whoever skipped the longest won. Turns out our chief executive officer, Brian Jardim, has a secret talent – he can skip extremely well and he easily took home the prize for that challenge. ”
She stated that being a part of the Jamaica Moves Corporate Challenge has brought out the best in their team.
“It has reignited our competitive spirits, sharpened our athletic skills and forced us to work as a unified team, and so it was a no-brainer to return for Circuit II,” stated Young.
Circuit II of the challenge saw 19 private and public-sector organisations entering five 5K races over a three-month period: The Ministry of Health, Derrimon Trading, Sagicor, Jamaica Vacations Limited, Restaurants of Jamaica, Wisynco, Victoria Mutual Building Society, Advanced Integrated Systems, Jamaica Broilers, National Baking Company, Rainforest Seafoods, Stewart’s Automotive Group, Jamaica Police Co-op Credit Union, National Health Fund, Jamaica Private Power Company, FLOW Jamaica, Myers Fletcher Gordon, Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority, and CB Group.
… Earning this title an awesome feeling, says team captain
Having ended the 2018 Jamaica Moves Corporate Challenge as the Top Female Individual, team captain Alison Sutherland of Rainforest Seafoods shared, “Earning this title has been an awesome feeling, especially due to me having a great team to lead, which also helped me to push myself beyond my own limits.”
She continued, “The team had high expectations of me so it was important for me to lead from the front and make them proud. I really wanted us to be the top team overall and to have fun while doing it, and we did it!”
Since the start of Circuit II, the challengers saw an increase in the number of participants from their company, office camaraderie, a push for corporate and staff wellness, and an overall sense of becoming a healthier company.
Improved Productivity
Adding to this sentiment, Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton shared, “Studies have shown that individuals who lead healthier lifestyles are more productive in the workplace. There’s also improved productivity, less absenteeism, fewer insurance and compensation claims, reduction in staff turnover and improved staff morale. This being the second Corporate Challenge has indeed facilitated this. The very first race saw more than 700 employees participating and by the fifth race, we had over 1,500.”
Organisation performances were calculated based on the amount of points their members accumulated. Rounding off the top five companies in the challenge circuit II are: National Baking Company, Wisynco, Advanced Integrated Systems and FLOW Jamaica.
The Jamaica Moves Campaign is the country’s coordinated national response to the increased incidences of NCDs such as diabetes, hypertension and certain cancers. Through education, engagement and the building of supportive environments, the programme hopes to reduce NCDs by 25 per cent by the year 2025.