lingua house

TM

Innovation in Learning

A A BUSINESS ISSUES

Corporate well-being
Lesson code: MLTG-G87B-BGFE-U INTERMEDIATE

1 Warm-up
How important do you think it is for a company to have a healthy workforce?

2 Vocabulary
Match the following words to their correct definition:

1. absenteeism a. a long walk for pleasure or exercise, usually in the countryside or mountains
2. well-being b. an organisation which provides money or help to people in need (e.g. ill or poor
people)
3. charity c. the state of feeling healthy and happy
4. temptation d. the substances that influence your health, which you take into your body as food
5. hike e. the way in which a person stands, sits or walks
6. eyestrain f. tired or painful eyes as a result of too much reading, looking at a computer
screen, etc.
7. nutrition g. wanting to have something that you know you should not have
8. posture h. when employees are not at work when they should be

3 Reading
Read the article `Corporate well-being' about the different health initiatives that the UK company i-to-i
has experimented with. Answer the following questions:

1. Why is a healthy workforce good for business?

2. What happens on `Fruity Friday'? Is this initiative a complete success? Why/why not?
3. What did i-to-i give its staff as a reward? Why did they stop it?
4. Why did the firm cancel the Tai Chi classes?
5. What was the `Caledonian Challenge'?
6. Why was the 14-mile hike more popular than the Caledonian Challenge?
7. Which key areas does the firm want to focus its health initiatives on?
LE

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Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
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 lingua house
TM
Corporate well-being
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS ISSUES

Corporate well-being
A firm that offers travel opportunities wants to expand the health horizons of its
employees.

1 A healthy workforce is good for business. Apart from reducing absenteeism, there is increasing evidence
that suggests a connection between good performance and employees who are in good condition. The
Harvard Medical School recently found that the most healthy 25% of a workforce are seven hours more
productive per week than the least healthy 25%.
2 I-to-i is one of a growing number of companies that is trying to improve the well-being of its staff. But,
also like many firms, not everything is working.
3 "You could say we're a company full of good intentions, but things often prevent us from doing exercise or
eating what we should," says Sarah Horner, public relations manager of the organisation, which provides
opportunities for volunteer travel and training for TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). "We
would like advice on what we can do to encourage all our 50 employees in our UK office to become really
healthy."
4 The company has already experimented with a few strategies. "About six months ago, we introduced an
initiative called `Fruity Friday', which means all employees get free fruit on that day," explains Ms Horner.
"It's become really popular: when the fruit arrives, people are informed online and, almost immediately,
they're off to the kitchen to get some. The problem is that in the rest of the week, we consume enormous
amounts of sweets and biscuits."
5 At least staff at i-to-i are eating less bad food than they used to. "At one stage we had a box full of
chocolate, which seemed like a really nice way to reward staff. But it was almost too successful, and
people were picking from it all the time. In the end, some staff members actually asked for it to be
removed because they couldn't resist temptation," she adds.
6 The firm has also tried introducing weekly Tai Chi classes to relieve stress and improve well-being. "But
they were arranged before work and unfortunately they had to be cancelled because not enough people
could attend. Some travel long distances so they couldn't get here early enough. I wanted to attend, but
couldn't because of the time of the classes."
7 Rather more successful was the Caledonian Challenge, which a fifth of the staff recently undertook. "You
walk 54 miles (86.4 kilometres) in Scotland, through the night," explains Ms Horner. "We also arranged a
14-mile (22.4 km) hike recently, which we did for the charity we support, and even more people did that -
probably because it was far less challenging. Nevertheless, it was still under half the workforce."

8 Above all, i-to-i would like to know what measures it can introduce on a daily basis, as well as on
occasions, to get staff feeling their best. It would prefer to concentrate them in three key areas - eating,
exercise and stress release - and it would like the initiatives to be long-term where possible.

Adapted from The Independent, 04 September 2005

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You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex 2/4

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Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
PI

O
c
Linguahouse.com OC
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 lingua house
TM
Corporate well-being
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS ISSUES

4 Listening
Listen to two experts commenting on i-to-i's corporate health initiatives. Tick the ideas they suggest.

daily fruit breaks 2 a tomato growing competition 2

leaflets on healthy living 2 a water cooler 2
a lunchtime walking club 2 yoga classes 2
large `exercise balls' for employees to sit on 2 monthly health seminars 2

5 Phrases
Match the verbs on the left with the nouns on the right to form phrases from the article and recording.
Choose four phrases and invent a sentence for each one.

1. reduce a challenge
2. improve a charity
3. introduce absenteeism
4. resist an initiative
5. relieve stress
6. undertake temptation
7. support well-being

6 Grammar - Past and present tense review

Name each underlined tense from the article and match it to one of the functions below.

I-to-i is trying to improve the well-being of its staff. a temporary, current activity
I-to-i provides opportunities for volunteer travel and training. a habitual or long term activity in the present
The company has already experimented with a few strategies. abefore
completed action that occured at an unspecified time
now

About six months ago, we introduced an initiative called `Fruity Friday'. a completed action or state in the past
an action that started in the past and is
It's become really popular. complete in the present

• a habitual or long-term activity in the present. we're a company full of good intentions

• a temporary, current activity there is increasing evidence that suggests a connection between good performance and
employees who are in good condition
The firm has also tried introducing weekly Tai Chi
• a completed action that occurred at an unspecified time before now classes to relieve stress and improve well-being.

• an action that started in the past and is complete in the present

• a completed action or state in the past some staff members actually asked for it to be
removed because they couldn't resist temptation,"
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You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex 3/4

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Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
PI

O
c
Linguahouse.com OC
P H OT
 lingua house
TM
Corporate well-being
Innovation in Learning

A A A A BUSINESS ISSUES

Find one more example of each tense in the article and match it to one of the functions.

7 Grammar Practice
Complete the sentences with the verb in brackets:

1. Their company offers (offer) a variety of services for its customers.

go up
2. Sales (go up) every year, but this year they have increased (increase) even more than
usual.
3. About a year ago, I started (start) my own business. Till now, I 've signed (sign) ten
contracts.
4. Right now, Mr Chang is waiting (wait) for some important news. He hopes (hope) to
become the new operations director of the company's Shanghai office.
5. John decided (decide) to take an extended holiday this year because he has worked (work)
so hard on the latest project.
6. Peter usually commutes (commute) by car. However, this week he took (take) the
train because his car has broken down (break down).
7. Last month, we set up (set up) a new call centre, but so far there hasn't been (not/be)
any results.
8. Have you booked (you/book) a hotel room for tonight? I asked (ask) you to do it yesterday
morning.
9. Anna is visiting (visit) some friends in Italy at the moment. She goes (go) there every
year.
Have you ever eaten
10. (you/ever/eat) sushi? It is (be) one of my favourite types of food.

8 Talking point
What do you think of the initiatives and advice mentioned in this lesson? Would they be effective or
popular in your company?
Has your company introduced any successful/unsuccessful health initiatives? What changes have they
made/did they make to the well-being and productivity of the workforce?
What measures would you introduce to improve well-being in your company?
LE

You can review this worksheet online at www.linguahouse.com/ex 4/4

AB

Review your flashcards at least 3-5 times a week for 20 minutes to keep the material fresh in your memory.
PI

O
c
Linguahouse.com OC
P H OT