Ninth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

Despite a wealth of evidence illustrate the benefits to the firm of a physically fit and healthy workforce, scholars have acknowledged the negative potential of managerially imposed physical fitness regimes (Calderwood et al., 2016). The paper draws on qualitative data from interviews with physically active employees, i.e., those who regularly attend a gym, and/or engage in sporting activity, i.e., those who are a member of a sporting group/team towards workplace fitness regimes. This paper argues that employee voice (Strauss 2006) and employee involvement and participation (Marchington and Suter 2013) is necessary to avoid employee resistance to workplace fitness regimes that offer mutual benefit to the firm and the employee.