Elite sports performance specialist launches programme to boost business bottom line

An organisation which helps professional sports stars achieve peak performance has launched a programme to help businesses improve the physical and mental health of their workforces.

The 12-month programme, Curve, is aimed at improving business performance and increasing colleague engagement.

It will enable companies to ensure their teams are at the top of their physical, mental and emotional game through a range of programmes and interventions supporting lifestyle, movement and mindset.

An initial profiling process, carried out with every member of an organisation’s workforce via a unique health screening app, provides a health audit,  anonymised data, insight and analytics at an individual, departmental, regional and organisational level.

The results inform a programme of physical and digital interventions, services and resources.

The profiling process is repeated at the end of the year to demonstrate improvements.

The digital platform has been devised by human performance specialist Game Changer Performance which has, for the past three years, been working alongside the Football Association and the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) at England’s national football centre in Staffordshire, St George’s Park.

As well as providing rehabilitation support for players from many of England’s top teams for the PFA, it has a partnership with the Football Association to provide applied experience days to students from academic institutions from across the country. GCP has also worked with athletes and teams from a range of sports, preparing them for elite competitions around the world.

Curve was launched following positive feedback from a number of forward-thinking organisations with which Game Changer Performance has been working in recent months.

With an increasing focus on the link between staff wellbeing and business success, GCP director Jake Keeling decided a bespoke programme for corporates was the most effective way to share his company’s expertise with a wider audience.

“We wanted corporates to benefit from the same programmes which help our elite sport clients, something which would ensure their staff are better supported both with their physical and mental health to be able to perform at their absolute best. This will help companies attract and retain the best talent and cut absenteeism. It will reduce musculo-skeletal and stress related illness and support productivity, enthusiasm and energy levels,” he said.

“With an ever-growing spotlight on mental and physical health within companies and the onus resting increasingly with the employer to offer programmes of support to their people, some encouraging statistics are emerging.  As an example of good practice right at the top of the corporate world, FTSE 100 companies which prioritise employee engagement and wellbeing outperform the rest of the FTSE 100 by ten per cent.

“Many companies have private healthcare programmes for their staff, which is obviously to be applauded. But our service goes way traditional corporate wellness. At GCP we believe the key to success is preventing health-related issues before they start rather than reacting to them once the damage is done. When people create healthy habits, their performance improves, at work and everywhere else. It’s really that simple.

“Curve will create a tailored programme for every participant. It will look at their lifestyle, movement and mindset and highlight areas where support would be useful. It will suggest possible ways to encourage behaviour change, offer simple insights in areas such as nutrition, recovery, mindfulness, injury prevention and fitness training that can all easily be implemented at home and work.

“Curve will be of huge benefit to the individuals taking part, but a happier, healthier and better supported team leads to better performance at work. This is especially important at present with many people feeling disconnected from their places of work, colleagues, social lives and fitness facilities. Giving companies a credible, affordable and high-quality solution for this is something everyone in our team at GCP is passionate about delivering.”

Curve has been designed by a multi-disciplinary team of human performance specialists from GCP including physical performance coaches, performance nutritionists, psychologists and physiotherapists.

Colleagues can choose to engage further with GCP’s multi-disciplinary specialists to support their journey and companies can select from a range of engagement days, challenges, workshops, health screening and coaching programmes to create an impactful and high-quality support programme.