“Everybody can do it” - Enhancing preschool employees’ wellbeing by promoting exercise engagement during working hours

Sammanfattning: The workplace is an ideal place to enhance employees’ wellbeing, and health promotion is being integrated into organisations by employers as a way to enhance performance quality. Employees are motivated in different ways to live healthy and active lifestyles. However, organisations vary in the ability to enable certain types of health programs, such as allowing employee to exercise during working hours. Preschools are non-profit organisations that provide care and education to the youngest members of our society, and preschool employees are at a high risk of occupational stress exposure. This research presents preschool increasing employees’ exercise engagement during working hours as a stress-coping strategy. Two Icelandic preschools that have integrated exercise into their routines are studied in a multiple case-study format. Furthermore, the prevalence of integrated employee exercise in Icelandic preschools was explored by an online survey sent to all Icelandic preschool managers and had a participation rate of 52%. This survey also explored preschool managers’ perception of the impediments preventing the implementation of exercise during work hours. The results of the research revealed that only a very small portion of Icelandic preschools enable employees to engage in exercise during working hours. The reason for such a low number is the resource scarcity the preschools face which relates to limited funding: lack of manpower, time management and employee absenteeism. The preschools that have managed to integrate employees’ exercise to their routine utilize the time that most of the children are sleeping or resting during midday to fit in the exercise. This research found that in order for organisations such as preschools, which have little resource capacity, to manage and promote exercise engagement during working hours, there needs to be effective and supportive leadership, motivating work culture that promotes healthy lifestyles, and collaboration and solidarity among employees within the preschool. The reported benefits of exercise in the two case study preschools included more efficiency in work performance in the second half of the day. Furthermore, the internal morale benefits with more enjoyment within the workforce.