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| Southern Cross Care Staff Walk to Paris! |
21.12.09
In a major workplace initiative, almost half of Southern Cross Care's 1,350 staff have joined together to "walk from Adelaide to Paris".
The challenge was initiated by CEO Michael Bendyk in keeping with the organisation's commitment to be a leading contender as an Employer of Choice in the Healthcare sector.
"We recognise that encouraging a work/life balance through different initiatives of this kind will go a long way towards ensuring a happier workforce whilst also improving individual fitness and encouraging team spirit", says Mr Bendyk. He emphasised that the 'walk' was all about the staff having fun.
Teams of 10 staff, all supplied with pedometers, will record the distances they walk each day as they go about their daily activities, until the winning team has collectively walked a total of 20,000 kms (the as-the-crow-flies distance to Paris).
The ersatz route for the Walk is Adelaide – Darwin – Hong Kong – Singapore – Colombo – Dubai – Cairo – Rome and finally Paris.
It is estimated that it will take the fastest team around 4 months to reach Paris and the first team to reach each major city along the route will be rewarded, although each team can only win once.
There will be additional incentives for all sorts of other achievements and milestones, to ensure that everyone is included, not just the fastest contenders.
The challenge kicked off on the 2nd November and teams have already become highly competitive only 3 weeks into it, with some surging ahead of the pack! Some teams composed mainly of carers and nurses, who spend a lot of their working day on their feet, have already almost made it to Darwin (figuratively speaking), while others are barely out of the Adelaide metropolitan area!
In the lead up to the start, there was some very entertaining banter and camaraderie as teams vied to come up with the most imaginative name.
Rules have been designed for every contingency, with one rule stating that participants in the challenge cannot attach pedometers to their dogs or children while they relax on the lounge!
"The Walk to Paris initiative has been embraced by our staff, with the objectives of wellness, teamwork and enjoyment all being encouraged. What is already evident is just how much ground our people cover every day supporting our residents. This is the very nature of our work and this Walk is one of the ways we recognise it", says Mr Bendyk.
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