Sports – another reason to love your job

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July 26, 2022

Written by: Joanna Leska, Channel & Partner Marketing Manager

Today we will not be talking about the importance of sports or physical activities for our health, as this is something that’s been taught to us over and over since we were in kindergarten. What we will talk about, instead, is the relationship between physical activities and work, specifically between sports and work at Solwit.

Solwit is a company that has made caring for its employees’ health an integral part of the corporate values that define its culture and employee attitudes. When transferred to the practice, this means that Solwit treats the responsibility regarding the health and well-being of its people as an element of the company’s core strategy – meaning that it’s just as important as factors like business indicators, competence development, or innovation in the services it provides. We believe it’s impossible to separate good health from daily sports, in the same way that the ability to overcome difficulties and break barriers is inseparable from planning, achieving goals, and reaching success. The latter applies to sports, business, and pretty much any area in life. Therefore, all the successes of our employees are extremely important to us – both the big ones that become visible in the media, as well as the smallest, personal ones that result from overcoming one’s own limits, but are just as important, nonetheless.

In Solwit we have people whose sport achievements are visible and widely-known:

Oksana Wojtkiewicz (Head of Sales&Marketing & Communication) is a leading Polish golf player and multiple Polish Champion in the Mid-Amateur age category.
Andrzej Kopytko (Software Developer) is a successful sailor, a two-time participant in the Jester Challenge.

And we also have quiet heroes among us – passionate people for whom sports are “just” a pure joy and a way to live an interesting life. Their achievements inspire us closely every day:

Mariola, Head of Administration – a runner who covers several kilometers a day and has participated in various marathons – including some carried out in the mountains,
Michal, Programmer and Team Leader – an active participant in many triathlons and bicycle races,
Maciek, programmer – rally driver and lover of oldsmobiles,
Kasia, engineer – fitness role model and great inspiration to others,
Dominik, Sales team member – an avid cyclist who tries to participate in most cycling events in the area, organizes expeditions on 2 wheels, encourages others to participate, and then goes the extra mile by making great video coverages of it all,
Leszek Pankiewicz, the company’s president – an avid golfer, winner of many golf tournaments (for now in the net stableford category),
And “last but not least” – a numerous group of invisible heroes, fighting against the morning #stayinbed, the evening #onemoreepisode, the weekend #chillout. It’s a big community of Solwiters, heroically overcoming these monsters of everyday life, transcending their own comfort zones, putting on their athletic attire and bravely heading out to jog, bike, do yoga, swim, play soccer, tennis, rollerblade, or “just” take a long walk.

As the latest summary of the Active Solwit program showed, in the first six months of 2022, with results obtained from data delivered by those willing to share, they stepped, rode, rollerbladed, and ran really breath-taking numbers:

The Active Solwit program is an example of those corporate activity programs that can boast the practical implementation of the commitment that comes from placing health at the forefront of a company’s values. The list of activities that promote a healthy lifestyle includes:

subsidizing sports groups and individual athletes,
participating in local sporting events (e.g. Kaszebe Runda, Skywayrun, Runmageddon, Poland Business Run, Rally “CYKLO”, etc.,).
organizing the annual golf tournament “Keep Playing Green”,
supporting the nationwide association of Accelerating Poland, promoting movement and physical activity among Poles.

We are all more than aware that a routinary implementation of physical activities promotes good health, physical and intellectual fitness, makes us more resilient to stress, and even increases our efficiency at work. Biochemists describe this relationship between being active physically and being more effective overall, in a scientific and theoretic way: “Since activity, especially sports, requires a person to exert effort, the nervous system undertakes the production of chemicals, such as endorphins and serotonin (the so-called happiness hormones), designed to alleviate biological stress. Among other things, their function is to alleviate feelings of pain and mental tension during and after exercise. Their effect on the body is perceived as an improvement in mood, a state of relaxation and even a sense of euphoria.” For us, physical activity, including sports in general, is a pleasure of life, a great passion to many, and a way to live consciously and healthily. And another reason to like our workplace.