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Wellness as Your Product and Wellness for Your People
Presented at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong
March 17, 2016
by
Karen L. Jurjevich
Thank you….
Good afternoon, everyone. I am so glad to be back in Hong Kong. We have many
graduates of Branksome Hall living here, and it is always a delight for me to see how
they’re doing.
But I’m here today to talk with you about how you and your company may be doing. Not
financially, though that comes into it. But in terms of wellness.
Even today, when so many of us have joined the fitness craze, there is not enough
understanding of how organizations can play a major role in helping their people to live
longer and better lives.
And many organizations don’t realize how this directly affects their bottom line.
As educators, people like me often do know about this. As you know I am principal of an
independent girls school in Toronto, Branksome Hall, which educates 900 girls every
year and has a staff of 200.
That is an organization, believe me! And I think we have learned some lessons in our
school.
So I’m going to tell you how to give yourself a LIFT. I think LIFT is a wonderful word.
You LIFT up your kids. You LIFT your spirits. We LIFT each other up.
But today, LIFT is going to stand for my approach to health and wellness. The letters
stand for… Leadership… Involvement…Facilities… and Time. That’s how you and your
company can get a LIFT. I’m going to come back to this a little later.
But first, I’d like to learn about you. We educators love to have people raise their hands.
So please, put up your hand if you were raised in Hong Kong. Notice I don’t say born –
growing up here is enough. Hands?
Thank you. Now, since we’re at the Canadian Chamber, could we see who was raised
in Canada?
And who was raised somewhere else?
That’s what I love about Hong Kong. People come from all over to succeed here.

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Now if your arm isn’t tired, I want to learn just a little more. First, I’d like to know if you
consider yourself part of the senior leadership of your organization. To me, that means
you are the top leader or you report directly to the top leader. Hands up if you are part of
the senior leadership.
Hmm. Some powerful people here.
And finally, a very important question. I’d like to know if you have access to some form
of fitness facilities at your place of work. Not outside, but in your workplace -- a gym, a
fitness room, or maybe just some yoga mats. Hands up….
That’s great. Those who have them – use them!
Now a bit about me. I grew up in the northern Ontario city of Sault Ste. Marie. It was my
school’s basketball coach who got me into sports, and once I started I never stopped. I
was involved in basketball, volleyball, track, swimming, skiing – you name it.
Then I went to Western University, where I added rowing to my sports. And what was
my field of study? Physical education and health studies, of course! I began to realize
that fitness was in my DNA. I started my career as a PE teacher and I loved it.
I moved on into administrative roles in my later career, but I have never lost my love of
athletics, fitness and wellness. Let me tell you why.
To put it concisely, they help you become healthy, happy, determined, successful and
connected to friends. You develop leadership skills and you receive recognition.
Above all, you feel better. Much better.
For me, sports and athletics gave me a sense of identity and success. They helped
forge my drive and discipline, and taught me about teamwork.
But when I talk about fitness, I’m not talking just about athletics. Only some people do
really well at sports. But everyone can do well at fitness. It doesn’t even have to be in a
gym. You might do dance, or yoga. Or regularly go for a walk or a run or a bike ride.
You will still gain that sense of drive and discipline to succeed, because you will need to
set goals. And of course, you may save your own life.
The World Health Organization puts it succinctly: insufficient physical activity is one of
the 10 leading risk factors for death worldwide, and a key risk factor for major diseases
such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Globally, says the W.H.O., one in four adults and fully 80 per cent of adolescents are
not active enough.
These figures are worse in Canada, where only 15 per cent of adults and – get this –
five per cent of adolescents meet recommended guidelines for physical activity. For
young people, indicators such as daily walking time and sports participation have

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markedly decreased in the last 20 years, according to Participaction. That is a huge
concern for educators like me.
In Hong Kong, the figures are not much better. The government here says only 38 per
cent of adults get enough physical activity by the W.H.O. definition. And 39 per cent are
overweight or obese – a rising trend here.
Then there are the problems of a sedentary lifestyle, long working hours and stress,
stress, stress.
This takes us beyond simple physical fitness. We all evolve in life, and as time went on,
in my career and personally, I began to understand the idea of wellness.
What do we mean by wellness? There are many definitions out there, and some experts
prefer the term well-being.
But to me, wellness brings together your physical, mental and spiritual state. It includes
work-life balance, the amount of stress in your life and the quality of your relationships,
as well as the state of your body and the acuity of your mind.
Often it rests on such simple but important elements as proper sleep and good nutrition.
Wellness can also incorporate more holistic approaches such as mindfulness – a form
of meditation that science is starting to show has real physical benefits.
When I arrived at Branksome Hall as Principal in 1998(?), the explosion of research
about wellness was still to come. But we already knew the importance of mind, body
and spirit in teaching and forming the whole person. Branksome, which was founded in
1903, had always had a strong sports and physical education component as well as
stellar intellectual education. Our alumnae serve in leadership positions in Canada and
all over the world.
As the school progressed into this new century, we focused on three major strategic
priorities. One was Outstanding Academics, and in 2003 we adopted the International
Baccalaureate – a global standard for high school education that is portable all over the
world.
A second priority was Global Engagement Opportunities. In 2012, our biggest global
engagement initiative came not so very far from here -- on Jeju Island in South Korea,
when we opened Branksome Hall Asia.
At the invitation of the South Korean government, we are part of a Global Education City
in what the Koreans call a “free economic zone” for international investment on the
island.
Branksome Hall Asia is educating 700 girls from South Korea, China, Australia and
other parts of the world, including Canada. It is also an International Baccalaureate
school, and the facilities are second to none, including – it won’t surprise you to hear – a

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triple gym, high-performance fitness facilities and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. By
2020, we hope to have 1,200 girls attending.
Meanwhile, back home, we were working on a third strategic priority -- the expansion of
our facilities to include a beautiful new Athletics and Wellness Centre. It was very
important to me to have the word “Wellness” in its title, because along with the
swimming pools and gym and sport facilities, it would also have provision for fitness
activities, yoga, dance and a dining room with healthy nutrition.
Now all of this was very exciting, but when you’re building up to a change as big as this,
people need time to get used to it. And a little over a year before the Athletics and
Wellness Centre opened, something happened for me that turned out to be the perfect
preparation for its debut. And I believe it has some lessons for any organization. Think
again about LIFT – Leadership, Involvement, Facilities and Time.
It’s time for another show of hands. I’ll bet nearly everyone says yes to this one. Please
put up your hand if you’ve ever visited New York City.
OK. Now – please put up your hand if you have ever ridden a bicycle in New York City.
Not so many.
Well I have. Every Labour Day weekend – which is right before the school year begins
in North America -- my partner Rick and I like to hang out in New York, and on this trip
we decided to rent bikes and ride all around Manhattan. For two days we rode
everywhere, through the streets and into Central Park, Hudson River Park and Battery
Park, and over the Brooklyn Bridge. You may think we were crazy – imagine navigating
the traffic on Gloucester Road or Central on a bike. But New York has well-organized
bicycle lanes and we had a ball.
And at one point I turned to Rick and said, “Aren’t we lucky we can do this?”
I didn’t mean, aren’t we lucky we can get away from our jobs. I meant, isn’t it wonderful
that at our time of life, we can just pick up a couple of bikes, put on a helmet, go all
around Manhattan, and not think twice about whether we can physically handle it.
The reason, of course, is that we have been physically active all our lives. A bike ride is
not going to give either of us a heart attack. Not everyone my age can say the same.
And I thought, we at Branksome need a new way to attract our girls into lifelong fitness.
To get the attitude. To make it part of their routine and just be active.
Because here’s the thing: not every young person is going to excel at sports and make
the team. But every person, young or old, can stay fit and pursue wellness – if they want
to.
So I returned and told my senior staff, we’re going to start something called “Fit Friday”.
Every Friday, I said, all the students and staff can come to the school in their workout
clothes or yoga pants and they’ll be given time to do whatever they want to improve

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their fitness and wellness. And we’re going to start this RIGHT AWAY. I’m going to
announce it in Assembly on Monday.
Well, you should have seen the reaction. We can’t do it right away, they said. We have
to consult the teaching staff and heads of departments.
So we asked the teachers and heads of departments.
Good God, some of them said – no uniforms on Fridays? Can’t the girls wear workout
clothes in the school colours? What about their classes?
So we sorted through all of that. Staff tweaked the Friday schedule so there was an
extended lunch period, and we stayed with regular workout clothes. Finally, around
Canadian Thanksgiving in early October, we launched Fit Friday.
At first, people weren’t sure about it, and it was quite regimented. The bell would go and
people would run somewhere to do exercises. I knew we needed to lighten it up.
And you know when it changed? One student came to me and said, “I do kick-boxing,
and I’m really good at it. Do you think I could lead a kick-boxing class on Fit Friday for
anybody who wants to learn?”
I said, “You’ve just made my day.” Because she owned it. She was committed. So we
did kick-boxing in the gym and it was soon filled with kids and even some teachers. And
that was the beginning. Other kids said, I know a lot about meditation, so we opened a
room for meditation. Then we needed two rooms. And then they wanted more yoga,
three rooms. It was suddenly a big success. People wanted to get involved in fitness
and wellness.
I also told my staff that if we met on Fridays, we would have a walking meeting. No
more sitting down to talk unless absolutely necessary. By the way, these same staff
now appear every Friday in their workout clothes or yoga pants, and they confess they
are really happy they can.
And in January 2015, we opened the Athletics and Wellness Centre. Let me paint you a
picture.
It is a beautiful building. It has glass walls and big windows, filled with light. Through the
glass you can see sport, fitness activities and recreation in action. Our students - of all
ages - just love being in the building. At any time of the day, you see girls sitting
together on the comfy furniture that overlooks the pool, doing their homework or just
having fun together. You’ll also find them in the dining hall, eating healthy meals or
working individually or in groups.
I like to think of the Athletics and Wellness Centre as an invitation to wellness; as a
world of possibilities. Fitness, healthy food choices, a sound mind and body – these are
the best tools for a healthy life. This is what we aspire to for our girls.
It’s also what we aspire to for our staff. I mentioned the walking meetings.

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I need another show of hands. How many of you, in your workday, routinely spend more
than three hours at a time sitting at your desk or a meeting table?
Uh oh.
You have probably heard the expression, “sitting is the new smoking.” The person
credited with coining that phrase is Dr. James Levine, director of the Mayo Clinic–
Arizona State University Obesity Solutions Initiative and inventor of the treadmill desk.
He famously said:
“Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more
treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death.”
It’s really kind of frightening when you put it that way. Here’s a short list of the increased
health risks researchers link to prolonged sitting: heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer
– including breast and colon cancer -- muscle issues, hypertension and even
depression.
And the worst of it is, you can’t make up for lost ground by exercising later. The
problems develop while you’re sitting. Your body goes into a dormant mode in which it
has greater difficulty breaking down fats and sugars, and the damage is done.
But here’s the good news. People respond to leadership. An Australian study of
sedentary office workers gave two groups so-called standing desks. We see these
desks popping up in companies all across Canada now – the desk height is adjustable
and you can raise it so you work while standing. If you follow Dr. Levine, you might even
use a treadmill desk, and walk while you work.
In the Australian study, at the University of Queensland, one group got just the standing
desks, while the other group also got coaching, goal-setting and brain-storming
sessions.
You won’t be surprised that the group with coaching reduced their sitting by three times
the amount that the desk-only group did. This is a very important result. As the lead
researcher noted: “Sitting habits are ingrained in office routines, and we found that
workers acting alone may feel awkward when standing during meetings or at their
desk.”
In other words, you have to do more than just provide the equipment. If you model
behaviour, people will respond. That’s one of the things we learned from Fit Friday. L is
for Leadership.
Another thing we learned is that you have to have widespread buy-in. First you have to
consult your key people, as my staff made clear to me. And then you have to find ways
to get people to involve themselves. If they suggest kick-boxing, jump at it. I is for
Involvement.

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At Branksome, along with Fit Fridays and our walking meetings, we’ve done something
else to involve our staff in fitness and wellness.
We have initiated the Branksome Health and Well-Being Project in partnership with
renowned University of Toronto physiologist and author Dr. Greg Wells. He is delivering
a program through online presentations and podcasts on topics such as sleep, nutrition,
exercise and stress management. Our staff are invited to keep a record of their activity
and progress in these areas.
What I love about Greg’s approach is he says, “I’m only looking for a one per cent
change.” That doesn’t sound hard, does it?
Then you improve again. Greg calls it the “aggregate of one per cent gains – a series of
small choices and changes in your life that over the long term generate incredible
results.”
This is so right. Wellness builds upon itself.
As they work on Greg’s principles, staff have full access to the Athletics and Wellness
Centre. F is for Facilities.
And with Fit Friday and the Well-Being Project they get the other thing they need. T is
for Time.
Yes, they get a LIFT.
The National Wellness Institute in the US has devised three questions that they say can
help persons and organizations assess the degree to which wellness is incorporated
into a particular approach or program. Here are the questions:
 Does it help people achieve their full potential?
 Does it recognize and address the whole person – taking a multi-dimensional
approach?
 Does it affirm and mobilize peoples' positive qualities and strengths?
Now, I’d like to take a moment to tour what’s going on in some prominent workplaces
around the world. Ask yourself, does this sound like wellness?
Let’s look at Wall Street in New York City, where I like to bicycle. According to Reuters,
Goldman Sachs investment bank became concerned last June that their summer
interns were staying in the office overnight. These highly ambitious young people were
putting in 100-hour work weeks and pulling all-nighters. At the same time, there was
concern in the industry about a spate of suicides by young bankers, many of which
appeared to be stress related.
Bank of America had similar worries.
So what was the action these mega banks took?

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Goldman told its interns to stay out of the office between midnight and 7 a.m. Yes, a
whole seven hours away from work!
Bank of America recommended that junior employees take at least four weekend days
off a month. Four days a month. Talk about lost weekends!
Japan, we know, is famous for the long hours that employees there put in. People see
staying late at work as a norm that is expected of them -- by their bosses and by
society. But it is often an extremely stressful environment, and the government worries
about the high rate of “karoshi” – death from overwork.
Last year the Diet passed legislation requiring employers to make sure their staff took
more time off. It was a bit vague, but at least it was a start.
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, about 22
per cent of Japanese employees work 50 hours or more each week on average.
Sounds like a lot.
But in Hong Kong, according to the Labour Department here, the average work week for
all full-time employees is already 49 hours, one of the highest in the world. Canada’s
average is 33 hours.
“All workaholics should move to Hong Kong,” says the Swiss bank UBS. It put Hong
Kong at the top of its list of the world’s hardest working cities, 71 in all, based on
working hours. As you would know, the Hong Kong government is now calling on
employers to explicitly specify hours of work for their employees, but there is no legal
standard.
So working nine or 10 hours a day here is not unusual. Many Hong Kong people still
work a half day on Saturday, though fewer expats do, in my observation. I’m interested
– hands up if you go to the office on Saturday as an official part of your work week.
What we’re talking about here is work-life balance. And there are ways of addressing
this, personally and professionally.
In Canada, it’s now very common for leading companies to have a range of policies and
programs on offer. In our connected society, many corporate people – from executives
to call centre employees – are able to work from home at least part of the week. This is
increasingly common.
Some, too, have flexible hours, arriving and leaving at varying times. Others work a
nine-day fortnight, staying a little longer on each of nine days to get a three-day
weekend every second week. Many companies also go out of their way to
accommodate staff who need time to pick up their kids or take care of their parents.
But work-life balance goes further than this in our personal lives.
Dr. Marla Shapiro is a well-known doctor and author and a health and medical expert for
CTV. When she spoke to us at Branksome Hall two years ago, she opened with one
word: “Stress.”

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“If you feel it, you own it,” she said. “If you are over taxed, overburdened and/or under
pressure, you are stressed,” she said.
And by the way, according a survey by the Canadian Mental Health Association, 58 per
cent of Canadians feel exactly this way – “overload” is their word.
One solution that “Dr. Marla” offered is straightforward, and she illustrated it by asking a
member of the audience to juggle three pieces of fruit, each representing three highly
held values: work, family, self.
Once the juggling began, it didn’t take long before two pieces of fruit fell to the ground.
“Good,” said Dr. Marla, “You just put down – temporarily -- two of your highly held
values, so you could concentrate on only one.
“You know you will return to the other two and give them the love, attention and energy
that you always do—you just can’t give 100 per cent to all three values right now. And,
that is OK.”
In other words, you have permission to give yourself a break and to put down a ball or
two!
It is my steadfast belief that the question of balance is deeply personal. Many things can
contribute to a balanced and happy life, including healthy, loving relationships; gratifying
work that stimulates and motivates; and an environment that is healthy and free from
discrimination and ill will.
It is only through a deep understanding of self and a commitment to self-manage our
personal life that we are able to navigate the multiple demands of life in a manner that
not only feels balanced but fills us with optimism and strength.
But if there’s a lack of balance, especially when you work long hours, it often means you
don’t get enough sleep.
So I have another question. Hands up if you regularly get more than seven hours of
sleep per night.
RESPOND AS NEEDED:
A good number. I’m glad // Not so many. And not so good.
Because if you’ve been following the research lately, you’ll know that a good night’s
sleep is emerging as one of the most positive health benefits of all.
It improves memory. It reduces risks that can lead to heart attack, stroke, diabetes and
– the one I like – premature aging. It spurs creativity. It improves stamina and athletic
performance. It increases your attention span. It makes it easier to lose the right kind of
weight – more fat, less muscle mass. And, as I think we’ve all experienced, it lowers
stress.
But the research shows many of us don’t get at least seven hours a night.

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Missing sleep is enough of a problem in Japan that a growing number of companies are
encouraging employees to take naps at work. Maybe their leaders saw the same
research results I did – this really dramatized it for me.
They were cited by Dr. Daniel Amen, a prominent American psychiatrist, broadcaster
and expert on brain health, who writes:
“A study conducted on soldiers to test the effect of sleep on accuracy with firearms
showed that soldiers who slept seven hours were 98 per cent accurate during target
practice.
“Soldiers who slept six hours were only 50 per cent accurate.
“With five hours of sleep, accuracy dropped to 28 per cent, and with four hours of sleep
they were a dangerous 15 per cent accurate!”
Now I’m not going to ask for a show of hands on who got less than four hours of sleep
last night, but please don’t ask me to go with you to the Hong Kong Gun Club!
As Dr. Amen says, “You are more likely to make poor decisions when you don’t get
enough sleep. When you feel refreshed and rested, you feel energized, think clearly,
and are much more likely to make smart choices about eating and exercising.”
And since he mentioned eating, let’s talk about food for a moment. I don’t need to
belabour the point about how good nutrition enhances your health. Your mother taught
you that. But one figure from Hong Kong jumped out at me, considering that Cantonese
cuisine is, overall, a pretty healthy combination of foods – lots of veggies, chicken and
fish.
Yet according to the Hong Kong government, the proportion of adults who have an
inadequate daily intake of fruit and vegetables is 81 per cent. And, you’ll remember,
nearly 40 per cent are overweight or obese.
So even here, in one of the greatest culinary cities on the globe, people aren’t making
the best food choices. In fact, obesity levels are continuing to rise in much of the world –
in parallel with the continuing spread of fast-food restaurants and processed food,
leading to rising levels of fat and sugar intake.
So what do we know? We know that employees in many societies are not very fit, have
a poor work-life balance, and don’t eat properly. They probably sit too much, too.
In other words, they’re not very well.
And that means their companies are not doing as well as they could, either. The vast
amounts of research on the topic couldn’t be more clear on this.
Let’s just go with what the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says about
the benefits of workplace health and wellness programs.
For employers, they lead to enhanced productivity – people think better -- decreased
absenteeism – people are healthier – and lower health insurance and disability costs.
All of those go straight to the bottom line.

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But it’s not just the measurable benefits. CDC notes they are also a key component in
attracting and retaining the best talent, as well as enhancing the company’s image as
an enterprise that cares about its people. This may have even more value.
For employees, these programs offer better health – of course -- but also increased
well-being, self-image and self-esteem. They can improve job satisfaction, help people
cope with stress, and reduce their out-of-pocket medical costs.
The CDC also talks about how companies can create a “culture of health” where health
promotion is a valued part of the normal workday environment.
This kind of commitment has been embraced by a wide cross-section of Canadian
companies. If you look at profiles of organizations that made the list of Canada’s Top
100 Employers, which appears in The Globe and Mail each fall, you may be struck by
the breadth of health and wellness options available to their staff.
I’ve already talked about extensive work-life balance arrangements. In addition, many
companies have gyms and fitness facilities on the premises, often with trainers
available. They also offer Employee Assistance Programs that provide counselling to
help staff deal with personal issues that may be affecting their work and adding to
stress.
Some offer wellness accounts that help employees pay for everything from hiking boots
to fitness classes. Many have lunchrooms that offer healthy food choices. There are
onsite yoga classes, stop-smoking tutorials, meditation rooms – the list goes on.
Sounds great. But, you say, we’re not there yet, Karen. How do we get to wellness?
Remember Fit Friday and LIFT?
Let’s talk about some of the principles that our school has applied to an organizational
environment.
You have to start with leadership. The top level has to be committed to a healthier
environment – the “culture of health” that the CDC talks about – and has to model the
behaviour and help create the culture.
You need deliberate policies that reinforce a commitment to wellness. I mentioned my
walking meetings. I’ve even stopped sending emails to my staff on weekends. That
gives them permission to stop worrying about emails themselves, and spend proper
time with their families.
We look for any way we can to help reduce stress. Never mind investment banking –
teaching is one of the most stressful jobs you can have. Our people have to put on a
new performance every 80 minutes!
So we have an Employee Assistance Program to offer counselling when needed. And
it’s not unusual for us to start a class or a meeting with a couple of minutes of
mindfulness meditation.
Even many of our Professional Development Days are devoted to wellness.

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At Branksome, wellness is a key priority for us for all our constituent groups – this
includes parents and alumnae as well as students and staff. So everyone has access to
the Athletics and Wellness Centre at various times.
As a leader, you also have to be ready to commit resources and set up facilities. I’m not
asking you to build an Athletics and Wellness Centre. But ideally you will have fitness
equipment on the premises, with trainers present, and you will have a way of giving staff
healthy food.
If you are a smaller operation, your building or suite of offices may not be able to
accommodate a gym or a healthy cafeteria. But you can give your staff complimentary
access to a local fitness centre. And even more important, you can bring onto staff – or
on a consultancy basis – one or more coaches who can lead your staff through the
information and programs they need for wellness, including beneficial exercise, good
nutrition and proper sleep.
They can also devise fun ways of attracting staff to be more fit – including offering
prizes and other rewards. Don’t forget – we want them involved, we want them to own it,
and we want them to do it for life.
This means you have to give them the other precious resource – time. Time to get fit,
time to stay balanced.
So remember LIFT. L for Leadership. I for Involvement. F for Facilities. T for Time.
Give yourself a LIFT. Give your colleagues a LIFT.
Any program like this will pay for itself, I guarantee.
And everyone will feel better, work better and live better.
So now you know what to do. Wear your workout clothes to work. Starting next Friday!
PAUSE
And now, let’s stand up for a moment. We mustn’t let you sit too long!
I’m happy to answer questions.