Umhlanga, KwaZulu Natal. “Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people,” Steve Jobs famously said. In October and November, CCI South Africa is embodying this saying with its bi-annual CCI Champions League Soccer and Netball Tournament.
Why would a BPO organisation host a sports tournament? In its report, ‘Promoting Physical Activity In The African Region, the World Health Organization (WHO) found that regular physical activity is crucial for health. About one in four adults (22%) and more than four in five school-going teenagers (85%) in the African Region are not sufficiently physically active. This lack of physical activity contributes significantly to the prevalence of lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and many types of cancer. However, the report notes that “sport and active recreation can help promote physical activity for people of all ages and abilities.”
The start of CCI’s ‘Champions League’ bi-annual sporting event saw an incredible 65 soccer teams and 16 netball teams of CCI employees in Durban and Cape Town take to the field for some friendly rivalry and camaraderie. The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company’s tournament runs until November, where the semi-finals and finals will see the top teams vying for the title of ‘CCI Champions 2024’, with the winning teams taking home bragging rights along with prizes.
“Getting teams onto the soccer field or netball court is not only a great opportunity for employees to get to know each other better in an informal environment, it’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our shared values and the diversity within CCI while encouraging our employees to embrace physical activity that supports their overall wellbeing” says Peter Andrew, CCI South Africa CEO.
Supporting employee wellness through active recreation
This is all part of CCI’s commitment to promoting and fostering employee wellness for its more than 8,000 employees. Apart from the sheer enjoyment of competing with your colleagues in a fun, informal environment, the CCI Champion’s League promotes physical intelligence, which helps employees understand and manage the physical aspects of their body to enhance performance and reduce stress.
Nowhere is this more important than in the BPO sector, which can be a stressful, high-intensity environment. A recent study found that employees who engage in regular physical activity are 31% less likely to experience work-related stress and 28% more productive compared to their less active counterparts. This highlights the significant impact of physical activity on both mental wellbeing and job performance.
The nature of the work in the BPO industry often means working in shifts that don’t necessarily conform to a 9-5 workday, and physical intelligence (PQ) also becomes critically important for agents’ all-round performance. PQ is interconnected with cognitive and emotional intelligence, providing the physical foundation that supports mental and emotional processes. Research has proven that regular physical activity boosts brain function, which can lead to improved concentration, sharper memory and faster learning.
Exercise also helps reduce the levels of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, while simultaneously helping the body produce endorphins, the body’s natural ‘happy hormones’ known to lower stress, improve mood, and enhance peoples’ sense of wellbeing. This focus on physical intelligence pairs with the company’s in-house training initiatives that help employees develop the emotional intelligence (EQ), self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills to weather all manner of customer interactions in their day-to-day work.
Employee wellness is a top priority
CCI believes that a holistic approach to wellbeing is crucial to help its teams to operate at their best while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. To support the mental, physical and emotional health of its employees, CCI provides on-site canteens, a hair salon and sporting facilities for convenience and easy access to amenities, along with a medical clinic and access to free onsite counselling services.
“With initiatives like the Champions League Tournament, CCI’s goal is to not only enhance the physical wellbeing of our employees, but also strengthen team spirit and morale. Our goal is to help our employees proactively manage their health and wellbeing.This holistic approach underscores our dedication to creating a supportive and dynamic environment where every employee can thrive, both professionally and personally,” says Andrew.