From June 9 to 12, Pierre Lavoie challenged managers: get their employees moving as part of the “1,000,000 km together” mission. The triathlete whose name has become synonymous with physical activity in Quebec answers our questions about leadership.
Posted at 4:00 p.m.
What is the “1,000,000 km together” mission?
The mission is to rally all of Quebec behind sustainable health. Sustainable health is a new word, but you’re going to hear a lot about it in the next few years. It is the sustainability of human health. It’s about doing a million miles together, running, swimming, walking, rolling, canoeing, miles, whoever you want. Move, you can do it as you want, but the important thing is to do it every day, all our lives. You have to convince the majority to make the shift and, for that, it takes unifying events. With the web, we can reach everyone. We invite companies to get involved, they all have an interest in it. Concretely, it’s a web link, to www.1000000ensemble.com, it’s not even an application, it’s very simple. From there, you say you want to participate, you put your profile, your password. When you are going to go for miles, you are asked just before if you are part of a group. If you say that you are part of the group, for example, “Pratt & Whitney”, each time you enter your kilometers, they will systematically go to your organization, to your group or to you individually. It’s free.
Do you believe that the pandemic and teleworking have had a negative effect on the health and fitness of the population, in general?
Yes, totally. We had to find a way to motivate people, to motivate themselves to get moving. They were taken home. Telecommuting has saved our butts, it’s saved many companies’ butts, but at the same time, sitting all day in front of your computer, everyone knows it’s not good for your physical health. and mental. That’s why employers have to become attractive, they have to add physical and mental health to their bouquet of offers to their employees. For that, they must give them a moment in the day. Employers would have every interest in paying one hour a day to all employees who decide, during their work period, to go and train. An example: you have your lunch hour from noon to 1 p.m., your employer gives you an hour if you want. When you go to train, you have two hours on lunch hour. Everyone knows it. When someone goes to train, the employee has an appointment with the Prime Minister, you must not disturb him.
What does a company have to gain by getting its employees moving?
We talk a lot about the new generation. The labor market is changing. Organizations, companies that want to keep the 1967 Chevrolet model, it won’t work anymore. If you want to be attractive, it’s one of those elements that you have to add. First, for productivity, for happiness at work, quality of life and work-family balance. It improves the feeling of belonging. Often, we do it in a group when we are in business. What makes a person decide on a daily basis to practice an activity, be it the arts, music or sport, are two main elements: fun and friends. If you have fun, in addition to being accompanied by friends, you will start again the next day. We are lucky to have our employees who are already in a group, and if we have flexibility and we do activities together, it gives a particular color. A color that everyone will inevitably have to take because, soon, the health system will be under so much pressure everywhere that everyone will have to contribute: companies, cities, us. When we do the “1,000,000 km together” and we bring together almost 240,000 people like last year, then you begin to have a public and political message that says that now, Quebec has reached this point. We are in a momentum where COVID, because of a two-year shutdown, has shown us that we must now take care of the mental health of our employees. And the best molecule for mental health, it is scientifically confirmed, is to move, to be physically active.