Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), the UAE’s largest Islamic Bank, has launched a new health and fitness initiative for employees aimed at encouraging them to lead healthier, fitter and happier lives.

The bank’s initiative to champion fitness and wellbeing at work reflects the UAE Government’s Happiness initiative by promoting positivity and happiness in society. ‘DIB Active’ provides a platform that connects the benefits of health and wellness while encouraging staff to learn new skills and support & challenge each other across a variety of activities in fun and exciting environments.

Cornel Fourie, Head of Human Resources at Dubai Islamic Bank, said; “The wellbeing of our staff is one of our top priorities and with over 50 nationalities at DIB there is one common interest amongst our staff - health and wellness. This is a quality addition to the overall support we provide our staff - research shows that the benefits of wellness programs in the workplace include an increase in productivity and morale, a decrease in stress and even a drop in days lost to illness. Physical activity and exercise is good for almost everyone, so our ‘DIB Active’ program encourages staff to try new activities, meet new colleagues and learn new fitness skills. We also hope our staff will adopt some of these new skills in their everyday lifestyle and spread positivity amongst their colleagues, family and wider community.”

DIB Active’s first activity, ‘DIB’s Strongest Man Challenge’ saw staff receive fitness training and nutrition education from professionals before competing in a range of strength and stamina activities for the title. The second event saw more than 50 staff participate in an exhilarating three hour hike in Ras Al Khaimah. DIB Active also includes a series of events for DIB’s female staff who will also be participating in a variety of exciting fitness activities and competitions.

Fourie added: “We have activities for staff at every end of the scale, whether this is their first activity or they’re fitness fanatics, it is about encouraging colleagues to try something new and have fun while getting active. DIB Active has already proven to be extremely popular and we’ve received an enormous amount of positive feedback so far. Amazingly, in our first two activities we have seen staff push beyond their comfort zones, challenge themselves with new activities they’ve never tried before and enjoy the excitement of participating with the support and encouragement of their colleagues”.

The ‘DIB Active’ initiative will continue to run throughout 2018 and is expected to include a variety of exciting fitness and wellness related activities and educational information for all staff.