Healthier employees are likely to be happier and more productive. So, how can you encourage healthy behaviors within your organization? Consider creating a fitness challenge for your office.
The Benefits of a Fitness Challenge
- Healthier employees usually miss fewer days of work and have lower health care costs;
- Fitness activities help to promote overall healthier lifestyles;
- Group challenges foster teamwork as well as friendly competition;
- Fitness competitions can be fun, and thus, wonderful morale-boosting activity.
Tips for Creating a Fitness Challenge
- Ask Your Employees for Input
For a fitness challenge to be successful, you need to buy-in from your team. Therefore, start by learning about individual preferences. Maybe a group of your workers belongs to a softball league? Perhaps others are dedicated bike racers? Or maybe several members of your staff attend weekly yoga classes? If you know what people enjoy, you can build off their interests rather than forcing them to do something they won’t like. - Appeal to a Variety of Fitness Levels
Most organizations have workers with a range of fitness abilities. This may include everyone from a highly trained triathlete to hardcore couch potato. As a result, requiring your entire team to run a half-marathon is bound to backfire. Instead, look for activities that appeal to multiple fitness levels. Examples could include, “Log 30 hours of physical activity,” or “Walk/run 30 miles.” This encourages everyone to participate but at their own intensity level. - Track Progress
Your employees will want to know how they’re doing as the challenge unfolds, so plan record-keeping in advance. If your budget allows, you could hand out fitness trackers. However, if this isn’t an option, free activity-tracking apps, or a shared fitness-tracking Excel spreadsheet would work fine too. Finally, be sure to regularly update a leaderboard either online or somewhere in your office. - Offer Rewards
Competition is more fun when rewards are involved. Of course, you could give prizes to the individual top scorers, or feel free to switch things up. For instance, if a certain percentage of people successfully complete their goals, you may decide to celebrate with a special event such as a party or an extra day off. - Give a Recap
One of the best parts about a fitness challenge is the outcomes. At the end of the competition, send out a survey to discover how people benefited. Your couch potato may have dropped 20 pounds. Your runners may have successfully raised $5,000 in a charitable race. Or your office may have started a lunchtime walking club. Collecting and publishing the results (anonymous is fine) will raise everyone’s spirits and build enthusiasm for your next event.
Are You Looking for More Ways to Make Your Office Healthier?
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