The Stronger Together Global Wellness Challenge
Introduction
Back in March, the Consensus HR team were looking for ways to support employees’ health and wellbeing. The “Stronger Together” theme, a powerful underlying message, was born to help ignite employees’ interest in taking wellness seriously. The initiative was launched on May 1st and finished on June 11th for US and International employees.
There hadn’t been a collective global effort before dedicated solely to ‘wellness and wellbeing’ for employees. So, the campaign had to help foster a sense of excitement and connection amongst colleagues across the US, Europe, and APAC. This was to ensure all employees understood they were going on a wellness journey together.
It was also important that the campaign helped to kick-start some healthy habits (for those of us not used to regular exercise etc). For habits to take hold and carry on post campaign, that’s where success lies. Besides bringing about a truly “wellness-minded” couple of months, the overarching aim was to focus a spotlight on employees’ health.
Although many were doing some of these activities already, HR wanted everyone to feel they could participate. It was to be, above all, a very inclusive campaign. Over the length of the challenge, participants had the opportunity to focus on very different areas of well-being and were able to choose anything from the list of categories below.
- Physical – working out, sports team, throwing ball in the backyard, riding a bike, meal prepping, walking, mowing the grass, and gardening.
- Stress and emotional well-being – activities such as meditation, yoga, coloring, and community engagement activities.
- Social – intramural league, connecting with an old friend or family member, or coaching your kiddo’s sports team.
- Financial – building a budget or attending a seminar, 1:1 for 401 (k) coaching, etc.
Fun in Tracking the Results and Prizes Galore
Although many were doing some of the activities already, it was important to reward participants.The HR team recognized that prize giving is all part of the fun! So a points system was allocated which was simple and easy to follow (one minute equals one point). Employees had to fill in their wellness activities each day.
All the minutes were tallied up, per individual, within the challenge period. Logged points gave everyone the opportunity to win some brilliant prizes (there was a draw!). The winners were able to choose from several different wellness prizes. Congratulations to the winners, Jerry Grenn and Ashley James, who collected the most points.
This campaign was led by Alex Alsup, Total Rewards Analyst, HR dept. Her experience has extended to her own community (where she delivered more wellness projects) in Louisville, Kentucky. Her talent was duly recognised—she became the President of the Worksite Wellness Council of Louisville. She has been in this role for the past four years.
A Partnership with Motion Connected
HR recently announced a partnership with a benefits broker, Motion Connected, to introduce some more global health challenges to employees. Once again, this will provide a series of wellness opportunities to help incorporate healthy habits into employees’ daily lives. The challenges consist of monthly wellness topics across many dimensions of health and wellbeing.
There will be access to enhanced features such as a mobile app and activity tracking. Go ahead and get signed up today so that you can receive emails about when challenges start. Watch out for the upcoming challenge, Beat the Heat While Staying Active.
As Alex says:
In the Pipeline
Your breath is a powerful tool to relieve your stress and help lessen anxiety. A quick and simple breathing exercise can mean the difference between a successful challenge completed and a mental breakdown. By focusing on your breathing, it helps to ease your mind, steady your heart rate, and calm your nerves.
As summer comes to an end, the kids head back to school, and normal routines begin again, set aside some time to declutter your space, whether at work or at home. Having a clean and organized space can help improve productivity and reduce stress. You don’t have to do a deep clean from top to bottom, even just a quick tidy up can make a huge difference in a busy life.
As the trees begin to change colors, make a plan to explore your city on a deeper level. Try that new restaurant you heard about through a friend, participate in a pottery or painting class, or visit a museum or another place special to your city. Take some time to enjoy the place you live by pushing yourself to try something new there.
Keep an eye out for emails from Alex on the below wellness initiatives. Stay strong, stay healthy. Let’s do this together!