Organize a wellness challenge at your office
More and more companies are offering workplace wellness programs for employees to improve their overall health and well-being and decrease health care costs for the employer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), research has shown that healthy employees are more likely to perform optimally in the workplace.1
But you don’t have to have an expensive digital platform or a hefty budget to incorporate wellness into your workplace. In 2018, the Prevent Cancer Foundation founded its own internal Wellness Committee, which organizes monthly wellness challenges for employees. It’s one of the ways we “live the mission” of the Foundation.
What exactly is a wellness challenge?
A wellness challenge is a monthly series for employees to participate in various health and wellness-focused activities. It is entirely optional to participate and varies month-to-month—we’re a small staff, so we may have anywhere from 4 to 24 people participating. It’s also a judgement-free zone. We are here to support and motivate each other. And while we can get a tad competitive, it’s all in good fun!
How is the wellness challenge organized?
Our activities are focused on three categories: Fitness, nutrition and overall well-being.
Each activity is worth one point for each day that you complete the challenge, and people don’t have to complete activities every day. Toward the end of each month, the Wellness Committee meets to select three activities for the next month. We send out an email noting the challenges and share a document to track progress. Tracking is done on the honor system. At the end of the month, we check to see who has the most points and announce the winner!
What are some examples of activities?
We try to keep activities achievable for people of all levels of health and ability. Often, we relate the activities to cancer awareness months. Twice a year we do a team step challenge, which is always popular—and often competitive!
Fitness
- Do 20 minutes of cardio
- Go for a walk during lunch or after dinner
- Set a step or walking goal and meet your steps
- Move more! Add activity to your day
- Do 15 minutes of strength training
Nutrition
- Add an in-season fruit or vegetable to your day
- Cut out red and processed meat
- Set a hydration goal and drink up
- Avoid sugary beverages
- Try a new recipe
Well-being
- Meditate for 10 minutes
- Avoid screentime 30 minutes before bed
- Wear sunscreen
- Get at least 7 hours of sleep
- Read for 15 minutes
What type of reward system do you recommend?
If you have a budget, gift cards to online stores or wellness-related gifts such as water bottles or exercise towels are good options. If you don’t have a budget, a little handmade recognition or shoutout in an employee-wide chat can go a long way!
How do I get started?
Talk to your Human Resources Department if you’re interested in starting a wellness committee and/or challenge. Chances are they will be on board. A budget is not necessary and it doesn’t take much time. You only need one or two people to come up with ideas and execute the monthly wellness challenges. Use this tracking template to get started! We’d love to hear about your experience—let us know in the comments or tag us on social media.
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1 CDC Workplace Health Model: https://www.cdc.gov/workplace-health-promotion/php/model/index.html