With workplace wellness evolving from an amenity to a cultural necessity, many organizations are implementing wellness and fitness challenges to encourage employee participation. Wellness challenges are an introduction to new, healthier habits in a fun and gamified way that ignites some friendly competition.

Rather than one annual challenge, comprehensive wellness programs incorporate several challenges throughout the year that address all eight dimensions of wellness. Like the overall wellness program, wellness challenges evolve to match the needs of the workforce. Let’s dive into the different aspects of setting a challenge into motion and look at some of the most popular options organizations are employing today.

Worksite Wellness & Fitness Challenges

In this post:

1. Employee Wellness & Fitness Challenges

2. How to Choose a Wellness or Fitness Challenge

3. What are the Benefits of Workplace Wellness Challenges?

4. 23 Wellness Challenge Ideas for the Workplace in 2024

5. Strive Wellness Programs

Employee Wellness & Fitness Challenges

Wellness and fitness challenges have varying elements depending on the type of workforce and employee needs and interests. Challenges can be tracked on a platform by points, in a self-reported format, or by non-intrusive data like attendance or participation. Wellness and fitness challenges consist of objectives, requirements, and progress measurement tools to ensure time invested is beneficial for employees. Some organizations utilize fitness and nutrition coaches to guide and support employees navigating workplace wellness challenges.

How to Choose a Wellness or Fitness Challenge

With endless options and varying degrees of employee interest, choosing a wellness challenge can be a challenge in itself! Let these preliminary questions guide your selection process.

What Type of Workforce Do You Have?

Consider the size and landscape of your employee population. Are some or all of the employees working hybrid or remotely? Does everyone work in the same office, or is the organization nationwide? Play on population dynamics like one department versus another, or region vs. region to raise the stakes. For optimal participation, adapt the challenge format to your workforce and consider how to foster friendly competition.

What Resources are Available?

What’s your budget? Taking inventory of internal resources dedicated to a workplace wellness challenge informs what type of options are available. Enterprise-level organizations with a sizable budget might opt for a platform solution, while mid-market companies might choose a vendor like Strive because they have the flexibility to scale the challenge based on client needs.

What are You Trying to Achieve?

Wellness and fitness challenges must have defined goals both for the organization and for participants individually. Which pillar(s) of wellness is the challenge targeting? How is success defined?

While workplace challenges are meant to be fun, they serve an important purpose and have the potential to make lasting impacts. For example, a person may be convinced they’ll never have the time to cook nutritious meals at least three days per week, but now they have the support and accountability of their team and a competitive spirit. They realize it’s not only possible, it’s easy to do with some forethought and it makes them feel significantly better than take-out. It becomes their new standard.

What do Winners Receive?

What’s the grand prize? Is it tangible like gift cards, Fitbits, or running shoes, or is the challenge intrinsically driven, and participants proudly shed weight or bask in the overall benefits of a healthy lifestyle?

Determining whether wellness challenge incentives are intrinsic or extrinsic depends on two main questions:

What are employees interested in?
Is there a budgetary allocation for material prizes?

Hiring a corporate wellness coordinator would provide assistance answering these questions, as well as with leadership buy-in and the design and cadence of wellness challenges.

How Long Should the Challenge Last?

Set a clear duration so participants know the scope of the challenge and can track how much time they have to meet their goals.

Consistent communication throughout the challenge is vital for maintaining momentum as more and more people participate.

Is it Inclusive?

With varying levels of competitive nature or abilities, wellness or fitness challenges must be accessible, inclusive, and offer alternative options when needed. For example, fitness-based options for those in a cubicle or that have mobility impairments might include stretch breaks, chair yoga, or isolation exercises.

All communications must be fully accessible such as:

• Alt text
• Fully compatible documents
• Section 508 compatible for Microsoft Word docs

Most importantly when creating an inclusive wellness challenge, encourage the workforce to openly request accommodations or flexible programming. It’s also beneficial to have a representative available to identify opportunities for accommodations or to address any questions or concerns.

What are the Benefits of Workplace Wellness Challenges?

From a top-level, workplace wellness challenges introduce new opportunities and allow participants to experience the direct impact of practicing wellness. This is an effective way to begin injecting wellness into the culture because everyone is learning to build healthy habits simultaneously, which ultimately bolsters participation and engagement in future wellness initiatives. To achieve an outcome this positive and to encourage employees to be receptive to future initiatives, proper coordination is key.

Individually, participants can take a break from fast-paced work environments and enjoy some friendly competition with their peers, attend an educational webinar, or master a nutritious meal in a healthy cooking demo. Going beyond comfort zones and breaking through barriers as a team forms authentic connections and builds a resilient workforce.

By eliminating barriers or stigmas about changing poor habits, workplace wellness challenges inspire long-term healthy lifestyle choices, which support participants’ aspirations and help them achieve their goals.

Help Employees Engage

To boost participation before the challenge even begins, survey employee needs and interests. This is indicative of the percentage of the workforce drawn to competition versus the amount that may need incentives, as well as the types of challenges they’re willing to try.

Optimized processes and limited impediments increase employee engagement. Rather than disrupting work or perpetuating burnout, wellness challenges should blend into the workday or take place in a window of time designated for that purpose. Challenge organizers also want to ensure the environment isn’t working against successful outcomes. Is the kitchen stocked with junk food? Are hours inflexible?

The last piece of the engagement puzzle lies with leadership and management showing support and getting involved. In addition to participating themselves, the success of a workplace wellness challenge relies on consistent communication and updates on how far participants have come, who is in the lead, etc. Appointing a wellness champion(s) is a great way to drum up excitement and gamify the challenge, as well as offering rewards or incentives.

Discover more on implementing wellness incentives.

 23 Wellness Challenge Ideas for the Workplace in 2024

Consider the organization’s goals and objectives alongside employees’ personal goals to choose a challenge. For example, say the goal is for the workforce to move more, eat healthier, and destress. The challenge could be to attend a certain number of mindfulness yoga, fitness, or nutrition education classes consistently.

Here are some other workplace wellness challenge ideas:

Consider the organization’s goals and objectives alongside employees’ personal goals to choose a challenge. For example, say the goal is for the workforce to move more, eat healthier, and destress. The challenge could be to attend a certain number of mindfulness yoga, fitness, or nutrition education classes consistently.

Here are some other workplace wellness challenge ideas:

Drink 8 cups of water daily
Avoid processed foods
Standing desk challenges
5 servings of fruits/veggies per day
20 mins of meditation per day
30 mins of mindful breathing
Join a sports league
Participate in a community walk or race
15 mins stretching per day or mini stretching break every hour
Gratitude diary
Healthy team lunches
Random acts of kindness
Who can get the most sleep
Goal sharing sessions
Attend a health talk
Attend a cooking demonstration
Attend fitness & wellness program classes
Walk a mile-per-day
Take a walk for meetings
Digital detox
Sign up for something you’ve always wanted to do
Trash pickup
Find humor in your day and share it

Strive Wellness Programs

Strive makes wellness easy by including administrative tasks like employee interest surveys and ongoing communication in our services. As discussed, these are vital components of employee engagement for wellness programs and wellness challenges. Strive program offerings address all eight dimensions of total well-being for one multifaceted challenge, or various more targeted challenges. Our classes are educational, interactive, and designed to inspire lasting changes. Rise to the challenge and speak with a wellness expert today by booking a discovery call and exploring what’s possible for your organization.