Although companies encouraged a healthier lifestyle by improving access to gyms and healthcare services, it is not enough. Here’s how fitness challenges can bring your corporate health and wellness program to the next level using gamification.
The popularity of corporate health and wellness programs has grown significantly over the last decade, particularly in the last year. Business leaders who successfully implemented comprehensive health and wellness programs have reported higher levels of job satisfaction and reduced instances of burnout. However, engagement rates for these programs can be frustratingly low, with only 15% of employees saying they would always participate in company wellness initiatives.
Inconsistent levels of engagement across health and wellness initiatives often lead to underwhelming results and can undermine the effectiveness of such programs. Improving health and wellness programs is critical if employers want to increase employee engagement. Gamification is an underutilized tool that businesses can employ to improve participation in company fitness programs. With half of corporate employees having never experienced gamification in the workplace, company-wide fitness challenges can present workers with a fun and engaging activity that keeps them physically fit and healthy.
The Benefits of Company Fitness Challenges
High Levels of Fitness Reduce Absenteeism, Improve Operational Efficiency, and Lower Healthcare Costs
Decision-makers can sometimes be unaware of the implications of a policy change since the metrics used for evaluation are usually limited in scope. However, successful fitness programs can significantly improve job performance across the company, with healthier workforces being 72% more productive. Additionally, over half of surveyed employees who worked out more than three times a week reported improvements in their relationships and mental health. All these factors come together to create a work environment with improved operational efficiency and reduced absenteeism resulting from illness.
Gamification is Highly Effective for Keeping Employees Engaged in Wellness Programs
Fitness challenges apply gamification techniques to make otherwise boring physical health activities fun and engaging. Such challenges allow employees to track their accomplishments and be rewarded for breaking past records. A recent report revealed that 72% of employees said gamification inspired them to work harder in the workplace and that gamification increased engagement in company initiatives by almost half. This is usually a result of well-defined goals and encouragement from managers. When applied to exercise and physical fitness, rewards and tracked progress act as motivators for employees who might otherwise not be inclined to participate in such programs.
3 Ways to Ensure your First Fitness Challenge is a Success
1. Encourage Participation with Attractive Rewards and Incentives .jpg?width=350&name=Reward%20Link%20mobile%20in%20hand%20(002).jpg)
People often fail to develop strong habits because they are not sufficiently acknowledged or rewarded for a job well done. Businesses should understand the needs of their workforce and provide the appropriate rewards and incentives for their specific situation. For example, a highly paid workforce might be more attracted to additional time off as a reward for being the best performing employee, while an employee paid in commissions might respond better to a financial reward. Tracking wellness program incentives ensures that employees are reimbursed for any rewards they may receive. The myHSA system gives employers complete control of their wellness incentive program, including setting up rewards for "wellness incentive dollars". Comparatively, a wellness program that is tied to Tango Card's e-gift card rewards incentives can have a greater impact on employees who are motivated by financial rewards. Each pool of employees is unique and the rewards offered to them have to be in line with what they desire.
2. Pair Challenges with Education to Encourage Long-Term Adoption of Healthy Habits
While fitness challenges work extremely well to galvanize the workforce and encourage them to embrace healthy habits in the short term, companies can maximize the impact of health programs by pairing such challenges with information. Many Americans are generally unaware of what constitutes a healthy lifestyle and often misinformed about the benefits of their eating or exercising habits. Moreover, according to a CDF study, 41% of Americans say that since the start of the pandemic they have been eating more, along with a decrease in exercising.
Business leaders can counteract this by having their employees partake in nutrition or fitness challenges as the perfect information dissemination platform to explain the benefit of each activity as the participants are doing them. This allows employers to build the foundation for the adoption of healthier habits in the long term.
3. Provide Customized Goals for each Employee Based on their Fitness Level
Developing strong health and fitness habits can be a challenge for employees who might not have previous experience planning a fitness regime. Customizing fitness goals for each employee is essential to empower them to participate in company-wide programs, regardless of their current fitness levels.
Companies can use AI-powered software that allows employees to privately input information such as height, weight, gender, and age. These metrics can then be converted into a calculated roadmap that is fully customized for the health requirements of that particular employee.
Ultimately, gamification allows businesses to introduce and maximize the impact of corporate health programs. Businesses that go beyond providing health insurance to improve the physical health of their employees can improve productivity, reduce costs, and increase job satisfaction.
If you would like to leverage fitness challenges to improve company-wide participation in your physical health programs, contact us today. We will be happy to connect you with the right resources.
About CoreHealth Technologies
CoreHealth Technologies Inc. is a total well-being technology company trusted by global providers to power their health and wellness programs. Our wellness portals help maximize health, engagement, and productivity for 3+ million employees worldwide. We believe people are the driving force of organizations and supporting them to make behavior changes to improve employee health is in everyone’s best interest. With the most flexibility, customizations, and integrations of any software in its class, CoreHealth’s all-in-one wellness platform helps grow great wellness companies. Simple to sophisticated, based on you. For more information, visit the CoreHealth website.
