Corporate Wellness Blog

These are fun and easy events that have the potential to be done within your corporation to motivate healthy behaviors during a contest or during other times. The intention is to bolster employee participation. Some examples:
• Design a sub-committee of enthusiastic workers who will help encourage the exercise program by offering ideas, ideas and encouragement to fellow workers.
• Establish monthly mailbox brochures to promote a contest or support fitness-related education/encouragement information.
• Send a periodic voicemail on each member’s phone with encouraging wellness messages.
• Provide regular cumulative health progress reports.
• Offer reduced fat or heart-healthy lunch selections weekly in your cafeteria or have employees bring a healthy snack to share, with a recipe book compiled at the culmination of the contest or specified time period (such as a National Nutrition Month in March).
• Distribute employee gifts (pedometers or other novelty item related to some aspect of your contest theme) as registration kicks off.
• Allocate for employees “Fitness 15-Minute Walk Breaks;” organization time to walk, physical activity, etc. If appropriate, you might use a space not currently used to set up a treadmill, elliptical, bicycle, some free weights and meditation music.
• Have a T-shirt design contest.
• Create posters to map contest (or fitness) progress and to serve as reminder of your goals/objectives:
   • Use push pins or other identifiers for each individual to display in the office showing how they have progressed – employees have the potential to get very creative with this and design pins that reflect their personalities.
   • Use a bar graph to compare progress.
   • Use a “thermometer” type graphic and illustrate progress – consider a different, fitness-related graphic all together and color it in as you progress.
• Provide aerobic dance or walking videos in your conference or break rooms.
• Compile a list of organized activities in the area that offer opportunities to get staff members exercising by participating as a team (below are just a few):
   • Race For The Cure
   • March of Dimes Walk America event
   • Juvenile Diabetes Research
   • Foundation Walk to Cure
   • American Heart Association’s Heart Walk
   • American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life
   • American Lung Association’s Lung Run
   • Local marathons or special general area walks or runs
• Designate or catch a health-and-fitness workshop or retreat.
• Have a soup-and-salad luncheon followed by a hula-hoop contest!
• Use the mall as an alternate walking location during inclement weather.
• Designate “Move it Mondays” – allow workers to take an extra ten minutes during lunch for exercise.
• Designate “Tasty Tuesdays” – provide workers with low-calorie treats/snacks.
• Designate “Walking Wednesdays”- allow workers to take an extra 10 minutes at lunch to walk, or “Wacky Wednesdays” that allow workers to explore new exercises.
• Designate “Thirsty Thursdays” – make healthy smoothies or juice drinks for staff members.
• Create “Fresh Fruit Fridays” for employee – offer seasonal produce treats.
• Send weekly physical activity tips to staff members via the most effective communications vehicle in your workplace.
• Partner with another employer representative for local media events coordinated through your advertising or communication department.
• Urge departmental teams to challenge each other (examples: Customer Service, Marketing, Health Support).
• Create walking clubs with executive/supervisory leadership.
• Seek out local aerobic opportunities or classes through churches, community groups, college, YMCA, etc.
• Contact several local area fitness centers and ask if they can or will offer group discounts for exercise programs, waive enrollment fees, or set up a 12-week program as opposed to signing an extended contract.
• Have a Frozen Yogurt Social – “Reap the Benefits of Fitness.”
• Map out a walking track around the building including the number of laps needed for one mile.