The Ultimate Guide to Wellness Challenges for Employees
Employee wellness is a priority for companies that want to improve productivity, reduce absenteeism, and boost engagement. A Forbes Health/OnePoll survey found that:
- 48% of employees want to improve their physical fitness
- 38% are focused on financial wellness
- 36% want better mental health
Despite these goals, only 9% of people complete their wellness resolutions. Even worse, 23% quit within the first week, and 43% give up by the end of January.
This is why structured wellness challenges are crucial. They provide a fun, engaging way for employees to adopt healthier habits while creating a culture of wellbeing at work.
This guide offers a detailed breakdown of 30+ workplace wellness challenges, along with implementation strategies and tips for HR teams, employers, and employees.
How Employee Wellness Challenges Work
A good wellness challenge includes:
- Goal Setting: What are you trying to achieve? (e.g., "Walk 10,000 steps daily for 4 weeks.")
- Participation: Employees join voluntarily and track their progress.
- Tracking & Reporting: Apps, journals, or spreadsheets help measure engagement.
- Rewards & Recognition: Incentives (gift cards, wellness perks, public shoutouts) encourage commitment.
Also read: How to promote wellness in the workplace
30+ Effective Wellness Challenges for Employees
1. Physical Health Challenges
Encouraging movement and fitness at work leads to improved energy levels, reduced stress, and better overall health. These challenges help employees integrate physical activity into their daily routines.
- Step Challenge: Employees track their daily steps and aim for a set goal, such as 10,000 steps per day.
- Deskercise Challenge: Employees complete short exercises like chair squats, seated leg lifts, or stretching throughout the workday.
- Walking Meetings: Instead of sitting in a conference room, meetings are held while walking outdoors or around the office.
- No Elevator Challenge: Employees commit to taking the stairs instead of the elevator for a set period.
- Virtual Fitness Classes: Companies offer remote-access fitness classes such as yoga, strength training, or aerobics.
- Sports Day: Employees participate in traditional and childhood games like relay races, jump rope, and obstacle courses.
- Stretching Challenge: A daily stretching routine is introduced to help employees improve flexibility and posture.
Mental Health Challenges
Work-related stress and burnout are growing concerns. Mental wellness challenges help employees develop mindfulness, reduce stress, and improve emotional resilience.
- Mindfulness Challenge: Employees engage in daily mindfulness exercises such as meditation, deep breathing, or guided visualisation.
- Digital Detox Challenge: Employees take a break from non-essential digital devices for a day or a few hours each workday.
- Gratitude Challenge: Participants write down or share something they are grateful for each day.
- Silent Retreat Day: Employees reduce unnecessary conversations and focus on deep work without distractions.
- Acts of Kindness Challenge: Employees perform small acts of kindness for colleagues, such as leaving a positive note or offering assistance.
- Community Service Day: Employees volunteer for a local cause, either as a team or individually.
- Mental Health Awareness Webinars: Companies provide educational sessions on managing stress, anxiety, and work-life balance to support mental health at the workplace.
Healthy Eating Challenges
Encouraging healthy eating at work can improve energy levels, boost cognitive function, and reduce health risks. These challenges promote better nutrition habits.
- Eat More Vegetable Challenge: Employees aim to consume at least three servings of vegetables daily.
- Hydration Challenge: Employees track their water intake and aim to meet daily hydration goals.
- Healthy Recipe Swap: Employees share and try healthy meal recipes with their colleagues.
- No Takeout Challenge: Employees commit to preparing home-cooked meals instead of ordering takeout for a set period.
- Vegan Challenge: Employees try plant-based meals for a day, week, or month.
- Mindful Eating Challenge: Employees practice mindful eating techniques, such as avoiding distractions while eating and chewing food slowly.
Financial Wellness Challenges
Financial stress can impact employee performance and mental health. These challenges help employees develop better financial habits.
- Frugal Week Challenge: Employees track their expenses and find ways to cut unnecessary spending.
- Financial Planning Webinars: Experts provide guidance on budgeting, saving, and investing.
- Debt Reduction Challenge: Employees set and track their progress toward paying off debts.
- Savings Challenge: Employees commit to saving a specific amount each week or month.
- Retirement Planning Challenge: Employees set goals for their retirement savings and learn strategies for long-term financial stability.
Social and Emotional wellbeing Challenges
Fostering a sense of connection and support among employees improves workplace culture and overall job satisfaction.
- Team Lunch With a Purpose: Employees gather for a lunch discussion focused on personal development, wellness, or career growth.
- Compliment Challenge: Employees give at least one genuine compliment to a colleague each day.
- Office Karaoke or Talent Show: A fun event that allows employees to showcase their hidden talents and relieve stress.
- Workplace Buddy System: Employees are paired with colleagues for weekly check-ins and support.
Sustainability and Environmental Wellness Challenges
These challenges help employees adopt eco-friendly habits that benefit both their health and the environment.
- Grow a Plant Challenge: Employees nurture a plant at their desk or at home.
- Eco-Friendly Commute Week: Employees use public transport, bike, or carpool instead of driving alone.
- No Plastic Day: Employees avoid single-use plastics for a day or week.
- Energy Conservation Challenge: Employees focus on reducing energy use by turning off unused electronics and using natural light.
Tips to Make Wellness Challenge Interesting
A well-executed wellness challenge can improve employee health, boost employee wellbeng and engagement, and strengthen company culture. However, poorly planned initiatives often lead to low participation and minimal impact. Follow these steps to ensure your wellness challenges are effective, engaging, and sustainable.
Align Challenges with Employee Needs and Interests
A wellness challenge will only succeed if it resonates with employees. Before launching a program, take the time to understand what employees want and need.
- Conduct Employee Surveys: Ask employees about their biggest health concerns, preferred activities, and wellness goals.
- Analyse Workplace Trends: If absenteeism is high due to stress-related illnesses, prioritise mental health challenges. If employees have sedentary jobs, focus on physical activity.
- Offer a Variety of Challenges: Not everyone enjoys fitness challenges. Provide options for nutrition, mental health, financial wellness, and social connection.
Example: A company with a large remote workforce might focus on digital detox days and virtual fitness classes, while an office-based company might prioritise step challenges and walking meetings.
Set Clear, Achievable Goals
Employees are more likely to participate in challenges with well-defined objectives and realistic expectations. Instead of vague goals like “exercise more,” set specific, measurable targets.
- Timeframe: How long will the challenge last? (e.g., 30-day mindfulness challenge)
- Tracking Metrics: What will employees measure? (e.g., number of steps, hours of sleep, ounces of water consumed)
- Success Criteria: What counts as completing the challenge? (e.g., meditating for 10 minutes daily for two weeks)
Example: Instead of “Drink more water,” set a goal like “Drink 64 ounces of water per day for one month and log progress in a hydration tracker.”
Make Participation Easy and Accessible
Employees are more likely to engage if the challenge is simple to join and track. Reduce barriers to participation by making it as effortless as possible.
- Use Digital Tools: Wellness apps, fitness trackers, and spreadsheets can help employees monitor progress automatically.
- Minimise Extra Work: Avoid challenges that require complicated logging or extensive manual data entry.
- Encourage Team Participation: Group challenges increase accountability and engagement, making participation more enjoyable.
Example: Instead of requiring employees to report every meal for a nutrition challenge, allow them to check a simple box if they ate a healthy meal.
Foster a Sense of Community and Support
Wellness challenges work best when employees feel a sense of belonging and motivation from their peers.
- Create Friendly Competition: Leaderboards, team-based challenges, and small prizes can make participation exciting.
- Encourage Peer Motivation: Assign wellness “buddies” or encourage department-wide participation.
- Use Internal Communication Channels: Post updates, success stories, and motivational messages on Slack, email, or workplace apps.
Example: In a walking challenge, allow employees to form teams and compete against other departments, celebrating the team with the highest step count.
Offer Meaningful Incentives and Recognition
Rewards help sustain employee engagement, but they don’t always have to be monetary. Recognition and small perks can be just as motivating.
- Tangible Incentives: Offer wellness-related prizes like gift cards, fitness trackers, or extra time off.
- Non-Monetary Rewards: Recognise top participants in company-wide emails, meetings, or social media.
- Flexible Rewards: Let employees choose their rewards, such as a free lunch, wellness subscription, or donation to a charity of their choice.
Example: Instead of offering just one grand prize, create tiered rewards where anyone who completes the challenge earns a perk, like a healthy snack box or wellness coaching session.
Integrate Wellness Challenges into Company Culture
To create lasting change, wellness should be more than just a one-time initiative. It should be embedded into the company’s daily operations and values.
- Leadership Involvement: When managers and executives participate, employees are more likely to engage.
- Ongoing Wellness Programs: Instead of standalone challenges, incorporate wellness into company benefits, policies, and events.
- Make Wellness a Core Value: Encourage flexible work schedules, mental health days, and healthier office environments.
Example: Instead of running a single-step challenge once a year, integrate physical activity into company culture with ongoing movement breaks and walking meetings.
How CHOYS Can Help Improve Employee wellbeing
Implementing effective wellness challenges requires the right tools to keep employees motivated, engaged, and accountable. CHOYS is an employee wellbeing platform that simplifies wellness initiatives with features designed to support physical activity, mental wellbeing, and workplace engagement.
- CHOYS Step Challenges: Encourages employees to stay active with step-tracking competitions, helping teams build healthier habits through friendly competition.
- CHOYS Mood Tracker: This enables employees to log their moods daily, track wellbeing trends over time, and gain insights into their mental health.
- CHOYS Recognitions: Boosts motivation and engagement by allowing employees to acknowledge and appreciate their colleagues’ contributions.
- CHOYS Impacts & CHOYSCoins: Rewards employees for their healthy actions and enables them to use their earnings to support charitable causes, adding a meaningful incentive to workplace wellness programs.
By integrating these features into your wellness programs, CHOYS helps create a culture of health, engagement, and positive reinforcement in the workplace.
Ready to take your employee wellness program to the next level? Schedule a demo with CHOYS today and see how it can transform your workplace's wellbeing.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: What is a wellness challenge?
A: A wellness challenge is a structured activity designed to promote healthy habits among employees, such as physical fitness, mental wellbeing, nutrition, and financial health, often with goals, tracking, and rewards.
Q: How to create a wellness challenge?
A: To create a wellness challenge, define clear goals, choose activities relevant to employees, set a timeframe, provide tracking tools, and offer incentives to encourage participation and engagement.
Q: What are the barriers to wellness?
A: Common barriers to wellness include lack of time, low motivation, workplace stress, unhealthy habits, and limited access to resources or support systems for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Q: How to do a fitness challenge at work?
A: A corporate fitness program can be organised by setting step goals, holding virtual or in-person workout sessions, encouraging team participation, and using fitness tracking apps to monitor progress and keep employees engaged.
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