Least active employees show biggest gains in workplace wellbeing challenge

Workplace wellbeing initiatives that successfully engage the employees who need them most remain one of the sector’s biggest challenges. New data from Bupa and YuLife suggests gamification could help bridge that gap, with the least active employees recording the largest improvements during a month-long workplace health campaign.

The organisations have released results from this year’s Healthy Cities challenge, which engaged more than 41,000 employees across more than 1,200 UK workplaces through the YuLife platform.

During the 30-day campaign, participants collectively walked 9.2 billion steps and logged 11.2 million minutes of meditation. Their activity also unlocked funding to plant almost 37,000 trees and remove close to two tonnes of plastic from the ocean, linking personal health with environmental action.

However, the most significant finding was not the scale of participation but who engaged.

Employees averaging fewer than 2,500 steps a day before the campaign increased their daily movement by 48 per cent, while almost 12,000 participants were walking more in June than they had in May, increasing their average daily step count by 1,408 steps – a 17 per cent improvement on their usual activity.

The campaign also appeared to resonate with older workers, a demographic that digital wellbeing programmes have historically found more difficult to engage. Participants aged 40 to 49 took an additional 1,566 steps on campaign days, while those aged 50 and over increased their activity by 1,036 steps.

Alongside increased physical activity, participants reported improvements across several health measures. Employees aged 40 and above recorded the biggest gains in how their physical health affected attendance at work and how stress influenced absence, while younger employees aged 18 to 29 showed the strongest improvements in behavioural health and tobacco use.

Survey findings also suggest the campaign had a wider impact on workplace wellbeing. Nearly six in 10 participants said the challenge motivated them to be more active, while more than half said it improved their mental wellbeing. Almost half felt healthier after taking part and 44 per cent said it helped them feel more connected to colleagues.

Lauren Berkemeyer, chief marketing officer at YuLife, said the partnership demonstrated how workplace wellbeing programmes can combine individual behaviour change with wider organisational and environmental impact.

Anna Russell, ESG and employee experience director at Bupa, added that the strongest engagement came from those who were least active before the campaign, highlighting the potential for shared goals and purpose to encourage healthier habits.

Bupa’s Healthy Cities initiative has grown into a global programme involving more than one million people across 50 cities in 24 countries. By extending the challenge through YuLife’s workplace platform, the organisations say they have expanded its reach into UK workplaces while providing further evidence that sustained engagement strategies can encourage healthier behaviours among employees who may benefit most