Top workplace wellness challenge ideas that all teams will actually enjoy

Nothing builds camaraderie in the workplace like a little good-spirited competition. And when you can encourage your team to improve their wellness at the same time, that’s a win-win for everyone, not just the big prize winners.

Of course, coming up with creative office fitness challenges takes effort. Sure, you could invite people to walk laps in the parking lot (boring) or do push-ups during breaks (unoriginal). But those activities probably won’t get much participation. The best challenges are fun, useful, and — above all — something people actually care about.

Here are a few great workplace wellness challenge ideas to help you get started. They cover everything from physical fitness to financial health and sustainability.

Corporate wellness programmes are designed to support employee health. Some businesses focus on physical health, offering activities like 5Ks and virtual yoga classes. Others cover all aspects of well-being, including mental health and technology (over)use.

Here are a few benefits of employee wellness programmes:

• Three out of four (78%) of HR leaders report that wellness programs have reduced their organisation’s healthcare costs.
• Wellness programs improve workers’ productivity and can decrease absenteeism.
• Employees have better mental health when they work in a supportive environment.
• Workers develop more resiliency when they believe their employers care about their wellbeing.
• Corporate wellness boosts employee engagement and motivation.

What is the management structure for running a challenge?

Creating a successful challenge involves more than inventing a catchy title and thinking of great prizes. You need the right support to keep everything running smoothly.

As an HR or wellness manager, consider spearheading the challenge. You can track participation and develop reports about the programme’s performance. That way, you can make sure that you’re focusing on the most effective wellness activities.

Appoint a few challenge champions, too. These enthusiastic employees (like the worker who can’t stop talking about Reformer Pilates or Parkrun) can help promote your initiative and get buy-in from the rest of the team.

You may also need IT or tech support to handle the tech details, like setting up fitness tracking apps and collecting feedback. Fitness On Demand’s challenge dashboard can simplify these administrative processes by helping you coordinate events and track each participant’s progress.

Challenge formats for any workplace

Some businesses organise individual challenges, while others have employees compete in teams. Both approaches can be highly effective, but here are a few considerations.

Individual challenges:

• Pros:
  • More flexible
  • Tracking is straightforward
• Cons:
  • Promotes competition over teamwork
  • Doesn’t build camaraderie in the same way as a team-based activity

Team-based challenges:

• Pros:
  • More engaging
  • Improves collaboration
  • Encourages friendly competition
• Cons:
  • Some employees may feel pressured to participate
  • May create conflict if team members don’t pull their weight

You can also organise time-based challenges. A weekly challenge has a low barrier to entry and can get your team fired up, at least temporarily. For more long-term results, consider a monthly or quarterly challenge.And don’t limit yourself to only one area. A hybrid challenge can give your employees a crash course in healthy habits by combining physical activity, nutrition, mindfulness, and even social good.

Actionable workplace wellbeing challenge ideas by category

You don’t have to invent all your activities from scratch. Here are a few wellness challenge ideas for the workplace​ to spark your creativity.

1. Steps & movement

Movement challenges are among the most popular workplace wellness programmes, and for good reason. They don’t require any fancy equipment (except a pedometer or fitness tracker app) and make it easy for employees to stay active.

Inspire movement with these fun fitness challenges:

• Take at least 10,000 steps per day (a classic challenge).
• Exercise for at least 30 minutes a day for a month.
• Compete to rack up the most steps in a week.
• Climb X flights of stairs in the office building.
• Fill out a fitness bingo card with activities such as hiking, doing planks, or even skipping rope.

You can easily adapt these activities for different work arrangements. For example, remote employees could post pictures of themselves taking a walk during lunch on the company Slack.

2. Hydration & nutrition

Eating healthy can help employees feel more energetic and meet their fitness goals. Plus, nutrition challenges may be more accessible for people with disabilities or limited mobility.

Invite your team to compete in these contests:

• Cook a healthy meal at least three nights a week (bonus points for sharing photos and recipes).
• Stop drinking soda for a month.
• Eat at least X servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
• Drink X ounces of water per day.

Be sure to avoid anything related to weight loss. People should feel inspired, not ashamed or strong-armed into shedding pounds.

3. Mindfulness & sleep

Competing to see who can relax the most may seem paradoxical, but don’t overthink it. Try out these practical sleep challenges:

• Read a book for at least 10 minutes before bed.
• Get at least X hours of sleep per night for a week.
• Turn off screens an hour before bed every night for a month.
• Attend the most virtual meditation or mindfulness sessions.

4. Digital detox

Digital “detoxes” — especially ones involving social media — can reduce depression and other mental health issues. Plus, in-person employees are more likely to connect when they’re not constantly staring at their smartphones.

Consider these tech-related competitions:

• Track how many hours you can go without your smartphone.
• Stay off social media for 30 days (or a week, if that’s too difficult).
• Vie for the least amount of smartphone usage in a week.

Asking employees to avoid bringing screens into certain areas, such as desks and conference rooms, can help them succeed.

5. Wellbeing bingo & gratitude

Bingo is an amazing way to encourage holistic wellness. Create custom cards with fun self-care activities, such as “take a bubble bath,” “take a virtual yoga class,” and “call a friend.” You could even get employees in on the fun by inviting them to suggest ideas for squares.

Gratitude challenges can boost moods, too. For example, you might encourage employees to thank 10 people or do a random act of kindness every day for a week.

6. Financial & sustainability

Many employee wellness programmes include financial challenges, such as:

• Don’t spend anything for X days.
• Bring your coffee or lunch from home for a month.
• Save £X a day for travel, a home down payment, or other financial goals.

“Green” challenges can also help employees (and your entire organization) meet sustainability goals. For instance, you might invite team members to eat as many plant-based meals as possible or ditch the car for X days a week.

7. Team charity or kindness missions

Nothing cheers people up like doing something nice for other people. Bring your team together for fun volunteer activities, such as walking shelter dogs or creating care packages for nursing home residents.

8. Challenges for remote teams

Engaging remote employees takes a little more ingenuity, but it’s well worth it. Here are some flexible workplace wellness challenge ideas for team members at home:

• Host a healthy cooking challenge with a different recipe or theme each week.
• Invite employees to post an emoji in the chat every time they drink a glass of water or eat a healthy snack. The person with the most emojis at the end of the week wins.
• Compete to see who can complete the most virtual fitness classes in a month.

Best Practices to Boost Participation & Results

Thinking of fun wellness challenge ideas for your workplace​ is only half the battle. You also need to get people to actually participate.

Set yourself up for success by providing the necessary resources. For example, your fitness competition might get more buy-in if you offer free gym memberships. And providing delicious, healthy lunches can make employees feel more excited about nutrition challenges.

You should also closely monitor the top employee wellness trends and incorporate them into your wellness programmes. With the growing popularity of mindfulness, for instance, workers might be delighted to join yoga or journaling challenges.

How Fitness On Demand Supports Every Step

These workplace wellness challenge ideas cover everything from eating healthy to encouraging sustainability. But you don’t have to tackle all these areas at once — that would be overwhelming. Ask your team what they care about, and start with one or two challenges that fit their goals.

As you plan your challenges, Fitness On Demand can help at every step. Use our convenient Flex App templates and signage promos to promote your challenge and attract participants. That way, you don’t have to hire a graphic designer to spread the word.

You can also send push reminders through the app. Simple messages — like “Don’t forget to drink water this morning!” or “Have you meditated today?” — will keep your challenge fresh in participants’ minds. Plus, on-demand fitness classes make it easy to get employees moving, either at home or in the office.

Once your challenge is underway, the Flex App’s built-in analytics tools can monitor participation and progress. This software gets rid of the headache of manual tracking (“How many times did I run last week?”) and keeps challenges fair.

Learn more about how Fitness On Demand can help you launch or improve your corporate wellness programmes today!