In This Post:
Presenters:
Jakob Remmel
CEO and Co-founder
Fostering a corporate culture that encourages and enables employees to take charge of their health and well-being delivers measurable improvements in energy, mood, and fitness. Employee wellness programs help companies build a stronger sense of community and improve employee morale. They have become a cornerstone of modern HR strategies. Companies increasingly recognize healthier employees are more engaged, productive, and satisfied. Among the most effective tools in this space are wellness challenges. They are structured activities that encourage employees to adopt healthier habits, often in a fun, social, and competitive way.
While launching a wellness challenge may seem straightforward, making it meaningful and lasting is far more complex. Many challenges fizzle out after the initial excitement. That’s where YuMuuv steps in by creating successful wellness challenges that keep employees moving, motivated, and involved over time.
In last week’s webinar, we heard from Jakob Remmel, CEO and Co-founder at YuMuuv, how to separate successful challenges from those that fail to deliver results. We explored the key principles that make workplace wellness challenges impactful.
About YuMuuv
YuMuuv is a wellness challenges platform that enables companies, individuals, and organizations to create different wellness challenges, whether related to physical activity or hydration. YuMuuv have tried to solve problems of very tiny verticals to those challenges and to be good at one thing, which enabled them to partner with different companies and experience positive experiences.
Companies choose the platform because of the engagement that moves people. The average YuMuuv user is 54% more active than the average adult. It is an easy-to-use platform that builds strong unity with teams working remotely or from different locations. It encourages and enables employees to take charge of their health and well-being.
Choose the Right Approach
Before diving into planning, organizations must ask: What does success mean for this challenge?
- Is the primary goal employee engagement, with health improvements as a byproduct?
- Or is the focus directly on health outcomes, using engagement strategies to sustain participation?
Without a clear definition of success, challenges risk becoming hollow PR exercises. Alignment is essential, not only between HR and leadership but also between the employer and the wellness vendor. Agreeing upfront on what to measure and why provides clarity and accountability.
Challenges generally fall into two categories:
- Event-style challenges – These can be 30-day step competitions, which are great for sparking energy, enthusiasm, and participation.
- Habit-building challenges – These can last 6 to 8 weeks or more since their goal is to instill long-term behavioral change.
Shorter formats are excellent for boosting morale, while longer ones are better suited to achieving measurable health outcomes. However, beyond 90 days, challenges often lose momentum unless variation and creativity are introduced.
Design, Structure, and Data Matter for Maximum Engagement
The design of a challenge plays an essential role in determining whether employees stay motivated or drop off after the first week. The rules should be easy to understand, and participation should be seamless. Complicated systems discourage engagement.
Employees should be able to choose from different activities. For example, tracking steps, distance, or active minutes works for everyone, while niche activities like swimming or intermittent fasting exclude many.
Goals must feel realistic. Using baselines such as the WHO recommendation of 150 minutes of activity per week, or the average 8,000 steps per day, helps ensure targets are motivating rather than intimidating.
Offering multiple success tiers allows beginners and fitness enthusiasts to feel accomplished.
The way challenges are structured has a direct impact on engagement:
- Whether at the individual, team, or company-wide level, structure should match company culture.
- Syncing data from wearables reduces friction and improves accuracy, while manual logging may increase inclusivity but risks disengagement if data feels unfair or unreliable.
- Two to four weeks is ideal for engagement-driven challenges, while six to eight weeks is better for habit-forming programs.
Communication During Challenge
Communication in wellness challenges can often make or break them. Employees need clarity, encouragement, and reminders at every stage and are more engaged if they see leaders care about the challenge, too. A typical communication timeline starts 2 to 4 weeks before launch. That’s when the challenge is announced, the benefits are explained, and the team formation is invited. Before the launch day, all participants should receive reminders, be provided with onboarding materials, and be informed of clear rules. On the launch day, detailed instructions and motivation to kick off strong are given.
Communication should remain consistent but not overwhelming during the challenge. A balance of team chats, admin announcements, and leadership involvement keeps momentum alive.
When employees see their peers being recognized, it sets a standard and cultivates a sense of shared achievement.
Rewards can increase participation, but they should be carefully structured:
- Team donations toward charitable causes.
- Raffle-style prizes that give everyone a chance.
- Resources that support health goals (e.g., fitness trackers, wellness subscriptions).
Ending Strong and Gathering Feedback
Closure is just as important as the launch. Employees must know when the challenge ends, allowing a buffer for syncing delays. Celebrate achievements, highlight success stories, and most importantly, gather feedback. Surveys, testimonials, and data insights build trust and provide valuable guidance for future initiatives.
Leaders may not focus on step counts or minutes of activity, but they value the broader outcomes: employee happiness, engagement, and workplace culture.
Get in touch with YuMuuv today!
Unlike most corporate initiatives, wellness challenges often extend beyond the workplace. Employees use wellness apps and wearables daily, engaging with their colleagues even outside of office hours. This makes wellness challenges a rare tool that simultaneously strengthens personal health, professional relationships, and organizational culture.
Launching a wellness challenge is easy, but making it successful requires thoughtful planning and execution. By defining success, choosing the proper format, designing inclusive and achievable goals, structuring effectively, communicating clearly, and ending with feedback, organizations can transform wellness challenges into powerful tools for engagement and health.
The ultimate question every HR leader should ask is: What would make your company’s next challenge the best one yet?
YuMuuv is the right partner for employers looking to optimize their benefits investment and offer meaningful support to their workforce.
For more information, contact:
Jakob Remmel – jakob@yumuuv.com
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