Health Handouts : Employee Health Promotion Programs: Physical Activity With Co-employees

• Develop a launch event to foster excitement about upcoming activities and to create a social climate that establishes being active as the norm.
• Develop and encourage monthly or bi-monthly employer programs that are fun and active, e.g., picnics with physical games, employee tournaments and dragon boat racing. Encourage families to join in by including all-ages programs such as relay races, soccer matches, bocce ball and baseball games.
• Launch a swim club at a local pool. Invite groups of staff members to swim the distance of a nearby lake. Convert kilometres to lengths and reward staff members who complete the swim. Set up a challenge between staff members and managers to see who covers the greatest distance.
• Post a sign-up board where employee can join a group or find a buddy to take part in activities of interest.
• Create a organization badminton tournament that lasts several months, with each employee playing once a week. Display the results as the tournament progresses.
• Create an office Olympics, World Cup, Wimbledon or Masters Games. Invite teams to compete in several activities over a month. Reward everyone who participates.
• Establish a point system in which one minute of exercise equals one point. Set a target, and post a chart where all workers can track their points. Reward the first group to reach that target.
• Design a stair climb challenge. Display a chart at the top of the stairwell, and encourage workers to track the number of flights of stairs they climb each workday. Set up teams, and award a prize to the first team to climb the equivalent of Mount Everest.
• Post and encourage a sign-up board for lunchtime walking groups.
• Organize a walk “across America” Choose a route, learn how many steps it would take to walk that distance and challenge workers to do it. Give or loan pedometers to workers, and ask them to record the number of steps they take. Or, if you cannot afford pedometers, track the minutes walked. Set up a challenge between workers and managers to see who can walk across America first.
• Create a walk to work club. Acknowledge employees who either walk to work or walk to public transit.
• Have a volunteer group leader guide weekly lunchtime power walks.
• Develop a million-step challenge. Form groups, challenge each group to walk a combined total of a million steps and reward the winner. Departments or sites might compete with each other and with senior staff.
• Challenge workers to walk 10,000 steps a day. Buy pedometers for all participating workers or, if you can’t afford that, make pedometers available at a reduced rate. Provide tips for increasing daily steps, and reward workers who succeed.