Team competition for SMEs: Healthy and fit at work

Stressed and sick employees are expensive for employers. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) calculates that absenteeism and treatment costs cost CHF 4.2 billion a year. In addition, stressed employees are not only less motivated, but also much more likely to suffer from physical and mental ailments. The Swiss startup WeAct wants to counteract this trend with its participation campaign We Act for Impact: Small actions in everyday office life increase team spirit, boost motivation and improve the health of all employees in the long term.

Eating more consciously together
After last year's energy edition, the focus of the team competition in 2016 is on nutrition. Interested SMEs can register now at www.weactforimpact.ch sign up and activate registration for their employees. During three weeks in September, employees set individual goals around nutrition and teambuilding. Whether it's a shared vegetarian lunch, a break in the sun instead of at the computer screen, or shopping by bike: everyone looks for their own little challenges and thus changes their everyday habits in a playful way. But it's not just the competition against other teams that spurs people on to achieve the goals they've set themselves. There is also the ecological aspect: those who eat according to healthy and environmentally friendly criteria can enjoy with a clear conscience.

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We Act for Impact is a nationwide team competition that aims to improve health, sustainability and team spirit in the workplace through play.

Motivated in the team
The added value for the employer? A balanced diet not only improves well-being and health. Employees are generally more satisfied and motivated on the job, and team activities increase interaction with their colleagues. With targeted health programs, performance and satisfaction can be increased and absences noticeably reduced. According to a study by AXA Winterthur, every franc invested in health promotion is quadrupled to sextupled, as the absenteeism rate can be reduced by up to 36 %.

Sustainability in action
"Sustainability has many facets and can be quite abstract. With the Challenge, we show in an understandable way how everyone can be more aware of their everyday life," says Irene Schlatter, Head of Marketing at WeAct. Less tangible goals, which would otherwise be difficult to implement, can be tackled together and experienced in a playful way. The small changes in everyday life are easier to implement as a team and can have a big impact. Last year, 341 participants saved more than 5 tons of CO2 with over 30,000 actions during 3 weeks at We Act for Impact. And not only the numbers, but also the enthusiastic reactions speak for themselves. Participants report changing habits, spurring each other on, and a better work environment. Three quarters have indicated that they will continue to carry out some of the We Act for Impact actions.

Registration for companies: http://www.weactforimpact.ch/de/betriebe