Motivating Coworkers (a little long)

[shootingstar]

One of my former employers had an excellent wellness program that did motivate quite a number of employees ...at different times for different activities.

In working with the wellness coordinator, your company might want to partner with non-profit organizations ie. the YWCA/YMCA, local cycling group that already have someone who has information to provide a lunch hr. session, etc.

this employer brought in a trained kinesiologist where person did take body fat measurements, weight and gave info. as starting point for interested employees.

For cycling, walking or running activities, consider a fun cumulative mileage/distance thing which perhaps one could visually show on a map over time and as a visual motivator.

[wildhawk]

At our workplace, our company nurse implements Wellness Wednesdays with various doctors in the area. It was once a week, but now it is about once a month (budget cuts). She brings in chiropractors, dermatologists, mobile mammography, etc. The checkups are usually free. She has also gotten several weight loss (Weight Watchers) groups started as well as a local yoga instructor came by for a bit. Some of us do charity rides and walks on our own and the response is good. I think if you ran your ideas by her and got a bike group started you would be surprised to see how it will grow. I personally got a Christmas Angel Tree project and an employee art/talent show started at my company and they have now become corporate sponsored annual events. All it takes is promoting your idea and getting a few close friends/co-workers to join in. Hmmm… now you have me thinking - I will try and get a bike group together at my workplace too! Good luck and keep us posted.

[lph]

This may be useful, just pick and choose anything that seems appropriate

In Norway we have a nation-wide Bike to Work Campaign, but it only runs in spring, through May and June, I think. A couple of years ago they started asking hefty entry fees to join ( ) so my workplace just opted out and started our own. We now have our own campaign that runs all through the summer months, and then my baby, our very own Winter Campaign, starts up The summer campaign (about 70 people) has it's own web page, the winter one (about 30 people) is just a spreadsheet. In both you enter your km for the day, then you can click to see the results sorted by no. of times biked OR no. of kms biked. Which means that both people who ride often (but maybe not that far), and people who have a long way (but can't be bothered to ride that often) get to be visible.

When I've tried to motivate people, I think of what motivates me. We have some prizes, but the "winners" are just drawn randomly from the bunch of people who have ridden more than 5 times. The most avid cyclists aren't the ones who need motivating anyway, IMO. What most people appreciate is having someone to compete against, being seen and having someone cheering them on. So I make a point out of noticing who's in the campaign, mentioning the most eager ones lately, or the newcomers, by name in a joint email from time to time, and this year I took a round of teh house and handed out chocolates to everyone who'd logged kms in NOvember and I'll do the same next month. I'm also planning a very basic mechanics class, just so that nobody has to go to their lbs just to check their bikes, change a flat, switch tires, and adjust their brakes.

Ok, that's the bike part. We also have a very enthusiastic physiotherapist who everybody tries to avoid because she's forever after us to switch office chairs, or do stretches or something... But I'd much rather focus on the fun fitness stuff.