Where should I start?
With your team, not with a catalogue. A short anonymous survey of three questions tells you more than any list of ideas: what do you do to stay well today, what would you do if it were easier or paid for, and what gets in the way?
The answers usually point to the same few barriers: time, cost, distance and not knowing where to start. A good idea removes one of them. An idea that removes none is a perk people hear about once and forget.
Which sport and movement ideas work?
Choice matters more than anything else. A benefit tied to one gym suits the people who like that gym; a range of activities suits the whole team. Our guide to corporate gym membership compares the kinds of scheme.
Think about where your people are on a normal day, too. A team that works from home three days a week needs places near home as much as near the office, and a benefit that only works in one postcode will be used by the few who live in it.
- A multi-gym membership people choose for themselves: gyms, pools, yoga, climbing and classes, near home or near the office
- Discounts at a few gyms near the office, for teams who mostly work in one place
- Walking meetings, and a standing invitation to take calls on the move
- A weekly group session at lunchtime: a run, a class or a walk, open to every level
- Showers, bike storage and room for a gym bag, which make training before work possible
How do team challenges help?
A challenge gives a benefit a story. Teams or offices compete on workouts or minutes moved for a few weeks, with a leaderboard everyone can see, and people who never talk at work end up talking about training.
Keep it open to every level: count effort and taking part, not performance, so the person who walks every day can beat the marathon runner. Run one when you launch a benefit, and then a couple of times a year.
What about partner discounts and perks?
Discounts work best when they cover things people already pay for: physiotherapy, sessions with a nutritionist, sports events, kit and shops. They show that the benefit is about more than the gym.
Choose partners near where your people live and work, and make the discount easy to use. A discount waiting in an app on everyone's phone beats a voucher someone has to find, print and remember.
Partner discounts also reach the people who will never join a gym: someone with a bad back who needs a physio, or someone who wants help with food before they think about training.
Can time to train be a wellbeing benefit?
Often it is the one that matters most. Time is the barrier people mention first, and a membership is no use if the working day leaves no room for it.
Write the rule down. A flexibility that depends on asking each time is rarely used.
- A longer lunch break on training days, made up at another time
- Starting earlier or later so people can train at a quiet hour
- One slot a week with no meetings, kept free for movement
- Managers who say, out loud, that they use it too
How do I measure take-up without tracking people?
Count, don't watch. You need to know whether people use what you pay for; you don't need to know who trained on Tuesday. People use a benefit more freely when they know their workouts are not being watched.
- Aggregate figures only: how many people joined, and how much the benefit is used overall
- No reports for teams so small that a figure points to a person
- A short anonymous survey once or twice a year, asking what is missing
- A clear note to your people on what the company sees, and what it never sees
Where does Yeki Pass fit in?
Yeki Pass is one of these ideas, ready to use: one monthly membership for gyms, studios, pools and sports centres, on the plan each person chooses. The company covers all or part of it, everyone gets an invite and picks their plan and places, and there is one charge a month for the people who have activated it, with no minimum number of people.
Plus is included, so people have their workout plans, progress and nutrition in the app. Team challenges between colleagues and offices run with a leaderboard in the app, and partner discounts cover physiotherapists, nutritionists, events and shops in the network. If you would rather start with a few gyms near the office, Yeki also sets up discounts for your employees at the gyms you choose.
The company sees how many people have activated the Pass and how much they use it, always in aggregate. Who trains, where and when stays private.
