Trimming the Fat but not the Fun - the Solstice Weight Loss Challenge

Guest Writer - Grace Pai, Solstice Consulting Director of Recruiting

Solstice is undergoing a change. In the next few months, you’ll notice trimmer waistlines, healthier habits, and potentially crabbier attitudes. Most of this will be the by-product of a company-wide Weight Loss Challenge. We’re willing to undergo exercise, deprivation, and teetolism to see who can trim the most fat. Why? For a healthy lifestyle and bragging rights? All good benefits but the real reason people are participating is the cash prize. There’s an entry fee with matching company contribution and winner takes most.

The result of this small company investment has boosted morale by doubling participation and increasing camaraderie to the point of trash talk. What began as a joke has become a real contest with substantial cash incentive. There is even the expectation that this will become an annual tradition.

As the primary instigator – you can thank me later – preparation for the Fat Bet has caused me to reflect on the positive overflow that has been created from what is essentially a group diet. With an increasingly spread out workforce, it is natural for employees to get sucked into the daily grind and start to feel disconnected from each other and their company.

Perhaps for some employers, that’s fine as long as they keep performing at a high level. They don’t care if they have happier, more invested employees. I can hear hardliners saying they should quit their whining and thank their lucky stars they are still employed in this economy. While I am not a believer in coddling employees, there is nothing wrong in trying to better the workplace be it real or virtual. After all, happier employees are also more productive and creative.

So why are we doing this? For Solstice, it’s because technology doesn’t magically deliver solutions, people do. Employees are our true commodities and if you want to attract and maintain talent, companies need to make the effort to keep their employees invested and happy. Trimming our waist lines is helping us trim our clients' bottom line. What is your organization doing to keep the workforce happy in a time of tight budgets?