3 no-goes for your next vitality initiative 🛑

No-go 1: Don't repeat the same initiative again 🔂

Imagine this: every year, right in April, you organise that famous 10,000 steps challenge again. It feels like that one Netflix series you've been watching for the third time. The consequence? Motivation drops. To avoid repeating an initiative, you can develop an initiative year calendar. Look for big events, like the Olympics, or seasonal themes that you can pre-plan into your annual calendar so you don't have to think last minute.

You can send out a yearly survey to gauge what types of initiatives employees value most. By asking about their preferences and ideas, you get instant insight into what motivates them and keeps them involved. For example, you can do this with a short, anonymous questionnaire sent out via intranet or via mail to collect feedback and use it to develop new, fresh initiatives. Collaboration with other departments to develop various themes and activities can also be useful. For example, you can collaborate with the marketing department to create creative campaigns that surprise and enthuse employees. Imagine working with marketing to launch a 'Summer Fit' programme, complete with workshops, healthy recipes, and a joint sports day.

No-go 2: Don't plan initiatives during holidays, holidays or busy periods 🏖️

Ready! Set!...Go? With the wrong timing of your vitality initiative, enthusiastic employees may be absent anyway. "May Active!" during the May holidays or a "Mindfulness Day" when the sales team organises an annual customer day. It's a missed opportunity for your initiative and the employees who would have liked to participate. Integrate your organisation's school holidays, building holidays, cultural holidays and major events into your digital calendar ahead of time so that you can take this into account while planning your vitality initiative.

When planning your initiatives, it is wise to overview the busiest periods within your organisation. For example, you can create a shared digital calendar with all the important dates and deadlines from different departments. This will help you choose a good time for your initiatives. You can set up the calendar and share it via internal communication systems such as Microsoft Teams or Google Calendar.

Furthermore, you can involve employees in planning the initiatives by asking them for suggestions for suitable dates. This way, you create support and increase the likelihood of participation. For example, ask the question via a poll on an internal communication platform where employees can vote on the most suitable period for a new workshop or challenge.

No-go 3: Don't organise 2 initiatives at the same time ❌

You're probably very excited about new vitality initiatives, but sometimes, you can feel like a kid in a sweet shop; you want to start all the fun vitality initiatives at once. When you launch too many initiatives at once, employees lose track of them. Put your focus on one initiative at a time. This will allow your employees to fully engage and get the most out of it. You can create a clear overview of all planned initiatives for the coming year, so that you don't accidentally plan several initiatives simultaneously. You can keep this overview in an Excel sheet or an initiatives calendar, for example, and update it monthly. As HR manager, you could give a monthly update on planned activities during team meetings to keep everyone informed.

To avoid overlapping initiatives, you could set up an internal coordination team. This team can consist of representatives from different departments jointly responsible for planning and coordinating all initiatives. This ensures that each initiative gets the attention it deserves and that no conflicting events take place. For example, an HR manager can organise a monthly meeting with this team to discuss and coordinate the planning and progress of all initiatives.

By avoiding these three no-goes, you ensure that your vitality initiatives are fresh, well-timed and effective. In doing so, you will create a positive impact on the health and well-being of your employees, ultimately contributing to a productive and happy work environment.