A project that drives itself!

The sports challenge for employees has already become a well-established tradition at FORVIA. We created a project that has become a lasting part of the company culture, and we can see its effects. The number of participants grows with each edition, and returning participants look forward to the start every year. We always emphasise that the initiative is not only for athletes.

This event is an opportunity to integrate and build relationships between all employees of our company and the production plants located across Poland.

We focus on promoting a healthy lifestyle, building physical activity habits, and combining this with preventive and educational initiatives. Of course, the spirit of competition is also an inseparable part of the fun.

In 2023, employee participation and motivation were strengthened through an innovative approach, such as missions and mini-tasks for participants to complete.

Preparations

Over the years, we have developed a project that practically drives itself and stays alive in employees' minds throughout the year. Everything begins with the Spring Edition, which coincides with the International Day of Sport and World Health Day. During this time, we organise “Health Week” - a week focused on promoting health prevention and encouraging physical activity.

Every year, we run a health campaign focused on a different topic to show that sport is an inseparable part of health. We treat spring as a warm-up before the summer challenge. And when the holiday season arrives, we launch a three-month sports competition.

When promoting the initiative, we try to show employees that physical activity has a real impact on their health. As part of the challenge promotion, we go one step further than standard emails, graphics, and posters.

We launched an extensive educational campaign that provides employees with interesting facts and health tips, helping them understand how important physical activity is for their health.

We want employees to be aware that when they go for a bike ride, they are not only earning points in the challenge, but above all supporting their health. Cycling strengthens circulation, supports heart function, improves overall health, and combines pleasure with purpose.

Because of the size of our company and the wide distribution of our plants, proper promotion proved to be key to the success of the initiative. We use channels that employees already know: we send emails and sometimes even SMS messages. In addition, in every FORVIA plant, employees can count on support from their local HR teams, who are prepared for this. This helps ensure that as many people as possible learn about the challenge and take part.

Challenge progress

We noticed that the initiative naturally increases employee engagement in physical activity, but also builds a strong and united team. That is why we reward the most engaged plant.

Employees take part in the challenge individually, but they also collect points for their team, meaning the plant where they work. The plant that takes first place receives a prize. This year, it was an electric bike charging station.

When it comes to prizes, we also reward smaller achievements. We give out small gadgets for completing the first 5 kilometres. This works as motivation and encouragement. In addition, employees talk about their activities, proudly share them, and in this way encourage others to join.

In 2023, we also introduced missions, meaning mini-challenges. Anyone who completed a mission, such as 30 km in 5 days, received a small gift. The missions were both motivating and educational, because every few kilometres, participants “unlocked” new themed facts. We want to develop the idea of rewarding engagement, not only hundreds of kilometres completed.

The social wall also proved to be a great addition. It is a screen in the app where participants could see their colleagues' activities, comment on them, and congratulate one another on workouts. Route maps appeared there as well, participants shared their favourite places and also uploaded photos. We also published these photos on the company's social media profile. We are happy to show off and share our employees' successes.

The challenge motivates not only employees, but also organisers. We even feel a slight pressure, or rather responsibility, to be an example now. So even when laziness wants to win, we still go for walks, collect points, and show our engagement. - Aldona Rdzanek, Junior Communication Specialist at FORVIA

Results

As many as 80% of participants in the 2023 edition say they move more often thanks to Activy challenges. This is a great result and a sign that the habit has stayed with them for longer. And that is our main goal: to choose a bike instead of a car a little more often, remember to go for walks, and do light exercise. Small changes lead to great achievements. Just like our challenge: over the years, we have created an event with as many as 800 participants!

Once the initiative ends, we always send everyone a big summary with thanks for taking part. We show who took the top places in the ranking, how many kilometres we covered together, how much CO₂ we saved, and everything we achieved.

Some plants also organise their own integration meetings for the most engaged participants. This is a very nice recognition, during which they summarise the results, share experiences, and congratulate one another on their achievements.

The initiative is a huge success, promoting a healthy lifestyle while also influencing company culture and creating a stronger, more integrated, and healthier work environment.