How to Launch a Successful Making Strides Challenge

Run a successful step challenge with minimal effort

Busy HR admins can easily run the Making Strides challenge while also creating an engaging experience for employees!

Once you've selected your challenge dates and any prizes you'd like to offer, the On the Goga team takes care of the rest—from setting up the challenge in your Wellbeing Hub to keeping participants engaged throughout the month.

This guide covers:

  • What you'll do before the challenge

  • What On the Goga will handle for you

  • Best practices for maximizing participation

  • Helpful resources to share with employees

Your Role

Running a successful Making Strides challenge only requires a few simple steps.

1. Choose your challenge dates

Work with your Wellbeing Program Manager to select the following:

  • Challenge start and end dates

  • Any prizes or incentives you'd like to offer

  • Any organization-specific messaging you'd like included

Once those details are finalized, we'll prepare everything else behind the scenes.

2. Invite any new employees

A challenge is only fun if people know about it!

Before the challenge begins, we recommend checking whether any new employees still need access to your Wellbeing Hub.

If you have new hires, now is the perfect time to invite them. See ourguide to Inviting New Hub Users for instructions.

If you have any employees who haven’t yet activated their Wellbeing Hub accounts, send them a reminder to activate their accounts so they can participate in the challenge! Here are some email and Slack message templates to help you get started. 

3. Promote the challenge

The more employees hear about the challenge, the higher participation tends to be.
Consider promoting the challenge through:

  • Company email

  • Slack or Microsoft Teams

  • Internal newsletters

  • Staff meetings

  • Digital signage or office TVs

  • Manager reminders during team meetings

We recommend announcing:

  • One week before the challenge begins

  • On launch day

  • Weekly reminders throughout the challenge

  • Final week "finish strong" encouragement

4. Help employees get ready

Employees can participate using the following:

  • Their smartphone

  • A compatible wearable (like a Fitbit, Garmin, Oura Ring, etc.)

  • Manual activity conversion (for activities like cycling, swimming, yoga, strength training, and more!)

We'll begin prompting employees to connect their devices one week before the challenge starts.

If you'd like to help spread the word, you can also share our employee connection guide (link).

What On the Goga Takes Care Of

As soon as you schedule your challenge, we'll take it from there.

Our team will:

  • ✅ Set up your challenge in your Wellbeing Hub

  • ✅ Notify participants one week before the challenge begins

  • ✅ Help employees connect their phone or wearable

  • ✅ Automatically track progress throughout the challenge

  • ✅ Celebrate employee milestones with motivational emails

Examples of milestones include:

  • First goal reached

  • Goal streaks

  • Total goals achieved

  • Activity conversion milestones

We'll also administer challenge prizes after the challenge ends (unless you've arranged a different process with your Wellbeing Program Manager).

Need Help?

Your Wellbeing Program Manager is here to help.
Whether you have questions about prizes, challenge dates, employee participation, or promotion ideas, we're happy to help make your challenge a success!
Email us at clientexperience@onthegoga.com.

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How to Onboard Your Team to the Wellbeing Hub