The challenge

Like many teams operating in the modern working environments of 2024, Hilti Great Britain’s team was no different. Looking to build social connection between team members who are dispersed across the whole country and drive engagement to maintain the company’s strong corporate culture, they needed a catalyst to spark the shift.

The solution

Enter GoJoe. And more specifically enter GoJoe’s workplace virtual fitness challenges.

As such, the “Connect@Hilti Challenge” was formed. An epic 70-day challenge to get and keep the team fit, healthy and battling with and against each other right to the end.

Along with the challenge, Hilti’s team were given access to the wider features of GoJoe Premium to help motivate them even more and ignite some inspiration for the challenge.  From Les Mills physical workout and House of Wellbeing’s mental relaxation to our very own step-by-step Journey programmes, there was plenty to get stuck into.

The results

70 days is longer than our average corporate challenge, but the Hilti team showed both what a competitive and active bunch they are as well as the stickability of challenges. Everyone is/was a winner – and we like that outcome.

Headliners:

• 26 teams‍
• 253 participants (we call them Joes, btw)‍
• 8,794 activity sessions logged  ‍
• 33,200km travelled (That’s just short of a return trip from London to Sydney)‍
• 605 days of combined exercise ‍
• 2.7m calories burnt (or 1,221 pizzas)

Per Joe:

Big numbers are great but what Hilti managed per person is worth celebrating – and very loudly

• 3.78 hours per week of exercise
• 46 activity sessions
• 175km travelled
• 14,735 calories burnt

Life changing habits:

They say it takes 66 days to create a long-term habit. Well, with four extra days, the Hilti team have achieved something special. And the numbers back it up:

Smashing targets: On average the team exceeded NHS exercise guidelines of 2.5 hours per week by 50% during the challenge

Getting the inactive, active: Everyone exercised more than usual for the challenge, but we know the impact on those who find it harder to get out and about is greater. Love to see it. Those who previously exercised…

• Not at all went from 0 sessions per month to averaging 12
• 1-2 times a month jumped to 10 times a month
• 3-5 times a month leapt to 15 times
• 6-8 times catapulted to 28 times
• And 8+ a month a smashed out a mammoth 33 sessions

Healthy habits and stronger connections:

So back to the brief of connections and culture:

• 95% of users enjoyed the challenge 😊
• 67% felt more positively about Hilti as a place to work following the challenge
• 51% said they feel more connected to colleagues after the Connect@Hilti Challenge
• 41% had managed to make fresh connections within the business and 32% said it had made a positive business impact on their day job
• 80% wanted to do it all over again! Keen bunch.

Alexander Kaltenboeck, Head of Marketing (Strategic & Digital) for Hilti Northern Europe, was the leadership sponsor of the Connect@Hilti Challenge. He said:

“Employee feedback told us we needed to connect more as an organisation, across teams and individuals.  With input from one of our employee engagement work groups, we agreed that creating opportunities for colleagues to connect and interact was a top priority.  With the Connect@Hilti challenge, we did this in an inclusive, fun and healthy way.  We enjoyed seeing so many colleagues logging activities and getting involved in the weekly challenges which were not always exercise focused.  Lots of great photos and comments were shared throughout the challenge, giving us greater insight into what our friends and colleagues at Hilti do outside work.  We know the GoJoe challenge enabled colleagues to make new connections and strengthen relationships which will inevitably contribute to higher engagement and better team spirit.”

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