Workplace step challenge checklist for HR

Organising a workplace step challenge is one of the most accessible ways to get colleagues moving. No gym required, no special gear, just a clear reason to take a quick walk: alone, with your team, or as a whole organisation.

At the same time, People/HR often sees a challenge stall halfway: unclear goal, too long a duration, privacy questions, or no plan to measure afterwards. This checklist helps you set up a company walking challenge that employees understand and want to play, from kick-off to pilot and scale-up.

Use the steps below as a working template. You can walk through them in one afternoon with a colleague from communications or a wellness working group.

Key takeaways

• Start with the goal and measurable participation, not with the app or the prize.
• Choose 1 to 2 weeks for a pilot, 2 to 4 weeks for a classic challenge, and already plan a follow-up race.
• Arrange teams, a voluntary invitation, and privacy in one clear paragraph: steps only, no routes or heart rate.
• Reward joining and improvement, not only the extreme top. Measure who stays active after week 1.
• Start small, learn, then scale. See also why low participation in workplace wellness is so common.

1. Set the goal (and what success means)

Do not start with the app or the prize. Start with the why.

Possible goals:

• Get more employees moving (broad reach, not only the sporty ones)
• Connect teams across locations or remote work
• Make wellness visible without heavy health data
• Build a recurring rhythm after a one-off wellness week

Make success measurable, for example: X% of invited employees are active in week 1, Y teams have at least one active participant, participation stays above Z% after week 2.

Choose participation as the main goal, not everyone hitting 10,000 steps. Barriers that feel too high exclude people before the challenge starts.

2. Choose the right duration

Too short feels like a stunt. Too long gets boring or disappears into day-to-day noise.

Practical guidelines:

Type	Duration	When
Pilot / introduction	1 to 2 weeks	First time, one department
Classic challenge	2 to 4 weeks	Company-wide, with kick-off and close
Seasonal rhythm	Multiple races per quarter	When you want wellness to stick

Already at the start, plan an ending (closing moment, winners, thank-you email) and, if it works, a follow-up race. Repeatability lifts a challenge from fun event to part of the culture. More on that year structure is in company walking challenge all year.

3. Arrange teams, locations and the invitation

A step challenge for colleagues works better with a social structure.

Team checklist:

• Teams by department, location, or free signup (agree a maximum team size)
• Explicitly include hybrid and remote workers in communication
• Ambassadors per team (one person who reminds and encourages)
• Clear start date and how to join (install app, choose team, done)

Preferably invite broadly in one go, with a short explanation: what, why, how long, what is visible, that participation is voluntary. Repeat the message in week 1 via intranet, Slack or Teams, and managers.

Avoid obligation. Voluntary participation with friendly competition draws more people in than pressure from above.

4. Privacy and steps: keep it simple and transparent

This is often the conversation with the works council, the privacy officer and critical employees. Keep it clear.

A good standard for a walking challenge:

• You measure steps: no GPS routes, no heart rate, no location history
• Participation is voluntary
• Employees know beforehand what is visible (for example username, team, steps or result in the race)
• Admins mainly see what they need for organising: participation, teams, results. No medical file.

Communicate this before the start in one paragraph. Uncertainty about privacy is a silent killer of participation.

Technically: employees usually connect their phone step counter (for example Apple Health, Samsung Health, Health Connect, Google Fit or Garmin). Make sure IT knows this is an app invitation, not tracking of work routes.

5. Rewards that motivate (without a circus)

Rewards help when they are light, fair and easy to understand.

Options that work:

• Team prize (lunch, donation to a good cause, small gifts)
• Individual recognition (podium and a mention in the team)
• Mid-goals (everyone active for X days enters a raffle)
• Not only most steps: also reward joining and improvement, so not only the runners win

Avoid rewarding only the extreme top, complicated point systems nobody understands, and rewards that feel like control instead of play.

Link rewards to rounds or races, not only to one final standing. That way motivation stays on for the whole period.

6. Measure what matters (and share it back)

Without measuring, your challenge stays an anecdote. With measuring you can adjust and keep internal support.

Minimum overview for HR:

1. Number invited versus active participants
2. Participation per team or location
3. Lasting participation: are people still joining in week 2?
4. Total steps or race activity (for the impact story, not for penalties)

After closing, share a short impact note: X% joined, Y teams active, Z million steps. That makes the next challenge easier to sell to management.

In Lawa's practical experience with accessible walking challenges, participation often sits around 30 to 40% of those who get access. That is a platform observation, not a peer-reviewed fact, and differs per organisation. Use your own baseline.

7. Start with a pilot, then scale

You do not have to launch the whole organisation at once.

Pilot checklist:

• 1 department or 1 location (or 100 to 200 people as a band)
• Clear owner on the People side
• Kick-off, mid reminder, and closing moment
• Feedback questions: was the duration right? Was privacy clear? Was the competition fun?
• Decision: stop, adjust, or scale

A pilot makes the conversation with stakeholders calmer: you show how it works, participation and manageability before you roll out broadly. Platforms such as Lawa Hub for organisations are explicitly set up for this: manage challenges, leaderboards and rewards centrally, with the option to start small.

Extra: quick week-by-week planning

Moment	Action
2 weeks beforehand	Lock goal, duration, teams, privacy text, rewards
1 week beforehand	Brief managers and ambassadors, prepare invitation
Week 1	Kick-off, help with app linking, first leaderboard update
Halfway	Reminder plus mid-sprint or team goal
Close	Winners, thank-you, impact numbers, question: next race?

Frequently asked questions

How do I organise a step challenge without HR losing weeks?

Lock goal, duration, teams and rewards in one document. Use a platform or app that syncs steps automatically and keeps leaderboards, so you are not updating Excel by hand. Plan three communication moments (start, middle, close) instead of daily messages.

What if colleagues cannot or do not want to walk?

Keep participation voluntary. Communicate that every amount of movement counts and that it is not competitive sport. For people who cannot register steps at all, a pure step challenge is less suitable. Consider a parallel, inclusive team role (ambassador, encourager) or another wellness offer alongside the challenge.

Do we need to share GPS or health data?

No, that is not needed for a good company walking challenge. Steps alone are enough for competition and insight. That keeps the privacy conversation simpler and the barrier lower.

What participation rate can I expect?

In accessible walking challenges, Lawa often sees around 30 to 40% of those who get access. Use that as direction, measure your own pilot, and do not blindly compare with another sector. More context is in low participation workplace wellness.

How do I stop it becoming a one-off stunt?

Before the start, already plan race 2 or a seasonal rhythm. Without repeat moments, every challenge goes quiet after the prize moment. Read why one week is not enough.

Next step

Open an empty document today with five headings: goal, duration, teams, privacy line, reward. Fill each heading in one sentence. That is enough to start with a colleague tomorrow.

Want to turn this checklist into a concrete race for your organisation? See Lawa Hub or email business@lawa.world for a short demo. Want to try how step racing feels privately first? The consumer app on lawa.world is free to download.

Sources

• Lawa Hub practice observation (participation in accessible walking challenges; not a peer-reviewed study)
• Lawa product knowledge on pilots, privacy (steps-only) and reward design

Elke Stap is Lawa's AI editor. Articles are human-reviewed. Not medical advice; practical guidance for People teams.