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Employee Engagement Employee Experience Employee Wellbeing Best Practices Organisational Culture

12 billion calories burned during the 2018 Virgin Pulse Global Challenge

Results from the May 2017 Global Challenge program – in which over 300,000 participants in 185 countries took part in an initiative that improves

physical activity, sleep and mental health – showed that:

  • Members burned 12 billion calories – the equivalent of 53 million slices of pizza
  • 65% of members who tracked their weight during the 100 Day Journey reported weight loss
  • The average weight loss per member was 3.2 kg
  • Members took a collective total of 319 billion steps
  • Together they travelled a distance of 204 million kilometres – the equivalent of 17,093 trips from Sydney to San Francisco

Results from the program also highlight the significant impact that workplace wellbeing can have on overcoming common workplace performance challenges such as stress, sleep, and disengagement. All three are leading causes of lost productivity in the workplace. Stress alone drains over $300 billion annually from U.S. industry. Lack of sleep adds up to USD $411 billion annually and in the UK,   disengagement totals losses of £340bn per year.

The Global Challenge had a significant impact on these common challenges:

  • 68% of members saw a decrease in their stress levels either at home or at work
  • 67% of members met the recommended amount of sleep vs. 56% before the program
  • 62% of members became more aware of their organisation’s commitment to health and wellbeing

The Global Challenge results support the findings of a recent Virgin Pulse report issued in partnership with Human Capital Media, which showed that employee engagement and measurement of wellbeing programs were a key concern. The Global Challenge report proves that wellbeing can deliver on these key concerns.

The next Virgin Pulse Global Challenge kicks off on May 23rd 2018.  Find out more about the 2018 Global Challenge.