Adobe Health and Wellness with the GCC

2011 is the first year Adobe has taken part in the Global Corporate Challenge. Rosemary Arriada-Keiper, director, Global Benefits, talks about Adobe’s participation in the GCC so far.

Tell us about Wellness at Adobe.
Adobe is committed to being a healthy employer with wellness programs that increase our employees’ awareness of their health and encourage them to take action to maintain or improve it.

Why did you choose to take part in the GCC 2011?
We wanted to help our employees get active and have fun. The GCC was simple, global, encouraged team work, and seemed like something that would fuel our competitive spirit.

How did you get so many employees involved from so many countries?
We had a communication strategy in place and utilized various vehicles such as messaging from our leadership, posters and flyers in high traffic areas. We also provided incentives to the teams who were among the first to register and we designed several internal competitions with wellness-themed prizes.

What results have been achieved so far?
Adobe’s 4,501 employees have walked 3.5 billion steps after 95 days of the challenge, collecting a company-wide step average of 11,937 – almost 4 times that of the average office worker. After week 12, the average Adobe employee step count has increased by 2,500 steps since they started the challenge, and 78% of participants are walking over 7,500 steps per day.

According to the most recent GCC participant study, 92% of Adobe employees feel the GCC has had a positive impact on their overall lifestyle behaviour. 31% are walking to work more often, and 26% are taking more lunchtime walks.

What visible impact have you seen in the workplace?
We’ve heard of employees swapping sit-down meetings for walking meetings, there is a lot more traffic in the stairwells, and many have scheduled team outings on the weekend to improve their health, wellbeing and team work.

In addition, we have seen quite a bit of socialization among employees as they compete with each other and compare progress. The program has created a buzz and level of excitement across the company that we have not seen in a while.