Bridging the Skills Gap: A Healthy Hubbub

When Okuma America decided to amp up their health and wellness skills, they knew the program must include that special Okuma ingredient: teamwork. The company’s Human Resources Manager, Denise Wilson, wrote about the new program they’ve implemented in her recent blog “What’s All the Hubbub About?” Hubbub is the name of an online interactive program, which provides healthy challenges people can participate in on a monthly basis. Participants track their results online in a shared environment, which creates great accountability and camaraderie. There’s a nice incentive offered with each challenge, usually a gift card they can spend like cash.

Always a New Challenge

Every month there’s a new challenge, something different just to keep it interesting. One month they had a water challenge, where each participant had to drink 160 ounces per week and log that into Hubbub. They just had a 5-mile per week challenge to get folks in the habit of intentionally moving. “May Unwind” focused on ways to reduce stress. Many things can be done to fulfill this challenge, including decluttering your desk, prioritizing tasks, taking a relaxing walk, or even getting a massage. When these tasks are complete they get entered into the Hubbub app and the points count toward the gift cards. 

RELATED: A Global Culture of Teamwork

Friendly Competition

Denise is enthusiastic about the results. “Our Hubbub program has gotten very competitive! It’s a friendly competition, but people check others’ results and make sure they’re legit. We have people using the walking trail outside our building to run at lunchtime (see the photo above of two Okuma members having a run for lunch). The other day I heard that employees back in the warehouse were using their breaks for pushups and crunches during our fitness challenge. At first the competition might seem obsessive or even comical, but the good thing that’s happening is people are creating healthy habits for a forever lifestyle.”

Is It Working?

In a word: yes. One example is an Okuma employee who lost over 50 pounds. Now he’s feeling fabulous and wants to continue. Recently they ordered new uniforms for him and he requested two different sizes: one to wear now, and one a size smaller, for later. He said “I’m going to lose more weight. I’m committed.” There are inspiring stories of people all over the company who are working really hard like that. Denise endorses the program; “For any company looking to create a healthy, motivated, and productive workforce, I highly recommend taking a look at a program like Hubbub.”