Barathwaj Maadhavan
AI Engineer · Forward Deployed Engineer
Unit-Wide Employee Wellness Walkathon
Co-led a 300+ person wellness initiative across the CRM unit.
Overview
I conceptualized and led a unit-wide employee wellness initiative called Walkathon, designed to encourage healthier lifestyles and increase physical activity among employees across the CRM unit, which comprised 300+ employees.
The core objective was to motivate employees to become more physically active by encouraging them to work toward a 10,000-step daily target, while creating a sense of friendly competition, teamwork, and engagement across the unit.
The Challenge
Running a wellness program at this scale was a significant organisational challenge:
- 300+ participants spread across multiple teams and functions.
- Only two organisers — myself and one peer — responsible for the entire initiative.
- Sustaining engagement over a three-month period, which is where most wellness programs lose momentum.
- No dedicated budget or platform — everything had to be coordinated using existing tools and internal communication channels.
What I Did
I co-led the initiative end-to-end, from initial concept through to final recognition and rewards. My responsibilities spanned planning, execution, coordination, and program management.
Program Structure
We organised the 300+ participants into five teams, each led by a designated team leader responsible for motivating their members and encouraging participation throughout the initiative.
Fitness Tracking & Progress Monitoring
We integrated all participants into a fitness-tracking application, which allowed us to monitor individual and team step counts and track progress throughout the program.
Sustaining Engagement
To maintain momentum over the three-month initiative, we:
- Coordinated regularly with team leaders.
- Shared weekly progress updates across the unit.
- Communicated achievements and milestones.
- Used emails and internal communications to keep employees motivated and involved.
- Created posters and communication campaigns to drive awareness and participation.
Recognition & Rewards
Beyond tracking steps, we structured the initiative around friendly competition and recognition, giving participants a tangible incentive to remain active:
- Top-performing team — recognised with a team gift.
- Top three individual participants — received T-shirts and recognition through the company's spotlight/reward points system, redeemable for gift cards and other rewards.
Results & Impact
- 300+ employees engaged across the CRM unit.
- Three months of sustained participation — a rarity for wellness programs of this scale.
- Five competing teams driving friendly competition and cross-team collaboration.
- Increased daily physical activity — employees worked consistently toward the 10,000-step target.
- Delivered with just two organisers — requiring significant ownership, coordination, and communication.
Key Learnings
This initiative taught me that engagement at scale is fundamentally a communication problem. The structure — teams, leaders, weekly updates — mattered far more than any single incentive. I also learned that running something this large with only two people forces you to delegate meaningfully: the team leaders became force multipliers, and trusting them was essential. Most of all, it reinforced that people respond well to programs that are simple, visible, and social.