Employee well-being: vitality programs in place at the members of the Belgian Intranet & Digital Workplace Group

13 May 2024 - by Guy Van Leemput

Employee well-being continues to be a top concern in many organisations. Gradually, leaders are understanding the benefits of making employee well-being a priority, and programs are being introduced by HR and Internal Comms departments.


So what’s the situation in Belgium? A recent roundtable with the members of the Belgian Intranet & Digital Workplace Group focused on just one aspect of employee well-being: the physical well-being thanks to exercise and sports. The discussion revealed that most Belgian organisations do have some form of ‘vitality’ program in place, often driven by the HR department and supported by a specific tool or app. Here are some examples of what has been implemented:

1.  Staircase challenge

One organisation has held a staircase challenge for a number of years, whereby teams were asked to climb a staircase of 10 floors in the shortest time possible. The same organisation also launched a ‘VéloMai’ initiative, taking place each year during the month of May, to promote cycling.

2.  Running, walking and cycling challenges

Several large Belgian organisations have set up challenges and competitions for this, typically supported by a dedicated well-being app such as teroGO (previously Atlas GO), Keep Moving, or Moving Lives. Some examples:

  • Small Steps/Big Impact: A team challenge whereby each team needs to reach a certain number of steps to unlock an envelope, in order to support a charity of their choice.
  • Using the teroGO app to encourage employees to do more sports: This company has set up a yearly challenge, running from end of March until the end of October, to register sports activities in favour of a good cause. In some years this can be the planting of trees, or it can be a charity project proposed by the employees themselves. The teroGO app links to existing tracking and health apps (Fitbit, Garmin, Apple Health, Strava) to register all activity.
  • Challenges in the KeepMoving app: This app is used by the HR department of another large Belgian company, where sports-related challenges are set up. Individual activities are synched with the app and contribute to reaching the challenge in favour of a good cause.
  • 20km of Brussels: Several companies support this race in various ways. One company has a coaching program in place to prepare employees to participate. Coaching is done by peers, and all communications are done via the intranet platform.

3.  Vitality boost program

At this company, the HR department has introduced a vitality boost program. It offers employees the possibility to perform a ‘human energy scan’, based on a personal questionnaire. Based on the results you can then subscribe to different ‘Energy Journeys’:

  • Food for Energy: learning better food habits, and following up your glucose level
  • Exercise to energise
  • Beating stress
  • Sleep

Each energy journey consists of several workshops running throughout the year.

Caveat: reach of vitality programs is limited

A few members of the group remarked that their vitality programs, although much appreciated by the people who participate in them, only reach a small percentage of employees. In one organisation, out of a total population of 2000 people, only 150 actually participated. More needs to be done to promote these initiatives and make them easily accessible to all.


Interested in becoming a member of the Belgian Intranet & Digital Workplace Group and discuss issues like these with a group of peers? Contact us for a free trial meeting!

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