The secret to a great retirement community is its workforce and one of the country’s leading operators RetireAustralia takes the health of its own employees seriously.
As part of its employee wellness program, RetireAustralia partnered with Healthy Workplaces to launch ‘The Amazing RAce’, a virtual step challenge encouraging team members to ‘walk together’ and complete an almost 8000km virtual trek from its Lincoln Grove community in Port Lincoln, South Australia, to Carlyle Gardens in Bargara, a coastal town in Queensland’s Bundaberg Region, and back from 10 June to 10 July.
Almost one third of the RetireAustralia team put their best foot forward to take part in the challenge, which saw 19 teams virtually step their way through all 29 of RetireAustralia’s villages and back, over three times.
Unfortunately, a technical glitch skewed the step count of some participants which meant RetireAustralia was unable calculate precisely how far they walked, or which team walked the furthest.
RetireAustralia CEO Brett Robinson said while the glitch was a little disappointing for challenge participants, The Amazing RAce was never really about taking the top spot.
“We all stepped forward into this challenge as ‘One Team’ to achieve a collective goal – connecting with teammates and improving our health along the way,” he said.
“While we may not know exactly how far we walked, or which team walked the furthest, we do know we smashed our goal, built new connections across teams and improved our health outcomes in just 30 days – that’s a win in my eyes!”
The challenge was just the push Lisa Marshall, Admin Assistant at Forresters Beach Retirement Village needed.
“Not only did I have fun with my teammates, I’ve now also rejoined Park Run,” she said.
The Amazing RAce is part of RetireAustralia’s Employee Wellness program aimed to promote individual health, encourage team building and bring the business’s ‘One Team’ value to life.
The step challenge was linked to the health, social and community dimensions of RetireAustralia’s Employee Wellness Program which is led by Anthony Heald, General Manger – Culture, Strategy and Business Services. It aimed to promote individual health, encourage team building and bring the company’s ‘One Team’ value to life.