Amongvirtual fitness offerings, 30-minute fitness classes typicallyreceive the greatest participation along with afternoon classes andclasses on Mondays. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Like many other corporate campuses, Best Buy's16,000-square-foot on-site fitness center (the Wellness Zone) thatserves its 1,400-plus corporate employees, has been empty sincemid-March when the COVID-19 pandemic began. As employees startedworking from home, it became obvious: the company had to dosomething to engage these 1,400-plus team members who were nowworking from home full-time for the foreseeable future and buildoff the momentum their onsite program provided with its fitness andwell-being options.

So, Best Buy activated its WellnessZone Facebook page to help support the health and well-being ofits employees.

Related: Reinventing corporate wellness for the remoteworkforce

The Wellness Zone was not a new concept. Before the COVID-19pandemic, it was used by the wellness team to post articles andshare group exercise class schedules. Today, it serves asemployees' one-stop shop for virtual fitness.

The Facebook page now includes information about live groupexercise classes, fitness challenges and educational content thewellness team was previously sharing on-site at the fitness center.Over the last few months, the Best Buy team has noticed many newfaces showing up to the page, engaging and feeling more connectedthan before.

Prior to the outbreak, group fitness classes and personaltraining were the most popular offerings among employees within theWellness Zone. Not surprising, really, as they provide a moreintimate workout experience and a personalized and familiarconnection. Knowing the importance of that connection, the wellnessteam started streaming the classes on Facebook Live so team memberscould participate together and watch at a date and time that isconvenient for them. The team has also created specific classcontent and adjusted schedules to accommodate Saturday classes sopeople working from home have the opportunity to connect when thehome environment may be less stressful.

Personal training has also taken a virtual approach. Best Buywellness team members now connect with employees via Zoom andMicrosoft Teams to provide personal training options. Some even getcustomized workouts that can be accessed via a private YouTubelink! So far, the feedback has been extremely positive. Employeesappreciate the seamless continuation of accountability and socialconnection the virtual training provides.

What have the results been from this shift from in-person tovirtual fitness? In the first four weeks of the new program, 105people signed up for personal training sessions (up from just 15 inweek one).

These results are in line with what we're seeing across ourcorporate clients. For example, in the last seven weeks more than468,000 individuals participated in 7,000 of our virtual fitnessand wellness activities. Among those activities, fitness classeswere the number-one most popular activity. In fact, 30-minutefitness classes typically receive the greatest participation alongwith afternoon classes and classes on Mondays (according to ourdata so far).

As this pandemic continues and the working environment changes,Best Buy may shift its approach again. But, it's been interesting(and, fun) to watch them evolve and change quickly to adapt to achallenging situation and prioritize their employees' health andwell-being.

Ann Wyatt isvice president, program management & engagement at HealthFitness,where she oversees a national account management team. Her roleincludes strategy development and driving engagement for new andexisting health management and corporate fitness programs, employeerecruiting and training, program quality assurance and operationsmanagement.

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