Digital technology helps workathlete better serve workers

Digital technology supports worker health

In a world in which office work has become increasingly prevalent, sedentary work environments have made worker health a greater challenge for employees. Business leaders must constantly operate in high-pressure situations that add additional stress to the various lifestyle strains of the modern work environment.

To improve workplace wellbeing, Workathlete connects experienced coaches with senior managers of partner businesses in order to constantly collect health-related data and suggest lifestyle improvements to improve health based on that information. To perform this service, the organization had registered employees of various clients to use heart rate monitors to gather key information about their wellbeing, which was then fed through a process that included third-party partners to ultimately inform the core Workathlete team, who then provided expert guidance.

However, the organization saw an opportunity to simplify its overall approach by consolidating its data management internally while also improving both the experience and output for its users. Doing so meant investigating digital technology that could simplify the management and use of data as well as replacements for the heart rate monitor that would allow Workathlete to gather more data and identify trends over days, weeks, and months. Understanding the complexity of the work involved, Workathlete engaged Capgemini Applied Innovation Exchange as its partner in order to bring a greater degree of technical expertise to the organization’s vision of healthier workplaces.  

Developing a new user journey

The collaboration between Workathlete and Capgemini began with an in-depth review of the circumstances and expectations that the project would need to fulfil. Thorough research involved interviews of existing users to determine where the organization’s processes could improve and better fit the needs of different workers. This revealed Workathlete had a diverse user base that had different objectives that needed varying approaches to achieve fulfilment of their personal goals. For example, a working parent would naturally have both a different outlook and scheduling flexibility than a single employee with an existing gym routine. In addition, each user had unique reasons for his or her growing interest in health-related habits.

Ultimately, the review led Workathlete and Capgemini to a set of conclusions that would guide the project. Based on this, the partners agreed on a vision of a refreshed approach that would deliver a program that would emphasize learning modules and company check-ins over official competition as part of a more personalized experience with clear goals that could demonstrate progress along with the clear context of a timeline. Additionally, Workathlete and Capgemini determined that that they needed to find a way to encourage greater accountability from the participants while ensuring that coaches could delve into greater detail based on highly secure data.

Upon reviewing the information they had drawn from these users, the partners made the decision to introduce a suite of smart devices that includes smart watches, connected scales, blood pressure cuffs, and sleep mats to replace chest straps and then develop an application that would share user data directly with his or her coach. Following a development process that involved regular collaboration between the organizations, Workathlete and Capgemini introduced a new digital experience that enabled users to more easily capture and understand the data they generated. The application contained detailed reports, five micro-learning pathways, a variety of different content to provide further guidance, modular progress reports, and re-assessment reporting that could provide essential context that detailed the impact that the program had.

Finally, the application offered a lifestyle assessment function that served as a key point of connection between users and the coaches. A validated questionnaire scored key aspects of a user’s habits as well as an overall score that provided a basis on which the coaches could provide advice and additional context to help understand the results. All of this supported more in-depth, one-on-one coaching with Workathlete experts who offered guidance for users to continue pursuing improved health through lifestyle changes, all while securing their private data.

A healthier future

Following the introduction of the smart devices, which gathered data at all hours with less disruption in order to create a more comprehensive outlook on each user’s health, and the application, Workathlete was able to manage the entire process internally. In addition, as work environments have become increasingly remote or hybrid, the application makes it easier for daily check-ins between coach and user so that progress can be monitored and encouraged. This approach was better tailored to the needs and expectations of employees across a number of companies and created a simpler, more insightful result.

The partnership between Workathlete and Capgemini did not only include the creation of the application and data management processes. Since contributing to the company’s new approach, Capgemini has participated in the program as beta testers. This commitment has only deepened the relationship between the organizations and established a tangible interest from both sides in the project’s success.

Going forward, this new approach to supporting worker wellbeing will enable Workathlete to explore unique ways to help workers become healthier.

Health means a variety of different things to most people. However, the Workathlete platform provides a way of understanding more about your own daily core health pillars of sleep, movement, nutrition, stress and productivity. Through integrating devices, data and coaching users can increase their understanding, awareness and crucially be supported to attain a healthier lifestyle and sustained performance.

Rob Vickerman
Founder of Workathlete