Malaysians are getting more health conscious, as we can see by the mushrooming marathon events. Sales of running shoes, sports attires are also on the rise.

Smart Investor recently interviewed Sheyong Tan, Co-Founder of BiiB on the upcoming Malaysia Corporate Team Marathon, Malaysia’s Largest Intercompany Marathon Challenge. GetBiib is a startup supported by the Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI).

Smart Investor: How do you plan to enlist 200 companies and 10,000 marathoners to achieve the 500,000,000 steps through this effort?

Sheyong Tan: We are creating 3 unique experiences through this event:

1. First ever inter-corporate challenge that is inclusive for both bigger corporations and SMEs. It doesn’t require a huge commitment like donation or fee to be part of it.

2. Not by performance but teamwork. Everyone in the team must do their part to help the company to reach the team goal. It is ok if you’re not the fittest, you can play your part too. In this challenge, you have competitors and you have a common target and a well designed format to motivate your team to work together and kindle the team spirit among your employees. Most importantly, the organiser will manage everything for you, the employer’s job is just to cheer for the team.

3. Attractive rewards focusing on fitness, health and well-being to improve your workplace wellness. Some companies are adding in more “private” rewards to motivate the team to participate. Prize money is usually important for performance based sporting events but for an event that is inclusive and one that promotes team participation – like ours, we want the participants to focus on what he or she can do as part of the team rather than making them to feel they have no chance to win any prizes because they would never the fittest person in the room.

SI: How are you adopting a similar strategy in the annual running league RUNLIGA Malaysia which drew in more than 20,000 participants in the past 2 editions?

ST: The GetBiiB app has been used to host the largest running league in Malaysia for 5 consecutive years.

Through this, we know the best practices, pain points and insights to create the best in class challenge for participants of this corporate challenge.

As such, for this event, we are working with companies who are aligned with our vision to create a healthier workplace and promote well-being among our workforce.

As such, we are working with healthy snack company Signature Market, healthcare company like Doc2us, wearable technology company COROS Malaysia, mental health company Thoughtfull, employment platform like Jobstreet, outdoor company PTT Outdoor, sports facility booking platform AFA and the newly listed technology company Agmo Berhad. The  Department of Statistics (DOSM) is also a partner.

We have prepared some nice goodie bags for the participants and finishers which is nearly 20X more than the participation fee.

We are still open for sponsorship and collaboration with any businesses who believe in our vision.

SI: How is this is different from other corporate marathon programmes or apps that companies can choose to organise themselves?

ST: There are several key features.

Key feature 1: Interesting and fun team-based game format

Our platform has different game formats to focus on different outcomes of the challenge. It can be for health, for team building, for a cause, etc.

In a mass participation event like this, the main goal is to motivate participants to commit themselves and at the same time help their team to achieve the best possible result. As the organiser, we know that intrinsic rewards such as pushing through one’s own limit, making new friends, becoming a finisher or becoming one of the top 10 teams can create a more lasting impact.

More than an app, we create a healthy experience for the participants

Key feature 2: Professional support

Joining an online challenge can be challenging for many first timers. We provide professional support to our participants to help them to enjoy the challenge with their team.

The GetBiiB app has been designed to offer participants a hassle free way to create company wide engagement with minimum budget and minimum effort. The HR department or organising teams do not need to put in work extra hours to manage well-being programs for their employees as they can leverage what we have already designed.

SI: Why the need for something like this now? What are the risks / opportunities for companies who (do not) participate?

ST: In this, I would like to quote Bill Gates “The health of a society is ultimately determined by the health of its citizens.”

Overall, improving the health and well-being for employees will reduce the burden of healthcare and insurance on the company. The government recently announced a target of 10 million healthy Malaysians in the next 10 years  – and there’s no better time than to start now!

Through this event, we would have just involved 1% of the population. We have a lot more work to do in making sure every organisation can host their very own sporting event easily with the lowest possible effort for highest possible impact.

We wanted to remove the barrier to host an event or a challenge so that big and small organisations can do it at least once a year and collectively we can impact 70% of the population in the next 10 years.

Running / walking is an easy and low cost activity – just need to contend with weather. This is easily an intergenerational activity which is inclusive and allows teams to celebrate their unique strengths. With more hybrid working models in play today, it is important to bring teams together

We also try to lower the barrier of entry to the lowest possible to make sure most people can be part of it. For the Malaysia Corporate Team Marathon, as long as you’re able to walk, you can be part of it without much issue.

All participants commit based on their ability.

SI: Insights on how bosses can engage their employees to participate in an activity like this. How can bosses onboard employees who may be demotivated to exercise ie “this is not my thing”?

ST: Be inclusive and make it accessible to all the employees:

• By removing barriers to participation, companies can increase engagement and participation, which can lead to better outcomes and a greater impact.
• By making inclusivity and accessibility a priority, we can create a more welcoming and supportive environment for all employees and ensures that all employees have the opportunity to participate and benefit from the initiative.

Find some internal champions

Inspire someone in the community to take the lead, regardless of position and job scopes. This person will be responsible to hype up the event to drive everyone to move forward as a team and he or she should be rewarded too to take up this vital role.

Bosses should be sporting enough to be part of the team too.

Rewards: Companies that offer rewards, incentives or prizes for their employees have a higher engagement and commitment level.

Early engagement: Start engaging with your teams now to prepare them for the challenge – some internal promotion is important.

Positioning: It is important not to position it as an exercise or a workout as it turns people off and relates it to tired, tough and difficult.  It is best presented as a challenge for the whole team.

Foster Team spirit: Setting a collective goal and making it inclusive for everyone to be part of it. Believe me if you are surrounded with people who would like to be part of something bigger than themselves with extra steps everyday, you don’t feel like it is a workout.

In our experience, many first time participants realise they can actually walk more and they feel they are more energized by doing so without feeling tired if they do it with a friend. Example, walking for a longer distance with colleagues to get a good lunch vs I need to workout today.

Commitment from team members will be high on some days, but others will need to make up for down days  – and the effect will be quite clear especially if 1 or 2 on the team misses their daily target

Offer Strong leadership:  a team captain who can create hype and also maintain the team chemistry by cheering for the weaker team members (don’t let them feel left out or shameful for contributing less) is important. Motivation is also key. Those who are fit can share their experience and help the team to go further and maintain high team morale.

Nominate a good team manager – may not be the fastest or strongest, but holds the key to motivating, setting reasonable expectations, managing team morale, etc.

The last few days towards the closing really gets really exciting. Sometimes the ones who start out strongest may not last the longest. So this is also when you will observe how individuals on the team will step up to support each other when they have a common goal and desire to achieve it.

SI: What kinds of companies have been early adopters of such programmes? What are some trends or commonalities you see amongst these companies and their employees?

ST: Companies which have active people in the workplace and believe in health and wellness are often early adopters.

Most of our corporate clients came to us because of the running or sporting communities they have personally been involved in. We believe these people are the seeds to bring change to our country’s future for a more active, collaborative and inclusive society.

SI: Conversely, how can employees get the buy-in from their bosses or management to participate in an activity like this especially if it may involve time at work ie extended lunch hour or early dismissal?

ST: They can provide a number of factual, compelling reasons to management. For example:

• Improved physical health: According to one study, regular exercise can lead to a 25-30% reduction in sick leave. Another study found that for every $1 invested in wellness programs, a company can save $3 in healthcare costs.

• Enhanced mental well-being: One study found that regular physical activity can lead to a 20-30% reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression. Another study found that workers who exercise regularly are 15% more productive than those who do not.

• Greater team cohesion: A review of several studies found that team building activities, such as sports and fitness programs, can lead to improved communication, trust, and collaboration among team members.

• Increased retention: According to one survey, 69% of workers said that they would prefer to work for a company that offers wellness programs. Another study found that companies with strong wellness programs have a 50% lower turnover rate.
• Enhanced corporate image: A survey of consumers found that 76% of respondents were more likely to purchase products or services from a company that promotes employee wellness. Another study found that companies with strong wellness programs had a 30% higher brand value.