DHR Global employees, a YuMuuv global step challenge case study

DHR Global Case Study: From a Manual Step Contest to a Signature Culture Moment

DHR Global, an executive search firm with about 50 offices worldwide, has run an annual step challenge since 2017. For years that meant pedometers, screenshots and Excel. Since moving to YuMuuv, the challenge has grown into a signature tradition, with randomized global teams working towards a shared 75-million-step goal.

Table of Contents

At a Glance

  • Company: DHR Global
  • Industry: executive search
  • Footprint: about 50 offices worldwide, with hybrid and fully remote employees
  • Interviewee: Morgan Phillips, Wellness Program Coordinator
  • Challenge: a global step challenge with team and individual leaderboards
  • With YuMuuv: about three years, after the manual Excel era

The Backstory: From Spreadsheets to a Shared Habit

DHR Global has run an annual step challenge since 2017. For years, participation meant pedometers, phone screenshots, Excel uploads—and a lot of manual tallying.

“We were tracking everything by hand. With a fast‑moving firm and global teams, it was hard to keep excitement up—and hard to keep up, period.” — Morgan Phillips

As the firm’s wellness program grew, so did the need for a simple, scalable platform. After vetting several vendors, DHR adopted YuMuuv—and three years later, the step challenge has become a well‑known tradition employees expect and look forward to.

Why YuMuuv

  • Frictionless onboarding for busy, distributed teams
  • Live leaderboards for teams and individuals
  • In‑app chat that fuels connection with photos and messages from around the world
  • Admin simplicity that replaces hours of manual consolidation

“This year, only a handful of people were first‑time users. It’s becoming part of our culture.”

The 2025 Program Design

  • Duration: 1 month
  • Company Goal: 75 million steps collectively
  • Teams: Randomized globally to spark new connections
  • Prizes: Top Team + Top Individual
  • Comms: Clear weekly nudges; chat highlights of routes, parks, and city walks

“Randomizing teams paired colleagues who’d never met and can now consider one another friends.”

Engagement That Travels

DHR’s workforce spans North America, Europe, and Asia—with many fully remote employees.

“The chat is my favorite feature. I’d see colleagues walking past national monuments, around our office buildings, or even doing laps on a cruise deck – cheering each other on.”

The step challenge aligns with DHR’s ongoing wellness calendar (virtual workouts, nutrition and mental health sessions, even financial well‑being events). YuMuuv delivers the signature moment each year that’s broadly accessible and easy to join.

Outcomes & What Employees Said

  • Connection: Global teams worked toward a single goal, while mixed teams created net‑new relationships.
  • Well‑being: Employees used the challenge as a nudge to step away from screens, get sunlight, and spend time with family.
  • Simplicity: Admin time plummeted; participants relied on automatic syncing instead of manual uploads.

“In a sales‑driven environment, it’s easy to forget breaks. The challenge reminded people to get outside—and made it social.”

Lessons Learned

  • Device syncing: A subset of Samsung users encountered the Samsung Health → Health Connect transition friction. YuMuuv support (thanks, Caitlyn!) helped users resolve issues case‑by‑case.
  • Keep the format familiar: DHR keeps structure consistent year‑over‑year (single metric, shared goal, team + individual prizes), refreshing only the theme and visuals to reduce cognitive load.
  • Make mixing intentional: Randomized teams accelerate cross‑region networking without adding meetings to calendars.

Key Takeaways for HR Teams

  • Randomize teams. Mixing colleagues from different offices builds new relationships without adding meetings. Here is why friendly competition works.
  • Set one shared goal. A collective target like 75 million steps gives a global workforce something to build together; you can turn on a collective goal when creating a challenge.
  • Keep the format familiar. Repeating the same structure each year and refreshing only the theme makes the challenge a tradition people expect.
  • Let devices do the work. Automatic syncing replaced hours of manual tallying; see how wearable integration fits into a program.

For another challenge that grew into a global tradition, read about Slalom’s step challenge, or browse all our case studies.

Still tallying steps in spreadsheets? Book a YuMuuv demo and we will help you turn your challenge into an annual tradition.