Schnabel Case Study: Walking From Virginia to Paris as a Team

How do you get a construction company with field crews and office staff walking together? Schnabel, a US geostructural design and construction firm, turned the 2024 Paris Olympics into a team goal: walk the distance from its office in Sterling, Virginia, to Paris. The team didn't just reach the goal – they beat it by 464%. Here is how.

At a Glance

• Company: Schnabel, geostructural design and construction, United States
• Team: 250–350 employees, field and office
• Challenge: "A Challenge of Olympic Proportions" – Sterling, Virginia to Paris, over 8 million steps
• Participants: 47
• Result: goal exceeded by 464%

Company Background

Schnabel works on complex geostructural projects across the United States, from deep foundations and underground parking garages to tunnels for utilities and transportation and natural disaster mitigation. Because the work is project-based, the workforce varies between 250 and 350 people, both in the field and in offices.

Why Schnabel Chose YuMuuv

Schnabel explored options through its health insurance provider and searched online for wellness programs. It chose YuMuuv because it was easy to use and had the features the company needed for its health and wellness goals.

The Challenge: A Challenge of Olympic Proportions

Ahead of the Paris Olympics, 47 participants set out to walk the equivalent of the distance from Schnabel's office in Sterling, Virginia, to Paris – more than 8 million steps together. An internal contest added extra motivation: everyone who passed one million steps received a fitness-related prize.

Results

• Goal exceeded by 464% – a huge collective effort.
• A lively community: employees shared updates, photos and messages in the app, breaking down silos between departments.
• Personal health stories: many participants reported health improvements. One employee lost 40 pounds during the challenge and now plays soccer and goes hiking with his family.

Lessons Learned: Fairness When Prizes Are Involved

Schnabel's main feedback concerned manually entered steps: some very high step counts raised questions about accuracy. For future challenges with prizes, they suggest restricting manual entries.

In YuMuuv, admins can decide whether manual entry is allowed in a challenge, limit how many days back people can add data and set a daily limit per user – see creating a challenge. For more on realistic step counts, read how many steps you can realistically take in a day.

Key Takeaways

1. Use a big moment – like the Olympics – to give the challenge a story.
2. Make the goal collective so field and office staff contribute together.
3. Add milestone prizes that many people can reach, not just one winner.
4. Set fair rules for manual entry when prizes are at stake – and read how to build a culture where no one cheats.

For more ideas, see corporate step challenge ideas and how other field-based teams like Enersense run challenges. More stories: case studies. Book a demo to plan your own team journey.