Southface

Southface’s Holistic Wellness Approach: Strengthening Team Connectivity with YuMuuv

Southface Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to a sustainable future for all, driven by innovation and collaboration. With nearly 50 years of impact, the organization is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with satellite programs in Sarasota, Florida. Southface leverages advocacy, education, and service offerings to improve health, the environment, and economic opportunity. Southface empowers communities, government, and businesses to create change. 

Cassidy Statler, Technical Project Manager at Southface, plays a vital role in managing sustainability programs, including the GoodUse grant matching program, which helps nonprofits implement energy-efficient upgrades. Additionally, Cassidy helped launch the Resilience Incubator, a collaborative workspace for environmental nonprofits in Sarasota. As part of Southface’s efforts to enhance internal culture and engagement, Cassidy and her colleagues sought a wellness initiative to reconnect employees post-pandemic and foster cross-team collaboration.

The Need for a Wellness Solution

After remote work shifted office dynamics, Southface aimed to strengthen team bonds and encourage healthier habits among employees. A Culture-Building Subcommittee was formed to explore engagement strategies. They identified key priorities:

  • Encouraging team interaction beyond departmental silos.
  • Providing an inclusive, flexible wellness challenge that accommodated different activity levels.
  • Utilizing a funded wellness initiative through their insurance provider, Cigna.
  • Ensuring easy accessibility and motivation for employees to participate.

YuMuuv emerged as the ideal solution, allowing Southface to design a wellness challenge that was customizable, gamified, and engaging.

How Southface Implemented YuMuuv

Southface launched its first 45-day wellness challenge in October–November 2024, open to all employees. Participation was voluntary, with incentives provided through Cigna’s wellness funding. The challenge included:

  • Sign-up model: Employees opted in, with 30 out of 35 staff members joining.
  • Customizable daily activities: Participants could log activities across various wellness areas, including:
    • Steps and physical activity
    • Outdoor time
    • Meditation and mindfulness
    • Healthy eating and cooking at home
    • Reading and learning
    • Hydration and even flossing (by popular demand!)
  • Competitive team-based structure: Employees were divided into teams to foster engagement.
  • Incentives: Each participant received a $100 Massage Envy gift card, and additional prizes were awarded for:
    • Overall highest points winner
    • MVP recognition
    • Random drawing among engaged participants

Results and Impact

Southface’s challenge saw strong engagement and positive cultural shifts:

  • High participation rate: 30 employees joined, representing 85% of the workforce.
  • Behavioral improvements: Participants reported drinking more water, tracking steps, and improving mindfulness habits.
  • Social engagement: The chat feature and group discussions encouraged friendly competition and camaraderie.
  • Cross-team connections: Employees felt more connected to colleagues, even if they were less active in the chat feature.

Survey responses from participants showed overwhelmingly positive feedback:

  • 82% rated the challenge 4 out of 5 or higher.
  • 100% of respondents stated they would participate again.

Challenges & Areas for Improvement

While the challenge was successful, Southface identified areas to refine:

  • Chat feature: Some participants found the chat interface slow or glitchy.
  • Logging challenges: Employees without fitness trackers had to manually log their activities, which some found cumbersome.
  • Encouraging broader participation: While engagement was high, more efforts could be made to encourage quieter participants to contribute to discussions.

Looking Ahead

Southface is considering running another challenge, pending staff interest. They see potential in:

  • More seasonal challenges that align with work cycles.
  • Exploring tiered incentives for continued engagement.
  • Integrating additional wellness features like automatic tracker connectivity.
  • Enhancing team collaboration tools to make engagement even easier.

Conclusion

YuMuuv provided Southface with an engaging, customizable wellness experience that fostered team connectivity and healthier habits. Through its flexibility, ease of use, and gamified challenges, the program successfully reenergized employees post-pandemic and encouraged participation across all activity levels.

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