United Franchise Group Case Study: From 20% to 50% Participation

United Franchise Group (UFG), a global franchise development and support company, had a YuMuuv program with untapped potential. When its Employee Development Team took over, it rebuilt the program around custom monthly challenges, quarterly cross-department team challenges and attractive prizes. Within six months, participation rose from 20% to nearly 50%.

At a Glance

• Company: United Franchise Group, operating more than ten franchise brands, from signage and promotional products to Mediterranean food and graze boards
• Team: about 250 employees in shared services, brand expansion and franchise support
• Program: monthly holistic challenges, an annual reading challenge and quarterly team challenges, run by the Employee Development Team
• Result: participation rose from 20% to nearly 50% in six months, with different winners each month

Background

UFG supports franchise owners and entrepreneurs who want to franchise their businesses. It wanted a wellness culture that went beyond traditional incentives. The first YuMuuv setup had untapped potential, so the Employee Development Team took over to add structure and engagement.

The Challenge

• Low participation: only around 20% of employees took part.
• The same few winners: a handful of employees won again and again, which discouraged others.
• Different devices: Android, Samsung and iPhone users needed a fair way to take part.
• Unused seats: some company-sponsored licences were not being used.

How UFG Rebuilt the Program

1. Custom wellness challenges: monthly challenges that combine physical activity, hydration, nutrition and mindfulness, plus an annual reading challenge where participants submit key takeaways to earn points.
2. Attractive incentives: prizes such as Apple Watches, blender kits, adjustable dumbbells, headphones and walking-desk treadmills.
3. Quarterly team challenges: employees are randomly grouped across departments and earn team rewards such as team lunches and outings.
4. YuMuuv features: the wellness points system to reward effort across activities, and the announcements feature to share upcoming challenges and winners.
5. Fairness across devices: manual entry options so that Android, Samsung and iPhone users can all compete fairly.
6. Active seat management: personal outreach to inactive employees, and seats reallocated to people who want to take part.

Results

• Participation up from 20% to nearly 50% in six months.
• Different winners each month, including remote and newly hired employees – instead of the same few people.
• Stronger cross-department connections through the team system.
• Sustained motivation thanks to high-quality prizes and a clear incentive structure.
• More inclusive wellness: custom formats let people with different fitness levels and interests take part meaningfully.

Feedback and Next Steps

The Employee Development Team also suggested improvements: smoother Android syncing as Health Connect matures, richer challenge descriptions with formatting and images, more admin insight into engagement and manual entries, and regular update calls with the YuMuuv team. UFG continues to develop the program with YuMuuv as its partner.

Key Takeaways

1. Give the program an owner – a dedicated team made the difference.
2. Mix individual and team challenges, and group teams across departments.
3. Design for new winners so that everyone feels they have a chance. See challenges for non-competitive employees.
4. Manage seats actively and reach out to people who have not started.

For more ideas, see the rewards guide and how to involve more employees, or browse more case studies. Book a demo to revamp your program.