TCC 2000
Take Charge Challenge
Many employers realize that monetary rewards are not the single most important source of job satisfaction for employees. In fact, these employers are taking a proactive approach to managing their workforce by giving them a variety of different fringe benefits. One type of fringe benefit includes employee wellness programs such as the Take Charge Challenge.
What Is It?
TCC 2000 is a 10-week physical activity program targeted towards teams. What is unique about this program is that these teams consist of employees and their managers. According to the Surgeon General´s Report, it is recommended that individuals be active for at least 30 minutes most days. The aim of the TCC 2000 program is to encourage individuals to become more physically active in their daily lives. What´s good about the TCC 2000 program is that every individual sets their own targets and structures their program accordingly in order to meet those goals. In other words, you can work your way up to the 30-minute recommended physical activity level with the help and support of your peers and coworkers.
How Does It Work?
There are several phases that participants go through with the TCC 2000 program (although not necessarily in this exact order):
1. Getting Started - working with the Program Director (who oversees the entire program) and your Team Captain, the program is implemented
2. Team Concept - each employee or participant is assigned to a team and Team Captain, who will provide support and encouragement
3. Goal Setting - participants set their own goals and report their progress to the Team Captain
4. Data Collection - data is collected and analyzed in order to produce evaluation reports on the participant´s progress or lack of progress
5. Incentives - participants record their daily progress and report this to their Captain; those who have accomplished their goals are eligible for an incentive
Of course, in order for TCC 2000 to work it requires dedication, perseverance, and commitment. In addition, having a supportive and encouraging team behind you will improve your chances of successfully completing the program.
How Will It Help You?
Physical activity is an ideal stress reliever. Studies have shown that physical activity is an excellent coping mechanism for stress and is also considered one of the few "good" types of stress for the body and mind. There are clearly many benefits for reducing stress among employees, some of which include decreasing absenteeism, healthcare costs, and turnover, and increasing employee morale, productivity, and recruitment. Such a program can also be useful in creating a friendly competition among employees and allow them to work as a team in order to achieve the program goals. Implementing an employee wellness program, such as TCC 2000, lets employers to take a humanistic and proactive approach to assisting their employees, especially since workplace violence is on the rise.
Other Important Information
- Scalability
TCC 2000 can essentially be implemented to as little or as many individuals as you want. What is important is that the individuals who do decide to participate should always have a manager to supervise and reward their progress. Ideally, one team captain should manage up to 25 participants.
- Price
There is currently no fee for the TCC 2000 program administered by Take Charge Challenge. However, it is up to the participating company to decide how much of their budget they can allocate to promoting the program and rewarding successful participants.
- Documentation/Manual
The TCC 2000 program comes with a very comprehensive Users Guide, which addresses the roles and responsibilities of the three main participative roles (the employee-participant, the Team Captain, and the Program Director). Relevant worksheets, guidelines, template reports (and more) are included in this guide. For employee-participants, the Guide provides various tips as to which exercises to do, how to succeed, and how to help other participants with their goals. For the Team Captain, the Guide advises on how to motivate, support, and monitor progress while the Guide helps Program Directors set timetables and the agenda for the program, implement the phases, collect feedback, and create summary reports.
Overall Evaluation
- What I Liked
The best feature about the TCC 2000 program is that anyone can participate in it. In addition, individuals who wish to participate can even invite their friends and family to take the TCC 2000 challenge with them.
Another bonus, this program is entirely free of charge and only costs your company as much as it decides to put into it. The comprehensive Users Guide is very thorough and is extremely helpful in getting all the major players ready for the program. The thoroughness of the Users Guide is also a great aide in the successful implementation of the TCC 2000 program. Once the participants, Team Captains, and Program Director have had a look at the Guide, they will have very little difficulty understanding the goals of the program and getting the program started.
- Limitations
The limitations that I have are not about the TCC 2000 program specifically, but rather on implementing any type of incentive program in general. Unfortunately, there is really no concrete way of monitoring the progress of participants and you run into the risk of having participants fake their actual progression in the program. Furthermore, a poorly managed and implemented program can distract employee-participants away from their work, as well as from the true purpose of the program.
- Commentary
The TCC 2000 program promotes creativity, motivation, and friendly competition among individuals who may otherwise only have the stresses of work to focus on. By providing a common goal, the TCC 2000 program is also a great way of getting individuals to cooperate and support one another, even if they have otherwise never worked together before. What is more, becoming more physically active is healthy is for you and its effects can have far more positive influences than simply losing weight.
The success of this program really depends on the effort that your company decides to spend on it. Ultimately, it is up to your company to decide how you will promote this program as beneficial and worthwhile for both you and your employees and to choose the rewards and incentives given to successful participants. If you are considering implementing a simple employee wellness program, The TCC 2000 program is definitely something that you might want to check out.
About the Company
TCC 2000 from Take Charge Challenge, was created and founded by Bruce Leonard. A Public Health Educator, Mr. Leonard received his Masters in Public Health from the University of Hawaii. He has developed health promotion programs at the worksite, community, state and national level during his 21 year Public Health Service career. Mr. Leonard is also the President of AIM 2010, a non-for-profit corporation committed to assisting communities reach the Chronic Disease 2010 Healthy People Objectives for the Nation.
Organizations that have implemented the TCC 2000 program include the American Cancer Society (National Office), Nortel Networks, Home Depot, Citibank, and the American Heart Association (National Office). In addition, 14 State Health Departments have also implemented the TCC 2000 program. To learn more about the Take Charge Challenge and the TCC 2000 Program, check out www.takechargechallenge.com.