Teamwork works! The Piroto Steps Challenge

The Piroto team are renowned for being up for a challenge, especially when it involves raising money for charity. Supporting the local community, and teamwork, are ingrained in the company culture and this year it felt more important than ever to remain true to company values.

When MD, Leigh Mann launched the ‘Spring into Summer Step Count Team Challenge’ in May 2021, nobody dreamt that the Piroto team would rise to the challenge with such vigour and verve! In the space of just two months 40 staff members clocked up over 30 million steps. Their sterling effort saw Piroto donate over £10,000 to local charities.

Why a steps challenge?

Leigh explained ‘With our sales and office teams working remotely, and our print and finishing teams working spilt shifts to minimise the risk of Covid, we wanted to find a way to bring everybody together without physically being together’.

He added ‘It was important that we chose an inclusive challenge. We hoped too that it would encourage staff to get active and get outside. We all know that walking is good for our physical and mental health, but sometimes it can be hard to motivate yourself to get out there.’

How it worked

Staff were split into four work area teams, each with a nominated team leader. To keep the motivation going, staff members were encouraged to post pictures of their walks on the Piroto Facebook page.

The challenge started off with a simple target of 5000 steps per person per day, though as soon as the Piroto team spirit took hold most people were averaging 10,000 steps! It became so competitive that there was no let up even when staff were on holiday. There were some marvellous pictures posted including a stunning cliff top walk from Looe to Polperro in Cornwall, and the lovely Studland Beach in Dorset.

Others walked closer to home, with the Finishing team even staging a, socially distanced, fancy dress walk through the office!

Who won!

The Finishing team clocked up over eight million steps between them and topped the table, just ahead of the Office team.

Each team completed over seven million steps; a fantastic effort towards the 30 million total.

It just remains for an amazing £10,200 to be presented to the nominated local charities.

The legacy

But that’s not quite the end of the story. The challenge has inspired some staff members to keep up their steps. They have set up a Fitbit buddies group and continue to support and motivate each other.