LONDON, May 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- More than quarter of a million employees have committed to 'get the world moving' towards improved health and wellbeing. As part of the Global Corporate Challenge® (GCC), the world's largest and most innovative workplace health initiative, 260,000 employees from more than 1,300 organisations in 110 countries will tomorrow take the first - and most important - step to improving their health and making a significant impact toward reducing the costs of maintaining a healthy and competitive workforce.

Over the next 16 weeks, participants will compete against their own co-workers as well as other organisations in a virtual walk around the world. The effectiveness of the Challenge is rooted in creating an engaging experience for participants that has proven to positively shape behaviours and lifestyle changes. In the ten years since its inception, more than 3,400 global organisations and 1 million people have realised the benefits of this completely new and effective way to transform workplace wellness.

Announced today, GCC 2013 participants will include employees from some of the UK's and Europe's biggest employers:  Rolls-Royce, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Zurich Insurance Group, Kimberley-Clark Europe, Johnson & Johnson, Discovery Communications and AstraZeneca, to name just a few.

"When companies around the world commit to taking that first step to help their employees break from the increasingly sedentary habits commonplace in most workplaces, they find productivity, profitability and a culture of collaboration increase across the organisation," said Tom Sermon, Chief Executive Officer of Global Corporate Challenge.

"The GCC is the only programme that goes beyond simply encouraging employees to walk more, instead finding ways to shape behaviours proven to instill better health and lifestyle habits in participants long after the Challenge has ended."

Founded in 2003 by Glenn Riseley and John Hillier to address workforce health, the start-up, then based solely in Australia,  hoped to engage 3,000 participants in its inaugural Challenge and to prove both the need for and efficacy of its programme to combat the obesity epidemic impacting workforces and impairing business performance.  Today, GCC's client base has grown to include an impressive global portfolio of some of the world's biggest organisations - including 38 of the world's 100 most prominent brands   in the last three years alone - as well as eight regional offices across North America and Europe and international partnerships operating throughout South America, Africa, Middle East and Asia.

"Poor lifestyle choices and the increasing business costs of employee ill health, primarily absenteeism, productivity loss and healthcare, have placed global workforces at the precipice of becoming economically uncompetitive," said Sermon.

"The GCC set out to completely change the perceptions of what was possible with workplace wellness, by creating an experience for employees to engage and support each other. The growth of participation in the Challenge validates our results-based approach to helping organisations realise the potential of their employees while simultaneously lowering their operating costs and boosting productivity.

GCC is a 12-month behavioural change programme that begins with the 16-week virtual journey around the world. After this the programme focuses participants on maintaining their new exercise and nutrition habits through online tools to manage their energy levels and productivity. This year the Challenge includes the introduction of a cutting-edge physical activity tracking device – the GCC Pulse 3D accelerometer. The Challenge website has also been upgraded to create an even more engaging experience for participants to track their progress and learn about other ways they can positively transform their health.

GCC 2013 commences tomorrow, Thursday 23 May.

About The Global Corporate Challenge®
Starting in May each year, Global Corporate Challenge® (GCC) engages participants in a 16 week virtual journey around the world, and over the course of 12 months, supports them to achieve healthy and long-term behavioural change.  Broadly innovative and accessible, the GCC's success is its science-based approach that delivers genuine and sustainable improvement to employee physical and mental health, enhanced productivity, reduced absenteeism and a stronger culture of resilience.  

To learn more about Global Corporate Challenge® please visit www.gettheworldmoving.com

Media Enquiries:
Please contact Diana Zuban, GCC Global PR & Communications Manager
T: +61 3 9536 8158 E:dianaz@gettheworldmoving.com

SOURCE The Global Corporate Challenge®