Step challenge without a smartwatch or phone: how to include every employee

A step challenge launched by email, with a link to an app that connects to your watch, works well at head office. On the production floor, in the warehouse or on the road, it often misses a large part of the team. Not for lack of interest: the challenge was designed for someone who wears a watch and keeps a phone in their pocket all day.

That profile is not the norm. According to Léger (2025), around 40% of Canadians and Americans use a wearable such as a smartwatch or fitness band, and only 28% of Canadians use one consistently. On the phone side, Statistics Canada reported that in 2020, 84% of Canadians owned a smartphone, but only 54% of seniors did.

This guide shows how to build a challenge everyone can join: with a basic phone, with an end-of-shift log, and even without a smartphone. Each step ends with a concrete deliverable.

Why a smartwatch should never be a condition for taking part

A challenge that requires a device most people don't own measures equipment, not effort. The people who sign up right away tend to be the most active and best equipped. The ones a wellness program is meant to reach stay on the sidelines.

The technical case is just as clear: a phone counts steps as well as a watch. A study published in JAMA in 2015 (Case et al., University of Pennsylvania) compared smartphone apps with devices worn on the wrist or waist, with 14 adults in a lab. Compared with the steps actually taken, smartphone apps were off by -6.7% to +6.2%, and wearables by -22.7% to -1.5%.

Then there is the work itself. A warehouse worker or production operator can walk a great deal during a shift, often without a phone on them. If the challenge only counts what goes through a device, that activity disappears from the leaderboard.

Step 1: map how people actually work

Before choosing an app or a date, take stock of how your employees spend their day. Four profiles come up in most organizations:

• Office or remote: phone within reach, often a watch. Participation is automatic.
• Field and road: phone on them, rarely a watch. The phone counts the steps.
• Production or warehouse, phone in the locker: phone available before and after the shift only. Activity during the shift is logged afterwards.
• No smartphone: a minority, but a real one, especially among older employees. You need an offline option.

Ask each supervisor to estimate the share of their team in each profile. An estimate is enough: the goal is to spot the profile at risk of being left out.

Deliverable: a four-profile grid, with the approximate number of employees in each and how they will take part.

Step 2: choose a measure that doesn't depend on a device

Steps are the best-known measure, but also the most device-dependent: a step taken without a phone or watch isn't counted anywhere. Active minutes, on the other hand, can be logged. They also cover cycling, swimming, hockey or gardening, which a pedometer ignores.

To set a target, start from the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines (Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology, 2020): at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week for adults aged 18 to 64. A goal expressed in minutes makes sense to everyone, with or without a device.

Add a daily cap. Without one, a person who runs a half-marathon on Sunday decides the leaderboard alone. With a cap, consistency pays more than intensity, and a production worker's daily walk counts as much as a runner's workout.

Deliverable: the challenge rule in one sentence, for example "Each team aims for 150 active minutes per person per week, with a daily maximum."

Step 3: plan for logging after the shift

For employees who leave their phone in the locker, the answer is a routine: log the activity in the app at the end of the shift, when they pick up their phone. Two minutes are enough when the instruction is clear.

• The right moment: on the way out, before driving home, rather than in the evening when it's easy to forget.
• The right information: activity type and duration. Decide in advance whether sustained physical work counts, and put it in the rules.
• Only once: if a watch already captured the session, don't log it a second time by hand.

Deliverable: a one-sentence instruction posted near the time clock and the lockers.

Step 4: build mixed teams and aim for a shared goal

A leaderboard between departments often pits the office against the plant, with a winner known in advance. Build teams that mix the profiles from step 1 instead: every team includes people from the office, the road and production.

As for format, a shared goal is the most inclusive: the whole organization works toward one target, such as climbing Everest by adding up everyone's activity. Nobody loses, and every contribution counts, however modest.

Name a captain for each team, ideally someone from the floor. The captain reminds people to log at the end of the shift and helps colleagues who are less comfortable with the app.

Deliverable: the list of teams, each with a captain and at least two work profiles.

Step 5: a plan for employees without a smartphone

No app can count activity without a device. For the minority of employees without a smartphone, plan an offline option rather than leaving them out:

• A paper log: a weekly sheet of active minutes, handed to the captain. It isn't added to the app leaderboard, but it gives access to the same draws and the same recognition.
• Group activities on site: a lunchtime walk or a guided stretch break, open to everyone, that connect these employees to the challenge without requiring a device.
• Recognition that doesn't depend on the leaderboard: celebrate consistency or team spirit, not just totals.

Deliverable: the rule for the offline option, written into the challenge announcement so nobody has to ask.

The most common mistakes to avoid

• A leaderboard based on steps only: it favours people who carry their phone or wear a watch all day and erases physical work done without a device.
• An invitation sent by email only: many production employees rarely check email. Back up the announcement with a poster, a word from the supervisor and a QR code near the lockers.
• Forgetting the daily reminder: in several apps, data only arrives when the app is opened. An end-of-shift reminder prevents lost days.
• Switching step sources mid-challenge: moving from phone to watch halfway through creates duplicates or gaps. Have devices connected before day one.
• Rewarding the highest step count: the implicit message is that the challenge is for the fittest. Reward consistency and participation instead.

Measuring results

The right indicator for an inclusive challenge isn't total steps: it's participation, measured by profile.

• Participation rate by site or shift: compare the floor with the office. A large gap points to an obstacle to fix for the next edition.
• Consistency: the number of people active every week, not just the first one.
• Offline option: the number of paper logs handed in, to check whether it actually reaches the people it targets.

Always look at this data in aggregate, by team or site, never by individual. That's what makes production staff willing to take part, as explained in our article on measuring wellbeing with anonymous and aggregated data.

For a real benchmark: at Fromagerie Bergeron, a Quebec food-processing SME where much of the staff works in production, 78.8% of employees took part and the organization logged 50,000 active minutes.

How Propulsion handles it

Propulsion is designed so that a phone is enough. Steps come from the phone, and people with a watch connect it: Apple Health, Samsung Health, Garmin and more.

Workouts the device didn't capture are added by hand with the Add an activity button, with the type, date and duration (see how to log an activity manually). Steps can't be added by hand, which limits abuse.

Activity points are capped every day: 30 points for steps and 70 for active minutes, for a maximum of 100 (see how activity points work). Active minutes are worth more than steps, and a 20-minute walk every day earns more than a single long outing on Sunday.

Employers only see aggregated results. Data is hosted in Canada, and the platform is ISO/IEC 27001 certified and compliant with Quebec's Law 25. Employees are active in less than two weeks after the agreement.

Keep reading

To compare apps on this criterion and five others, read our comparison of workplace step challenge apps. The workplace step challenge kit includes emails and posters to adapt for your sites. And to build a year-round program, the complete guide to corporate wellness challenges covers planning, launch and measurement. To see how a challenge fits your shifts, book a demo.

Frequently asked questions

Do you need a smartwatch to take part in a step challenge?

No. A phone counts steps about as accurately as a watch (JAMA, 2015). Activities the phone doesn't capture, such as cycling or swimming, can be added by hand in most apps, including Propulsion.

Phones aren't allowed on the floor: how can these employees take part?

They log their activity in the app at the end of the shift, when they pick up their phone. Choose a measure in active minutes rather than steps, and post the instruction near the lockers.

Can you add steps by hand?

Not in Propulsion: steps only come from the connected phone or watch. Workouts (walking, cycling, hockey, swimming) can be added by hand, with their type and duration.

How do you prevent abuse with manually added activities?

A daily points cap limits the effect of an inflated entry: past the maximum, one more activity earns nothing. Shared goals also reduce the incentive to cheat, since nobody wins alone.