Every company needs a run club.

You knew that run clubs were replacing dating apps for Gen Z, but did you know they've become business networking events for everyone else? It's all true, says Women's Business Daily.

Why are people joining run clubs to do business? Maybe because 41% of remote workers and 44% of Gen Z employees describe their workplace as "isolated or impersonal." Employee engagement has been famously low for some time — currently hovering around 20% across the globe — but here's a key thing to know: Not all companies have poor employee engagement, nor is the problem strictly correlated to the rise of remote work. According to Gallup, "best-practice organizations" generate 70% employee engagement, and some do even better.

Hilton, for example, boasts 93% engagement — nearly triple the US average — and their employee turnover is roughly half the hospitality industry norm. There is more than one "best practice" behind these numbers, but I'd self-servingly note that Hilton was one of Count.It's first clients. Their "Battle of the Bay" challenge, pitting four Bay Area Hilton locations against each other, made industry news. The takeaway? Simple, inexpensive team-building solutions can pay off big for company culture.

Early summer has been a busy time at Count.It HQ. This spring we released enhanced challenge newsfeeds, new distance challenges, our groundbreaking new Consistency view, AND direct support for Samsung Health.

In June, we dropped a few more nice upgrades...

User-generated teams. In your next challenge, you can let your challengers form their own teams. With a few taps, any challenge member can form a team, and become the Team Captain. They can also add an image to their team profile, and chat in their own private team newsfeed.

Thanks to many admin requests, we also launched downloadable group member reports. All the better to see which of your group members have joined what challenges.

Planning Ahead

Here in mid July, the big fall challenge gauntlet beckons: STEPtember and MOVEmber. If you're thinking of running a fall challenge, we recommend announcing early, and giving people a two-to-three-week runway for registration. Let the countdown build. If you want help scoping a fall challenge, please send word.

Tech News Roundup

• Hello Fitbit Air, Google's screen-less answer to the popular Whoop band. Our verdict: It's a pretty device, but the accompanying Google Health app, which now replaces both the Fitbit app and Google Fit, is...meh. Whoop may yet be worth its $10.1 billion valuation.
• Meanwhile, various rumors suggest Apple is planning its own wearable fitness tracker.
• Need more proof that fitness apps have fully gone mainstream? Strava has filed to go public. Did I mention that Count.It is "Strava for companies"?

Wearables and fitness apps are once again having a moment — but so too are the problems of distributed, sedentary workplaces. Many companies build personal health apps. Count.It is building a community wellness app.

Enjoy your summer!