Ensto decided to start Cuckoo’s trial globally with a large group of people. Reducing prejudices started by tempting everyone to even try using Cuckoo.
Ensto designs, manufactures and sells high quality electrification products and solutions in the Nordics and the selected product segments globally. Ensto was founded in 1958 and this expansive international family business employs 850 professionals in Europe and Asia. In 2020 our revenue was 250 million euros. We believe in a better life with electricity and a more sustainable tomorrow.
In many countries we are still working remotely because of the pandemic. We were looking for a service that could support our personnel’s wellbeing in the office but at their homes as well. We wanted to increase the sense of belonging and bring forth the wellbeing topics. Would be nice to be able to combine communality and taking breaks.
Elina Koski, Human Resource Manager, Ensto
Prejudices towards exercising at the office and doubting Cuckoo’s possibilities. How could Cuckoo motivate employees to take breaks on busy remote work days? How would the work community react to this new application?
Ensto decided to start Cuckoo’s trial globally with a large group of people. Reducing prejudices started by tempting everyone to even try using Cuckoo. The bait was an activity competition in Cuckoo with great prizes soon after Cuckoo was launched in the company. Competing against other departments inspired even the most suspicious employees to use Cuckoo and soon they were already creating their own teams spontaneously.
Työyhteisö kaipasi lisää yhteisöllisyyttä.
Ensto’s work community has used Cuckoo for over half a year now and Cuckoo has become part of their working culture. New employees are taught to use Cuckoo from the beginning and Cuckoo breaks are part of team meetings and even global events. At the office you might every now and then notice your colleague standing up and start doing a Cuckoo exercise. When having virtual coffee breaks it is not exceptional that the conversation circulates to the results of Cuckoo’s map.
“People are in the center of our strategy and their wellbeing is our priority. Especially now as we are still working remotely in many countries because of the pandemic, we think Cuckoo is a suitable tool for supporting wellbeing in remote working.”
Elina Koski, Human Resource Manager
How to support employees’ wellbeing when they are working all over the world, partly at home and partly at the office? How to increase the sense of belonging in this situation? When Ensto’s Human Resources Manager Elina Koski was wondering these questions she decided to turn to her network for help. That’s when she heard about Cuckoo. It sounded like something worth trying, so they started Cuckoo’s trial globally with a large group of employees. This way they would get a lot of feedback on the service from their own work community.
Susan Rass from Ensto’s office in Estonia noticed an interesting announcement in Ensto’s intranet about a new wellbeing app. This caught her attention and she was curious to try this application. Cuckoo’s joyful visual look and gamified platform got all the test users hooked! After getting an excited response from testers, it was an easy choice to decide to get Cuckoo for the whole work community. Based on this experience Elina encourages other companies to try new services open-mindedly and including employees in the process. “Even though some ideas might sound strange if you just dare to try you can find true jackpots!”, Elina says.
Being able to introduce a new application to employees and get them to use it, is not self-evident. Cuckoo’s ready-made communication materials made the introduction process easy for HR, but they faced some prejudices against break exercising. As if a two-minute break could increase energy levels, besides how could Cuckoo even motivate taking breaks?
According to Elina Koski, Cuckoo’s gamified platform was the key to high activity and enthusiastic response. Soon after starting to use Cuckoo, an activity competition in Cuckoo was organized – with great prizes of course. Possibility to compete against other departments in the company tempted employees to try Cuckoo. When given a chance, Cuckoo’s gamified features charmed even the most suspicious employees and they started spontaneously creating their own teams. To get the most out of the competition it was important to choose a fair form of competition. Instead of encouraging employees to try to collect more points than any other, the competition form rewarded regular activity.
“Cuckoo is a platform where we can learn how to keep ourselves healthy in daily life whether that may be at the workplace or at home.”
Ashutosh Sahu, Cuckoo-käyttäjä
One of the employees excited to compete in Cuckoo is Ashutosh Sahu from Ensto’s office in India. It is interesting to follow the progress of colleagues from other countries on Cuckoo’s map. It’s also possible to send challenges to other employees and compete, who gets more points in a couple of days. For Ashutosh, Cuckoo is above all a platform where he can learn how to keep himself healthy in daily life at the workplace and at home. Ashutosh encourages other Cuckoo users to keep up their activity in Cuckoo to stay healthy and fight back against different diseases.
Over 200 companies and organizations are using Cuckoo on a daily basis.
Cuckoo has been used at Ensto for about half a year now and Cuckoo has already become part of their working culture and work community. At Ensto, new employees are taught to use Cuckoo from the beginning and Cuckoo breaks are part of team meetings and other, even global events. At the office you might every now and then notice your colleague standing up and start doing a Cuckoo exercise. When having a virtual coffee break, it is not exceptional that the conversation circulates to the results on Cuckoo’s map.
“Cuckoo has been a fun way to take breaks during work days and especially useful when working remotely. Employees have really enjoyed the feeling of communality the application has created and the easiness of taking breaks in team meetings and other sessions. Cuckoo break is a great way to break the ice in any situation.”
Elina Koski, Human Resource Manager
Elina has heard very positive feedback about Cuckoo from the employees. What do you think, Susan and Ashutosh? Yes definitely, they nod their heads in agreement. Susan takes Cuckoo breaks regularly and she feels that they are good for her body and also her overall state of mind. Cuckoo breaks are especially effective when you are struggling with some task and you feel totally lost. At those times Susan recommends taking two breaks in a row to give a stronger effect. Ashutosh has noticed that after starting to use Cuckoo he feels very energetic and less lazy after work. Cuckoo helps the mind to relax and relieves stress.
“If you are struggling with some task and you feel totally lost, push your chair away, take 1 or 2 Cuckoo exercises or make some stretches and you’ll see that the task is not so difficult anymore”
Susan Rass, Cuckoo-käyttäjä
In the end one more question for Elina, how do you in HR support employees’ activity in Cuckoo? “All the things, also Cuckoo, needs reminding and activation. We have added Cuckoo in our online introduction for new employees. In addition we are for example going to use the upcoming World Championship of Smart Habits to activate our employees by organizing an internal competition for our own company. Cuckoo once again offers a great concept and a lot of material for communication”, Elina concludes.
Cuckoo is a wellbeing software where you can find over 100 break exercises, created by physioterapists. The gamified features really attracts you to take those breaks: for every break you take, you will collect points and participate in weekly raffles.
By collecting points you will move on our Cuckoo map and participate in competitions with great prizes, while maintaining your wellbeing. You can also challenge and follow your colleagues in the app as well as create groups within your company. Cuckoo is used by over 200 leading companies and organizations. Are you the next one?
According to research from the Institute of occupational health in Finland Cuckoo contributes to work wellbeing in many ways; social, mental and physical. Sick leave days decreased and significant amounts of money were saved. Other effects were increased sense of community and better recovery. Read more here.
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