What matters is ongoing promotion, not the size of the prize
In a perfect world, eating right and exercising would be their own rewards. Everyone knows the benefits of a healthier lifestyle: increased energy, decreased stress and increased resilience to illness. But, unfortunately, getting started on, and sticking to, a diet or exercise regimen is notoriously difficult. The same is true of workplace wellness initiatives.
“Everyone would wish that learning more about healthy lifestyle factors would be intrinsically motivating, but the truth is we all need a little extra something to get us going sometimes,” says Sue Pridham, president of Oakville, Ont.-based Tri Fit, which manages customized health and wellness programs for organizations.
That’s why many organizations use incentives to encourage employees to participate in corporate wellness programs.
Incentives create more interest in the program and inspire people who aren’t usually active to get involved, says Kathleen Jones, business solutions manager at Fraser & Hoyt Incentives in Halifax.
“Without incentives you typically get the same people who would participate on their own,” she says. “The people who wouldn’t typically exercise on their own are those who need that extra push.”
When it comes to choosing an incentive, some are better than others. Gift cards, trips and electronics, such as iPods, are the most popular rewards, says Jones. Exercise-themed prizes such as water bottles and yoga mats tend to only motivate people who already lead a healthy lifestyle. Prizes with the company’s logo aren’t very motivating for anyone, she says.
Connecting the prize with the initiative is also a way to motivate people, says Pridham. At IBM, employees accumulate points for their workouts, which they can then trade in for extra money in their health spending accounts, she says. At Honeywell, employees who log a certain number of workout hours can save money on their fitness club fees through company subsidies.
For budget-conscious employers, programs where employees earn ballots for a draw are often the best choice. If the program is several weeks or months long, the draws should take place throughout the program to keep employees interested, says Jones.
While big-ticket items such as a flat-screen television or a trip to Mexico are appealing, if there’s only one prize to be won among all employees, many of them might feel they don’t have a chance so they don’t participate. To make employees believe they have a better chance of winning, employers should take the money and split it among several draws for less expensive items, says Ed Buffett, president and chief executive officer of Buffett and Company Worksite Wellness based in Whitby, Ont.
People like to win, no matter what the prize is, he says.
“Our experience has been that if it’s well promoted, if it’s effectively marketed, then virtually all types of incentive programs can be effective,” he says. “The key is really building an effective marketing and promotional program around both the initiative and the incentive. Without that you lose a lot of the oomph that otherwise these incentives can deliver.”
Looking at Buffett and Company’s clients, a program with good incentives, effective marketing and strong promotion typically has a participation rate of 30 per cent to 60 per cent. That’s compared to 10 per cent to 15 per cent for programs with no incentives and poor marketing and promotion, says Buffett.
To effectively promote and market the program, employers should use all available media, including e-mail, posters, paycheque stuffers and brochures. They can also organize special events and post information in highly visible areas, such as cafeterias and lunchrooms.
Most importantly, employers have to dedicate enough time to the promotion so employees know about the program and have time to think about it ahead of time, says Buffett.
“You need to really get out there well in advance of when the activity is happening,” he says.
Incentives can work for any wellness initiative, from encouraging employees to complete a health-risk assessment, to screening for high blood pressure and cholesterol, to behaviour modification programs such as weight management and smoking cessation, says Buffett.
Regardless of the program, it’s important to make it fun, he says. If employees are having fun, they’ll keep participating and others will want to join. Adding a competitive element to a program makes it especially appealing to most people, says Buffett.
“People like to participate and they love to win and they like being part of a team that wins,” he says.
One of the most important factors in a program’s success is support from senior management, says Buffett.
“When you get senior leadership within the organization demonstrating their buy-in, it impacts the rest of the workforce very favourably. Alternatively, their absence speaks volumes,” he says.
One of the biggest challenges any dieter knows is sticking with it for the long haul. While incentives are great in the beginning, once the employee is no longer winning prizes, her enthusiasm can wane, says Pridham.
“Ongoing programming around wellness is important,” she says. “It’s important to provide different ways of keeping interest up. If you leave people to their own devices, often they will fall off and lose that momentum.”
“Everyone would wish that learning more about healthy lifestyle factors would be intrinsically motivating, but the truth is we all need a little extra something to get us going sometimes,” says Sue Pridham, president of Oakville, Ont.-based Tri Fit, which manages customized health and wellness programs for organizations.
That’s why many organizations use incentives to encourage employees to participate in corporate wellness programs.
Incentives create more interest in the program and inspire people who aren’t usually active to get involved, says Kathleen Jones, business solutions manager at Fraser & Hoyt Incentives in Halifax.
“Without incentives you typically get the same people who would participate on their own,” she says. “The people who wouldn’t typically exercise on their own are those who need that extra push.”
When it comes to choosing an incentive, some are better than others. Gift cards, trips and electronics, such as iPods, are the most popular rewards, says Jones. Exercise-themed prizes such as water bottles and yoga mats tend to only motivate people who already lead a healthy lifestyle. Prizes with the company’s logo aren’t very motivating for anyone, she says.
Connecting the prize with the initiative is also a way to motivate people, says Pridham. At IBM, employees accumulate points for their workouts, which they can then trade in for extra money in their health spending accounts, she says. At Honeywell, employees who log a certain number of workout hours can save money on their fitness club fees through company subsidies.
For budget-conscious employers, programs where employees earn ballots for a draw are often the best choice. If the program is several weeks or months long, the draws should take place throughout the program to keep employees interested, says Jones.
While big-ticket items such as a flat-screen television or a trip to Mexico are appealing, if there’s only one prize to be won among all employees, many of them might feel they don’t have a chance so they don’t participate. To make employees believe they have a better chance of winning, employers should take the money and split it among several draws for less expensive items, says Ed Buffett, president and chief executive officer of Buffett and Company Worksite Wellness based in Whitby, Ont.
People like to win, no matter what the prize is, he says.
“Our experience has been that if it’s well promoted, if it’s effectively marketed, then virtually all types of incentive programs can be effective,” he says. “The key is really building an effective marketing and promotional program around both the initiative and the incentive. Without that you lose a lot of the oomph that otherwise these incentives can deliver.”
Looking at Buffett and Company’s clients, a program with good incentives, effective marketing and strong promotion typically has a participation rate of 30 per cent to 60 per cent. That’s compared to 10 per cent to 15 per cent for programs with no incentives and poor marketing and promotion, says Buffett.
To effectively promote and market the program, employers should use all available media, including e-mail, posters, paycheque stuffers and brochures. They can also organize special events and post information in highly visible areas, such as cafeterias and lunchrooms.
Most importantly, employers have to dedicate enough time to the promotion so employees know about the program and have time to think about it ahead of time, says Buffett.
“You need to really get out there well in advance of when the activity is happening,” he says.
Incentives can work for any wellness initiative, from encouraging employees to complete a health-risk assessment, to screening for high blood pressure and cholesterol, to behaviour modification programs such as weight management and smoking cessation, says Buffett.
Regardless of the program, it’s important to make it fun, he says. If employees are having fun, they’ll keep participating and others will want to join. Adding a competitive element to a program makes it especially appealing to most people, says Buffett.
“People like to participate and they love to win and they like being part of a team that wins,” he says.
One of the most important factors in a program’s success is support from senior management, says Buffett.
“When you get senior leadership within the organization demonstrating their buy-in, it impacts the rest of the workforce very favourably. Alternatively, their absence speaks volumes,” he says.
One of the biggest challenges any dieter knows is sticking with it for the long haul. While incentives are great in the beginning, once the employee is no longer winning prizes, her enthusiasm can wane, says Pridham.
“Ongoing programming around wellness is important,” she says. “It’s important to provide different ways of keeping interest up. If you leave people to their own devices, often they will fall off and lose that momentum.”
