The New Year is the perfect time to make changes in your life—and that goes for your employees too! One way to encourage employees to make positive changes for their health and wellness is with an incentive program. It is time for you to meet company goals such as increasing participation rates and encouraging behavior change.

New year, new programs!

With the New Year upon us, you may be wondering how to keep your health and wellness programs fresh. The answer is simple: start a new program! If you are thinking, “but I already have plenty of programs in place” or “that sounds like a lot of work,” we understand your hesitation—but we also know that you do not want your employees to get bored with their current offerings. Here are some tips for starting fresh:

• Be intentional about what the program will look like. What do you want participants to get out of it? How will it improve their lives (or help them meet company goals)? Do some research on similar companies and see how they approach things like class schedules and pricing models. Ask around for any advice from colleagues who have run similar initiatives before.
• Put together an action plan for getting started right away, but do not rush into anything permanent just yet! Always make sure something works before investing lots of time in it. Launch an experiment or test run first with your employees. This way, if people are not responding well enough, then no harm done!

Do not make your program so difficult that participants feel like they are not engaging in healthy behaviors.

Focus on small steps and progress rather than a big goal. Make it easy to participate by providing the necessary tools, such as a pedometer or app that tracks steps, an activity log, and healthy snacks. Avoid making the program seem like a chore or punishment; instead, focus on how individuals can benefit from participating in health-related activities such as physical activity or healthy eating.

Encourage behavior change

Health and wellness programs are a great way to support your employees in living healthier lives. To ensure that you are getting the most out of this program, here are some tips for encouraging behavior change among your staff:

• What is behavioral change? Behavior change refers to any change in an individual's behavior over time. This could include quitting smoking or beginning an exercise regimen, but it can also extend beyond those examples into less common areas such as weight loss or financial literacy.
• Why do we encourage behavior changes? Research has shown that positive changes in employees' health outcomes can increase productivity, lower healthcare costs, improve employee satisfaction and reduce absenteeism at work—all of which can contribute towards improving overall business performance!
• How do we encourage behavior change? Educate yourself on the various ways you can promote healthy behaviors within your organization by consulting resources. Be sure to keep up with trends in this area so that you are equipped with knowledge about current best practices and research-based evidence-based practices (EBP).

Track and maintain participation rates.

It is important to track how many employees are participating each week, if your wellness program is required for everyone in the company and participation is not optional, tracking may not be as important. However, if your program is voluntary or people may miss weeks due to vacation or illness, it is important to recognize the work they have been doing and will continue when they get back.

It is good practice to keep track of who participates and why they stopped (or did not start). If there is not a clear reason, why someone disengages after only a month or so, perhaps there is something about the program itself that needs changing if you want more people participating long term.

Identify which rewards motivate your employees the most.

Employees are more motivated by rewards that are relevant to their interests, easy to redeem and use, and easy to understand. You can give your employees options to help them find rewards that align with their needs and values. For example, a reward structure using points can be redeemed for items like gift cards or discounts on products at select retailers.

A fun and effective incentive program can increase employee engagement.

Employee engagement is the most important factor for improving employee health and wellness. Incentives can help with this by giving them external motivation to participate, which will then improve the overall health and wellness of your employees.

According to a study done by Accenture, 87% of employees believe that having fun on the job increases productivity, while 79% believe that it helps them feel good about their job. Therefore, providing incentives such as cash prizes or gift cards can help increase participation in your corporate fitness challenge or other similar programs like weight loss challenges or biometric screenings without sacrificing the morale of your workers. At RPG Card Services, we are dedicated to helping you run your program effectively with incentives that work. Provide employees with a Shell gift card to help pay for their gasoline that week or offer an Amazon gift card if they are relocating closer to the office. The possibilities are endless when your company stays limitless.

Conclusion

By implementing these strategies into your wellness program, you are sure to see an increase in participation rates and overall employee engagement.

Sources:

The Future of Work 2022 | Accenture