Wellness Program incentives help employees adopt and sustain healthier behaviors throughout their lives. Employee wellness programs have grown so popular over the past few years that it is almost bizarre to find a business that does not provide at least some type of wellness benefit or event for employees to participate in.

Win-Win Habit that Builds Team Engagement

Health and wellness programs with high success rates help motivate people to take personal responsibility for managing and improving health and fitness, reduce absenteeism, increase productivity, and reduce healthcare costs. Faculty and staff members may participate in the Wellness Incentives Program, earning bonus dollars for each wellness activity completed together as a healthy workforce. Because of their non-competitive nature, these types of incentives are the best at increasing employee camaraderie and cohesion.

A Simple Program is Better than No Program

Wellness incentive programs are designed to help improve health and wellness, improve workplace wellness, and foster a healthy culture. A well-implemented wellness incentive program needs to be simple to explain, easy to understand, and simple to use by employees in order to be effective. Starting with a personal health profile (PHP) is the first step to earn rewards for participating in wellness incentive programs.

Extrinsic Motivation Turns into Intrinsic Motivation

Research shows that one of the best and most effective ways to keep people engaged and excited about participating in your company’s wellness programs is through incentives. Wellness incentives are merely a tool for encouraging individuals to engage in healthier behaviors for just long enough for them to experience the benefits, at which point incentives are not needed anymore. While 1 point = $1 is an excellent incentive, there are many simpler and more effective incentives.    

Everyone Can Participate and Improve

Performance-based incentives are given when employees meet specific goals or milestones within your program. Increasing the size or value of several incentives as the program continues is another way to motivate your team to engage. Participation-Based Incentives can be given to anyone participating in a program. To check employees for unhealthy behaviors, many wellness programs use health risk assessments as the first step. During this assessment, keep in mind that each employee’s ability varies in its ability to achieve biometric goals such as normal weight or blood sugar levels.

Personalized Programs and Goals

The best and most successful wellness programs, those with the highest engagement rates, are designed with the unique interests, needs, and goals of their employees in mind. Participants may receive rewards for completing of activities, such as a MyHealth questionnaire, undergoing biometric screenings, receiving preventive health services, and others to create a personalized wellness plan. Some incentives may be based on meeting specific health standards, like quitting smoking or reaching a healthy weight, as measured by the body mass index (BMI). 

Teach Healthy Habits

Helping employees experience the inherent rewards of healthier behaviors helps them maintain a healthier lifestyle for years, even if they do not participate in the wellness program. Because the purpose of wellness programs is to help employees adopt and sustain healthier behaviors, RPG Card Services provides gift cards from anywhere between $5 and $500 to award to employees who complete various aspects of a wellness program.

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