The goal of a corporate wellness program is to assist employees with adopting and maintaining healthy habits. A successful corporate wellness program can include a variety of initiatives. From weight loss to stress reduction, smoking cessation and exercise programs, initiatives vary from company to company.
These programs can help with employee retention, productivity and more, leading to an overall more positive work environment. Studies show that more than 70% of employers offer some type of wellness program, but only about 20% of employees participate in and take advantage of such programs.
The retention rate for corporate wellness programs remains low, and convincing employees to participate can be downright difficult. Wellness incentive programs help attract employees to a corporate wellness program, rewarding employees for making healthy choices. While cash is almost always the incentive of choice, gift cards or healthy swag such as a gym bag motivate employees. Other incentive ideas include contribution to the employee’s health insurance premium, a day of paid time off, discounts for gym memberships and more.
Examples of a wellness incentive program
Company 1
- The company incentivizes employees to participate in its corporate wellness program by raffling off a bike through earned points for healthy behaviors.
- Employees who show health improvements or maintenance are eligible to win.
- The program rewards those for managing a healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) or losing 10% of their body weight if they started the program with a healthy BMI.
- Employees who lose between 0% and 9.9% get points to recognize small steps on their wellness journey.
- Then, at the program’s end, they will raffle off a bike.
Company 2
- Employees are able to earn rewards for being active and eating well.
- For example, their healthy behaviors could potentially be cashed out for up to $300 annually or 1 ½ days of paid time off.
- To boost motivation, the company offers free health screenings with small incentives offered, such as a gift card for dinner as well chances to win other prizes.
Challenges to implementing corporate wellness program incentives
While wellness program incentives can be beneficial to help employees be motivated on their health and wellness journey, they can often be difficult to implement. Above all, wellness incentive programs require time to create and select the incentives. Once the program incentives have been selected, establishing the program and distributing it to employees can be expensive. And again, managing and maintaining the incentive program requires more time.
The solution: BetterYou
BetterYou solves many of these challenges, making wellness program incentives easy to attach to any wellness program. BetterYou is a digital coach that allows individuals to maximize their time and stay focused on goals that matter. Employees spend, on average, more than three hours per day on their phones. BetterYou meets employees where they are – on their phones.
With BetterYou, users select their own incentives based on their goals and lifestyle. BetterYou then manages the entire process, all while keeping the incentives free for the employer.
Want to learn more? Schedule a consultation and/or a demo of BetterYou today.
