How to Choose Incentives That Get Results

In Cape Coral, Florida, a new wellness incentive for Lee County School District employees is generating some healthy competition. The teachers and staff who earn the most wellness points at one of the district's 48 elementary schools will win a 400-square-foot garden for their school.

The wellness incentive attracted about 400 employees to sign up for the challenge and form teams to compete for the school garden. Wellness programs that use incentives have higher overall participation rates. In your first year, you might set a goal for a 30-50% participation rate, but the right incentives could help you reach 70-100% participation rates over time.

Many organizations offer a reduction in health insurance premiums to people who enroll in their wellness program. According to the Wellness Council of America, incentives tied to health benefits can garner an 80% participation rate in your wellness program.

But what about the other 20%? How can you choose incentives that will get results and encourage more people to participate in your wellness program? Here are three ways to make the most of offering incentives:

1. Know your participants.
Find out what they like and value. If you're not sure, just ask them:

• "What projects are you currently working on?"
• "What kind of incentives would you like to see become part of the wellness program?"

Use a suggestion box, send an email, or create a survey to collect feedback about incentives from your participants.

2. Choose incentives that matter.
Once you know what's important to your participants, choose incentives that will engage them in your wellness program. For example, you could offer your participants a gift card for a nearby healthy restaurant for completing the health risk assessment. Common incentives include merchandise, gift cards, cash, discounted gym memberships, and discounts on health insurance premiums. On the more creative side, consider:

• Awarding movie tickets to the participant with the most wellness points every month.
• Entering participants in a drawing for tickets to a major sporting event in your area.
• Providing free massages once a quarter to participants who reach their quarterly wellness goal.
• Hosting a party if participants reach an established wellness goal as a group by a certain deadline.

3. Recognize participants for wellness achievements.
When your participants complete a Health Challenge™ or fulfill the requirements for an incentive award, recognize them for the effort. Plan a company meeting to celebrate their success. Here are some things you can do during the meeting:

• Offer a wellness incentive for attending.
• Distribute incentive awards.
• Ask participants to share their wellness success stories.
• Provide a summary of the health of your organization, participation rate for the wellness program, and summary of incentives earned by participants.

A landscaped garden may or may not be the right incentive for your participants. But knowing your participants will give you some clues to choose incentives that will get them involved, and keep them active in your wellness program.