The Importance Integrating Incentives Into Health & Wellness Programs

In 2007, Hewitt Associates reported that 48% (up from 38% in 2006) of the major U.S. employers surveyed indicated that they currently offer, or plan to offer rewards to their employees who actively participate in wellness or other health-related programs.

One significant factor in the dramatic increase of employers offering incentives into their wellness programs is the ever-rising cost of health care in America. Incentivizing employees to lead healthier lifestyles and achieving wellness goals have become a highlighted line item in companies' strategy, culture, and bottom line.

Not only will offering incentives with wellness initiatives increase overall participation and help reduce health costs, but there is also a direct correlation with employee retention. MetLife reported in 2008, "employers that offer wellness programs are more likely to see benefits as a very important tools for employee retention (70% of employers that offer wellness programs contracts to 50% of employers that do not)".¹

As Jim Winkler, practice leader of Hewitt Associates iterates, "Wellness programs provide significant opportunities for short and long-term savings but only if employees actually participate.

Online Rewards specializes in the design and development of successful health and wellness rewards programs. Each rewards program is built with the overall understanding that the client's number 1 goal is to better engage their workforce to actively participate in healthier lifestyles by facilitating an environment of self-initiate and positive reinforcements.

Offering the right type of incentives into your existing health and wellness programs will create a tighter employer-to-employee bond, empowering the employee to want to live a healthier lifestyle. Online Rewards believes that giving the employee the power to choose what they feel is the best reward for himself or herself is the most effective positive re-enforcer.

"It was a good feeling knowing that I could choose the reward item for myself," said Thomas Vickers, 53, who accumulated points for quitting smoking. "Since I quit smoking, I was able to use the points I had been rewarded in the program to redeem for exercise equipment." he said. "I have more energy and feel great!"

More employers are seeing this value and looking to incentive experts, such as Online Rewards, to assist them in total rewards integration for their health and wellness programs.

¹MetLife Press Release (New York), October 20, 2008