Wellness Incentive Programs: Where to Begin?
By Valerie on May 23, 2009 in Business
We all know, when a staff member becomes sick or injured, this can have a direct affect on the employer’s cost of health care and even lower the productivity of the company. Nip this problem in the bud with wellness incentive programs.
So how do you begin? Start with these easy ideas:
Immunization-Offer flu shots to your employees at no cost to them. These shots will keep them healthy and working through flu season!
Nutrition Seminars-Invite a nutritionist into the office and have him or her lead a discussion on making good food choices.
Support Exercise Activities-Sponsor a company walkathon to benefit a charity of your choice. Or, encourage your employees to take a 15-minute stroll once a day around the building with co-workers. Maybe even pay for gym memberships if that is something your company can afford.
Rewards Program-Offer your employees a company-based program that rewards employees for achieving specific wellness-related objectives. Award a point system that keeps tally of these objectives. When an employee reaches a certain number of points, he or she can choose a gift.
The idea behind wellness programs is simple. When you improve the health of your employees, good things start to happen. Morale goes up, doctor’s appointments go down and productivity reaches new heights.
Rob | Jun 2, 2009 | Reply
This is a great idea for any company, but especially ones who have a lot of employees with sedentary jobs sitting at a desk. Keep your employees healthy and you keep down healh care costs. Makes perfect sense to me.
Ralph | Jun 4, 2009 | Reply
Personally, I hate smoking. It’s worth it to me to offer my staff extra incentives to quit smoking. It’s also a great way to keep down health care costs.
Danza | Jun 5, 2009 | Reply
One of the reasons that I offer incentives to my own staff to stop smoking is that it increases worker productivity. If you look at the numbers, it’s stunning how much work time smokers waste pursuing their filthy habit.
Gene | Jun 6, 2009 | Reply
I believe in giving people incentives to stay healthy. Encourage your staff to lose weight and stop smoking. It’ll pay in the long run with less absenteeism, more productivity.
Hart | Jun 10, 2009 | Reply
I like the idea of encouraging my staff to participate in 10K runs for charity as a way of getting them fit, and also making a contribution to the community at large.
Geneiva | Jun 10, 2009 | Reply
The first place to start is by establishing a no-smoking workplace. Just make it clear that smoking will not be tolerated at the workplace. It’s better for people’s health, and you’ll be amazed at how much more productive everybody gets when they’re not constantly taking cigarette breaks.
Clay T. | Jun 10, 2009 | Reply
The more weight you can get your obese and overweight employees to lose is all to the good. Once you get some of the fattest people to lose weight, you’ll probably be astonished at how much better they feel, and how much less work they miss due to illness.