Wellness incentives: how well do they work? Companies are offering everything from Green Stamps to days off in order to get participation

Business & Health, April, 1991 by Nancy Madlin

Some consultants say that if employees seem a health-oriented group to begin with, incentives may not be appropriate in every case. "The first year we put a wellness program into place, we can have very high participation rates--three of our new clients this year came in at 85 percent--without any kind of incentives," says Tom Sawyer. "I usually recommend letting the program get running, and if utilization drops, then use incentives."

In general, the most common kind of incentive program is one in which employees receive points for exercise activities they pursue outside of work, aiming towards some milestone at which they receive a prize. At K Products, a manufacturer of advertising specialty items in Orange City, Iowa, with 1,400 employees, 460 people participated in the "Wellness Team" in its first year, 1989. "We made it simple to encourage people to join, and we expanded the eligible activities this year," says Bonnie Huygen, K Product's manager of personnel services.

Employees receive 10 points for each half hour spent in any of 18 different activities--like walking, running, biking, tennis, weight lifting, rowing, jump roping, and wallyball. At the 600-point plateau, they receive a T-shirt; at 1,200 points, they're eligible for a drawing for a Walkman; at 1,800 points, they receive athletic shorts; at 2,400, a sweater; and at 2,800, the final plateau, they're entered in a drawing for a clock/radio/phone. Huygen says that while the program probably doesn't save the company all that much in medical costs, it does contribute greatly to employee morale. "The program shows a positive commitment," she says, "by the employer to the employee."

S&H Green Stamps

John Alden Life Insurance Company in Miami, Fla., runs an expanded version of this kind of prize-giving program. To chart their progress through the company's "Health Works" program, employees are issued a "passport"; points are awarded for participation in a list of company-sponsored events, most of which are held after work. For joining the company-organized Weight Watchers group, for instance, an employee gets 25 points; for completing a running or walking event, he gets 20. Points are also garnered for aerobics classes, participating in a team sport, attending a presentation on a health subject, serving as a wellness committee volunteer, bringing your family or your boss to a presentation, or giving blood. Prizes are awarded through the S&H Green Stamps catalogue, at four value levels ($25, $50, $75 and $100). The employee who accumulates the most points over the course of a year wins an all-expenses-paid vacation.

Foldcraft, a restaurant furniture manufacturer in Kenyon, Minn., offers several kinds of incentives for participation in its extensive wellness program. These include prizes such as clothing and gift certificates--and casg bonuses, along with time off from work. Although the company has only 300 employees, Foldcraft offers 11 different ways for them to participate in wellness.