How to effectively use ‘carrots’ in your wellness program. Thought leaders share their views on the HR profession and its direction for the future
| Pages | 95-96 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-01-2018-0006 |
| Published date | 09 April 2018 |
| Date | 09 April 2018 |
| Author | Jason Mauser |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Employee behaviour |
Strategic commentary
How to effectively use ‘carrots’in your
wellness program
Thought leaders share their views on the HR profession and its
direction for the future
Jason Mauser
You know the drill –your
company creates a wellness
program but participation is
lackluster from the beginning or after a
few months have lapsed. Think about
it: how long do New Year’s resolutions
last? A week or a month? People tend
to get sidetracked as the year passes
by,andthesamedisinterestcanalso
impact wellness programs after
employees sign-up. Employees may
start with good intentions, but unless
they are regularly rewarded with the
right rewards –or “carrots” –their
participation may wane or even die off
completely.
A Hawk Incentives study that focused
on employee happiness[1] found that
47 per cent of employees want
wellness rewards but only 32 per cent
of employers offer them; the research
also found that the number of
employees who would participate in
wellness programs nearly quadruples
when rewards are offered. To bolster
participation in your wellness program,
try leveraging rewards and incentives
to drive engagement –here’s how.
Engage and reward: quickly and
often
Sparking involvement right out of the
gate can set the tone for an active
wellness program. It is not enough for
employees to simply sign-up; the aim
should be to keep them engaged.
Employees want to be rewarded and
incented for their behavior, and
delivering rewards (quickly!) can
provide regular reminders of the
behavior(s) that led to the reward in the
first place. There are a variety of ways
to do this, whether using on-the-spot
rewards in person, sending e-gifts or
shooting over a swift email. If a reward
takes too long to be delivered, your
company runs the risk of employees
forgetting about it or losing interest in
working toward more rewards in the
future. Consider offering smaller,
frequently delivered rewards to
encourage participation on a regular
basis. These “micro” rewards can
enable your organization to create a
steady stream of recognition and
interaction that keeps your employees
engaged. If your wellness program
offers point-based rewards through
accrual, keep in mind that employees
should be able to cash out their points
at any time. This will help prevent
frustration and provide immediate
rewards that associate your program
with positive engagement.
Provide the rewards employees
want
Your employees aren’t all the same
and aren’t going to agree on the
single best reward they’d like to
Jason Mauser is Vice President of
Sales at the Sales Department,
Blackhawk Network, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, USA.
DOI 10.1108/SHR-01-2018-0006 VOL. 17 NO. 2 2018, pp. 95-96, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1475-4398 jSTRATEGIC HR REVIEW jPAGE 95
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