GiftCard Partners Blog

June is National Employee Wellness Month and in honor of this month we’re celebrating ‘Employee Wellness Monday.’ Today we sit down with two employees from GiftCard Partners to talk about their daily routines and learn what they do in order to stay on the right track when it comes to their health and wellness.
What steps do you take during your workday to ensure that you’re staying healthy, energized and alert?
Deb: I start my day, every day, by going to the gym at 5:30AM for 60-90 minutes. The workout contains 30-60 minutes of cardio, and 25-30 minutes of weights. Weather permitting- I will bike 15-20 miles on the weekend. I have started writing down what I eat as well through
myfitnesspal.com.
Melina: Since I’ve taken the big step (for me at least) to try my first triathlon, I’ve begun a new routine this month. By the way, this “iron girl” triathlon is a beginner one (Thank God) which consists of a half mile swim, 12 mile bike ride and wraps up with a 3 mile run.  I’ve started running up to 3 miles 3-4 times a week. I try to do it in the morning or early evening to avoid the heat of mid-day. I also ride my bike on weekends with my fellow triathloners to get used to the hilly terrain. As for the swim, well we just hit over 80 degrees this week so I’ll be starting 50 laps in the pool tonight!! PS I drink LOTS of water all day long at my desk to stay well hydrated.
What happens when you don’t stick to this routine?
Deb: I stick to this routine, because if I don’t I feel grouchy and tired and my family and coworkers don’t like me. The only time I don’t exercise is when I can’t logistically because of travel or my asthma has kicked up to the extent I just can’t do anything.
Melina: I’ll probably come in last! Not to mention the possibility of not being able to finish it. Truth be told, I just feel better and more productive with work and around my family when I’ve had some form of exercise each day.
What advice would you give someone who is looking to get healthier during their 9-5 work week?
Deb: Keep a schedule- and do it early in the day as life usually does get in the way.  Then you stay energized the whole day!
Melina: Find the time to get that body moving regardless of the type or intensity of the exercise. It really helps to re-energize so you can be more productive throughout the day.
Rewarding Your Employees for Their Healthy Choices
Want to reward or recognize your workforce this month for putting in the extra effort to stay healthy? Our gift card clients make it easy to reward your workforce for their healthy behavior with convenient and flexible volume discounts on bulk orders.

We’re finding that people are still questioning why companies across the U.S. are spending $22.7 BILLION
¹ on gift cards as incentives in corporate employee programs and what this segment of the B2B gift card market is all about. AND we’re also finding that corporations and companies of all sizes are STILL surprised to learn that there are savings to be had on bulk gift cards purchased for employee motivation, employee engagement, and employee rewards.  Why are 52% of U.S. businesses using gift cards to recognize and reward employees, sales folk, partners and customers.
² Dig deep into how gift cards are utilized in the workplace to motivate, incent, and reward in employee programs.[hs_action id="2877"] 1 & 2 Source: IRF Market Study: B2B Gift Cards

HealthyAmericans.org reports some pretty impressive corporate wellness program successes, like:

One of the most important challenges that employers share is undoubtedly reducing health care costs, while maintaining the perception of high healthcare value being offered to employees. But, employer and employee perspectives can be greatly skewed.

People rely on their smartphones to ring alarms, retrieve all facets of communications, navigate where they’re going, and so much more! But what about navigating one of the most difficult challenges of life…changing behavior to improve one’s health? There is ZERO debate over the attractiveness and popularity of Smartphone, tablet, and computer apps to help us in our everyday life; but can they help change our behaviors, or keep our attention on our goals on a long-term basis? One of my first experiences with a healthy-app was more than 10 years ago, on my Palm Pilot with a program that tracked the foods I ate (down to the TBSP of milk in my latte). The program allowed me to input my daily exercise, and it would tally up my healthfulness for the day, week, month and adjust my workout accordingly to stay on track. I have to say, I was pretty good for a few years about tracking those crunches and treadmill walks to counter whatever food I ate.Although the technology became obsolete, the habits of how I make my coffee and the calorie & fat counting sticks with me to this day. Such apps could certainly be integrated into a workplace health and wellness program. Since tracking health and wellness milestones is an important cornerstone of any program, apps can be set up with individuals’ health and wellness goals to help employees track, in real- time, their own success…connecting them closer to their potential incentives or rewards, like the gift cards or premium reductions. With or without a health and wellness program, workplaces can promote such apps to keep healthy behaviors on track through the workday.
Check out this Quora discussion, to find some great ideas that you can pass on to your employees, coworkers, and teams. By supporting these technologies; you could help create a healthier workplace, one app/one person at a time.