GiftCard Partners Blog

New research from
Mercer LLC shows a 3% increase in use of carrot style rewards in the context of health and wellness programs. These health and wellness rewards are largely tied to employees' achieving a certain change or reaching a certain biometric range for preventable conditions like obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc. According to the research, 23% of large employers are using positive reinforcements as health and wellness rewards.
A Towers Watson study from September also indicates an increase in outcome-based health and wellness rewards, with 18% using them currently and 10% planning to add programs in 2015. While some health and wellness industry professionals believe the days of spot rewards are over, in favor of an organizational shift towards discounting insurance costs, this shift is only being observed by larger firms. While smaller businesses cannot absorb the financial impact of larger policy discounts, spot rewards offer an alternative with the potential to scale up or add larger rewards at a later date. The increased use of health and wellness rewards at a variety of levels, from small spot rewards like
gift cards to large discounts on health insurance, signals a larger trend. Health and wellness programs and health and wellness rewards are becoming a mainstream, integral part of the way benefits and healthcare are delivered from employers to employees. Health and wellness rewards has become a mechanism for employers to make healthcare more affordable for employees, while also ensuring their workforce is healthy and productive, and healthcare is also affordable at the organizational level.

It's the time of year for diets, gym membership renewals and for some, delusions of grandeur about a healthier year. The key is to turn that burst of enthusiasm into long-term healthy habits that help employees fall into routines that are here to stay for the long haul. Healthy employees miss less work, and are more productive, focused and hungrier to move up and improve.

Absenteeism in the workplace due to poor health costs U.S. businesses an estimated $84 billion a year in lost productivity. While this number is down from just a few years ago, employers can continue to improve absenteeism in the workplace by promoting wellbeing.  Promoting wellbeing benefits both the employer and employee.  A healthy employee is likely to take fewer sick days and be more productive when they know that their wellbeing is important to their employer. While some ideas for wellbeing can take some time to implement, here are five simple, inexpensive ways of improving employee wellbeing that you can start as soon as today:

This year Maritz Motivation is having their own "12 days of Christmas," revealing the
12 most redeemed items from their loyalty catalog and trends in electronics buying. 42% of the recent survey respondents indicated that they will redeem loyalty points to fund holiday shopping. What these consumers are buying could indicate large buying trends for the holidays. The first 3 items have been revealed, but one of the overarching themes to seasonal electronics buying could play directly into the health and wellness programs geared toward the early part of next year. Here are 3 seasonal trends:

Carrots and sticks are a relatively old tactic in employee health and wellness programs. They are tried and true because they work. Carrots tend to prove to work better than sticks, but whether you choose to reward improved behavior and program engagement or provide (usually financial) disincentives for a lack of participation, these detractors and rewards work well to boost participation and results from employee healthy and wellness programs.
However, in analyzing effective tactics for employee health and wellness programs, we often overlook the most basic component of an employee health and wellness program. To be frank, it can feel intrusive for employees to have employers involved in their healthcare. Especially when dealing with sensitive topics like high cholesterol and weight loss, it can be intrusive for some employees to have employers involved, even if they are providing health care and insurance. In a recent study from the
Kaiser Family Foundation survey, 62% of employees felt it was inappropriate for employers to require workers to pay more for their health insurance premiums if they don’t participate in wellness programs. Additionally 74% said companies shouldn’t charge higher premiums if employees don’t achieve predetermined health goals. These two statistics bring employers back to basics and really require organizations to evaluate how they approach employee health and wellness programs. Will carrots or sticks work best for your company? Should employee health and wellness be a (strong) suggestion or a requirement for affordable coverage?
Read more from the Wall Street Journal.