Archive for the ‘Health & Wellness’ Category
Monday, March 25th, 2013
Employee health should be a top priority for any organization and that’s where a health and wellness program comes into play.
Let’s take diabetes for example. HealthDay News reported that nearly 26 million adults and children in the U.S. have diabetes and another 79 million have prediabetes. And what’s this costing? The rising cost of diabetes in the U.S. has jumped from $174 billion in 2007 to $245 billion in 2012 and 62% of that cost is provided by government insurance groups like Medicare and Medicaid. In many cases taking responsible steps, like keeping your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol under control, can prevent diabetes problems in the first place.
So how do health and wellness programs come into play? Good question, glad you asked. Prevention is key to controlling this issue. A company’s health and wellness program may ask employees to participate in regular health screenings, hold regular “wellness presentations” to inform employees on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle, or it may reward employees for meeting health goals like reaching weight loss targets or lowering blood pressure or cholesterol.
Offering “healthy incentives” in your health and wellness programs brings the whole process full circle. Interested in learning how to include healthy incentives in your corporate health and wellness program?
Learn more, ask questions or check out more great gift card incentive options from GiftCard Partners.
Check out National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse for more ways on how to prevent diabetes problems or keep diabetes under control.
The author:
Lauren McAuley is on the marketing team at GiftCard Partners. She is a recent graduate who enjoys diving head first into several aspects of the business including social media, graphic design, marketing, business development and public relations. Her passion for challenging herself keeps her trying new things every chance she gets, vegetable lasagna this week, maybe skydiving next week?
Tags: corporate health and wellness, corporate health and wellness programs, employee health, employee health and wellness, health and wellness, health and wellness incentives, health and wellness programs, healthy incentives, incentives
Posted in Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 20th, 2013
An increasingly diverse and remote workforce brings many challenges to management teams when strategizing and coordinating employee programs such as employee recognition programs. Layer on that the need for employers to show their recognition of workplace diversity and appreciation for individualism, and the challenges multiply. This is why employers increasingly offer gift cards as incentives and rewards within employee recognition programs, as the recipients can redeem with their own choices.
The IGCC rounds it up well: “gift cards empower the recipient with the right to choose the item that most motivates himself or herself”. Ceridian states that 8 out of 10 employees prefer gift cards over other incentives. This preference rewards for hard work they’ve done and motivates them to keep it up. The simplicity of gift cards has also helps management deliver programs quicker and with relevance and care to the participants. There is a significant time savings in the decision making process…..another important cost savings benefit of gift cards.
Also important; purchasing gift cards in bulk offers employers volume discounts. Learn more about how gift cards are used as corporate wellness incentives, healthcare program incentives, and loyalty rewards.
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: B2B gift cards, bulk gift cards, corporate gifts, corporate incentives, corporate rewards, employee engagement, employee incentives, employee motivation, employee recognition, employee rewards, flexible employee rewards, gift card incentives, productive employees, workplace diversity, workplace incentives
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Monday, March 11th, 2013
We are wondering what impact employee wellness programs have on stress levels and mental health. The American Psychological Association (APA) reports that 69% of employees claim work is a significant source of stress and 41% say they typically feel tense or stressed out during the workday. 51% of employees said they were less productive at work as a result of stress and 52% report that they have made the decision to leave their job based on workplace stress.
These are scary statistics to any employer looking to manage workplace wellness, increase employee motivation and engagement or improve employee retention rates. Safety Daily Advisor outlines some low-cost and simple changes that anyone can make to help manage their workplace stress and overall employee wellness levels .
- Prioritize, streamline, delegate and discard. Be sure that what you’re doing is the most effective way to spend your time.
- Break it up. Take breaks, get up and walk around throughout the day.
- Make time. Give yourself time to be creative, eat a healthy lunch, or go outside.
- Send negativity flying. Don’t dwell on anything negative, especially when a co-worker sends it your way.
We also wonder what place incentives hold in corporate health and wellness programs, specifically to engage employees to lower stress levels to maintain their mental health. Any experiences out there?
The author:
Lauren McAuley is on the marketing team at GiftCard Partners. She is a recent graduate who enjoys diving head first into several aspects of the business including social media, graphic design, marketing, business development and public relations. Her passion for challenging herself keeps her trying new things every chance she gets, vegetable lasagna this week, maybe skydiving next week?
Tags: employee engagement, employee health and wellness, employee motivation, employee wellness, wellness programs
Posted in Health & Wellness | No Comments »
Thursday, February 28th, 2013
As health care models shift and the various pieces of the Affordable Care Act take effect, it seems that both employers and employees are paying more for health care. As a result, employers value health and fitness as part of the value proposition for providing health benefits. Offering health and fitness rewards in exchange for consistently healthy behavior is an increasing trend that is helping employers control the cost of health benefits, and helps employees control both their cost of care and their health and body.
Health reward programs can range from cash, to discounts on health promoting activities such as attending the gym on a regular basis, joining a fitness center, or healthy activities like yoga or tai chi. Rewards can also take the shape of gift cards, offered to employees upon reaching certain health goals, or exhibiting healthy behavior like participating in a smoking cessation program. These types of rewards are not as direct as cash, but are equally effective in motivating employees by offering assistance in forming healthy lifestyle habits. Offering gift cards to retailers such as GNC, Whole Foods or NutriSystem can give employees an extra boost to get healthy and stay healthy, which means lower costs and a higher bottom line for your organization.
The author:
Rachel Merkin is a digital marketing professional . She has been exploring the worlds of social media and B2B gift cards since 2006. When she is not blogging, tweeting, or finding ways to leverage Facebook as a marketing tool, she spends as much time at the beach as she can.
Tags: employee incentives, employee motivation, employee recognition, health and wellness, health and wellness incentives, health and wellness programs
Posted in General, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 27th, 2013
HealthyAmericans.org reports some pretty impressive corporate wellness program successes, like:
- For every workplace wellness dollar spend, health care costs fall by about $3.27
- Productivity increases
- Absenteeism costs fall by approximately $2.37
This knowledge has led to more than 90% of large employers to add at least 1 benefit to their package and more than 60% of smaller employers to do the same.
Since employees and their dependents’ health is largely affected by at home and out-side of the office factors, the site’s article also reminds us that corporate wellness programs can only go so far.
Have you considered using this fact to promote health during off-working-hour times? You can do this by providing health and wellness incentives such as gift cards to healthy retailers and merchants, such as CVS/pharmacy, Whole Foods Market, GNC, and Boston Market, where families can get fast, yet well rounded meals.
Learn more about “healthy incentives” and get your workforce on a healthy track, in and out of the workplace.
Source and read more: Trust for America’s Health: Employee Wellness: Beyond 9-to-5
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: B2B gift cards, coporate health and wellness, corporate incentives, corproate wellness, CVS gift cards, decrease healthcare costs, employee engagement, health and wellness, health and wellness incentives, health and wellness programs, healthy incentives, healthy lifestyle
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 12th, 2013
A national study by Humana Inc and the National Small Business Association found that while 93% of small business owners consider employees’ physical and mental health as contributors to business results, only 1/3 are confident in their ability to help employees manage their health and wellness. If you work for a small business, there is a good chance that your company doesn’t have a health and wellness program in place. Only 22% of small businesses offer their employees access to such programs. However, of those that have health and wellness programs, 85% think these types of programs are worth the investment. 3 out of 4 employers with health and wellness programs say such programs enhance their profits.
Health and Wellness programs can have a specific focus in the beginning and expand according to the needs of the workforce. Start small with a smoking cessation program and support group, and as your program builds add appropriate components. Offering small rewards such as small denomination gift cards to health promoting retailers such as CVS/Pharmacy, GNC, and Whole Foods Market can be a great way to be supportive of employees on a tight budget. Small denomination gift cards can be easy on the budget and go a long way in letting employees know you care.
The author:
Rachel Merkin is a digital marketing professional . She has been exploring the worlds of social media and B2B gift cards since 2006. When she is not blogging, tweeting, or finding ways to leverage Facebook as a marketing tool, she spends as much time at the beach as she can.
Tags: employee incentives, employee motivation, health and wellness incentives, health and wellness programs
Posted in General, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013
During this time of year employees are looking to maintain their New Year’s Resolutions and it’s the perfect opportunity to implement an employee health and wellness program, saving your organization money for the rest of the year. A study cited by wellnessproposals.com showed that implementing a wellness program lowered sick leave by 28%, lowered the use of healthcare benefits by 26%, and lowered employee’s compensation claims by 30%. All of these indicators save your organization money, whether it means a smaller, more productive workforce, lower healthcare costs, or lower employee disability and compensation claims. Organizations that implement wellness programs also reduce personnel turnover costs because employees are healthier, happier, and feel supported by their employer which increases productivity and loyalty.
Employee health and wellness programs can be very simple to implement. Using a carrot reward philosophy to incent employees to reach health goals, such as quitting smoking, losing a certain amount of weight, or lowering another disease indicating health metric such as blood pressure or cholesterol, is a great way to start. You can even set up inter-office competition for willing employees, allowing employees to compete to reach goals faster, and rewarding the winners. Rewards do not need to be large expensive gifts, rather they can be small rewards that show employees you care without burning all of your organization’s newly saved capital. Small denomination gift cards that help employees improve health, such as gift cards to retailers like NutriSystem, GNC, or CVS/Pharmacy can be a great way to reward employees by helping them on their journey while helping your company’s bottom line.
The author:
Rachel Merkin is a digital marketing professional . She has been exploring the worlds of social media and B2B gift cards since 2006. When she is not blogging, tweeting, or finding ways to leverage Facebook as a marketing tool, she spends as much time at the beach as she can.
Tags: employee incentives, employee motivation, employee recognition, gift card incentives, health and wellness, health and wellness incentives, health and wellness programs
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Friday, January 18th, 2013
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The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: blood donor incentives, blood donor rewards, bulk gift cards, gift card specials, national blood donation month, volunteer engagemnet, volunteer incentives, volunteer rewards
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement, Rewards & Loyalty | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 16th, 2013
Mobile recognition, Social, Interactive, Green…there are many key initiatives rolled up in Roy Saunderson’s Top 10 Trends for Employee Recognition in 2013, but he shows us that it’s not just important to identify the trends, but to also put them in context. It’s not surprising to see gift cards rank in top recognition trends for the new year, but Roy shares his insights around making recognition and incentives meaningful for the employee. “6. Give me the cards I want.”
Employees will no longer be satisfied with mainstay gift cards from big box stores and established suppliers. Employees will demand to receive customized cards from meaningful places they prefer and not just what the employer deems everyone should get.”
This bodes well for GCP’s strategy of bringing the most wanted gift card brands to employers for recognition rewards and incentives. It forces employers to not just toss a cash equivalent gift card at an employee, but to be thoughtful about the gift. Give gift cards to great restaurants so your employees take their families to dinner, pharmacy gift cards so families can be proactive with healthful and personal care purchases, retail apparel gift cards…often a real treat.
Check out the rest of Incentive’s Top 10 Trends for Employee Recognition in 2013
The author:
Stacey Sicurella is a 15 year marketing veteran, working in the Boston area for GiftCard Partners. Recent accomplishments include blogging with abandon, acquiring work-life balance and building amazing sand-castles with her children.
Tags: corporate incentives, corporate rewards, employee engagement, employee gifts, employee incentives, employee motivation, employee recognition, employer trends, gift card incentives, incentive program, productive employees, wellness incentives, wellness programs, workplace incentives
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement, Safety | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 15th, 2013
Stress. We all deal with it every day, constantly finding better ways to deal with it, cope with it, release it, but we rarely think of the long term effects it has on our bodies, or our careers. However, for small business owners employee stress is a top concern. According to a national survey done by Humana Inc., 93% of small business owners consider employees’ physical and mental health as contributors to their bottom line. Managing employee stress and the negative effects is has on health is crucial for small business owners. The effects of stress can decrease employee productivity, increase absenteeism, and hurt a company’s culture and business results.
According to the Humana survey only 22% of the small business owners surveyed offer Health and Wellness programs, while 85% of those surveyed believe that these programs are worth the investment. Implementing Health and Wellness programs can help manage employee stress, increase productivity, and decrease absenteeism. Offering small incentives for employees who reach various health and wellness goals, such as a goal weight, lowering blood pressure or mitigating risks of other conditions that can become serious and costly, can provide that supportive pat on the back that employees need to lose those few extra pounds, or take an active role in managing their stress. Incentives can be as inexpensive as a small denomination gift card to a health-promoting retailer such as CVS/Pharmacy or GNC. An small investment like this can be just enough to show employees that the organization they work for supports and commends them for their hard work. Health and Wellness programs are a win-win investment for organizations, improving their workforce while helping to control long term health care costs.
The author:
Rachel Merkin is a digital marketing professional . She has been exploring the worlds of social media and B2B gift cards since 2006. When she is not blogging, tweeting, or finding ways to leverage Facebook as a marketing tool, she spends as much time at the beach as she can.
Tags: employee incentives, employee motivation, employee recognition, health and wellness, health and wellness incentives, health and wellness programs
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
