Posts Tagged ‘health and wellness’
Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
Growing employer healthcare costs are forcing companies of all sizes to take a look at how wellness programs can help decrease their company’s bottom line. This SlideShare will review the growth of employee wellness programs, reward-based wellness and what works, incentives as the solution, a government update, and ROI studies from wellness programs.
Check out the SlideShare:
The Power of Incentives in Workplace Wellness Programs to Reduce Employer Healthcare Costs
from GiftCard Partners
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: employee benefits, employee engagement, employee incentives, employee motivation, employee recognition, employer healthcare costs, gift card incentives, health and wellness, health and wellness incentives, health and wellness programs, reducing healthcare costs, workplace incentives
Posted in General, Gift Card Trends, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement, Safety | No Comments »
Thursday, April 25th, 2013
As we see a rise in the number of employee health and wellness initiatives from employers around the country, we see a unique trend growing alongside: digital health. Digital health programs help facilitate employee health and wellness programs and provide a streamlined easy delivery method for employers to carry out their health and wellness programs. With a majority of employers offering some kind wellness program, 22% of that population using some kind of gaming to leverage those initiatives, digital health companies are finding a market for their unique products.
Digital health companies help streamline the tracking of employee progress, can help foster friendly competition when needed, and prominently provide a seamless way to offer rewards for the 79% of employers offering health and wellness programs who incorporate a reward or incentive into their program to motivate employees. Digital health companies also offer a variety of implementations, from mobile apps, internal dashboards only employees have access to, and stand-alone interfaces where employees can sign in and track progress. For employers, these applications bring relief and automation to track employee progress, rather than having to track each participants progress and give rewards at the appropriate time, digital health products can often automatically deliver a bonus, or an e-gift card to a healthy lifestyle retailer like GNC, Whole Foods Market, or NutriSystem. These rewards keep employees motivated and on track towards their long term health and wellness goals, which helps organizations control their healthcare 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: health and wellness, health and wellness incentives, health and wellness programs, healthy lifestyle
Posted in General, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Monday, April 22nd, 2013
Incentives are a powerful thing and are used virtually everywhere. They come in the form of discounts for loyalty members, dessert for the veggie hating toddler, and more and more often being used as rewards for employees to get healthier through Corporate Wellness Programs.
These Corporate Wellness Programs are popular among organizations looking to do a number of things, be it effectively foster a healthier work environment, increase employee productivity and reduce absenteeism, and even offset rising healthcare costs.
In an effort to shine a little light on the constantly growing and evolving topic, Corporate Research Group, CVS/pharmacy and GiftCard Partners come together to bring you the educational webinar, “Maximizing the Value & Benefits of Using Incentives in Corporate Wellness Programs to Improve Health and Increase Performance.”
Check out the presentation from Cheryl Larson and Neal Sofian and learn more about:
- Innovative engagement strategies for high-risk employees
- Understanding and overcoming barriers from preventing people from participating in benefits and wellness programs
- Creating a work place culture that supports health promotion
- Making the business case for health and productivity management
- Tailoring incentive strategies to maximize participation to meet the unique needs of your population
- And much more.
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 wellness programs, employee engagement, employee productivity, gift card incentives, health and wellness, health and wellness incentives, health and wellness programs, healthy incentives, incentives
Posted in Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
Thursday, March 28th, 2013
Stress in the American workplace is front and center for organizational leaders at companies of all sizes across the country. Management is constantly balancing the general stress that comes with work, and the negative effects that stress has on company culture and employee health. As corporate wellness initiatives gain prevalence as a solution to the cost of stress here are some staggering statistics that illustrate the importance of corporate wellness and stress management in the workplace.
- According to the World Health Organization, the monetary cost of stress on American businesses is as high as $300 billion, and climbing
- Recent studies from Harvard Business School indicate American employers spend 200-300% more for the indirect costs of health care, hit on costs of absenteeism, sick days, and lower employee productivity, than those companies spend on actual health plan costs
- The CDC estimates that 75% of all health care spending is on chronic, but preventable illnesses
Statistics like these prove the case for corporate wellness in every workplace. No matter the size of your company, or healthcare budget corporate wellness proves out its ROI based on recent research. Using simple tactics like offering incentives to employees for healthy behavior that mitigates risk factors for preventable, yet costly stress related illnesses such as obesity, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. Rewarding employees for reaching health and fitness goals, like weight loss, or reaching and maintaining a healthy cholesterol level fosters an environment of corporate wellness that indicate to employees that organization wellness is important. The incentives given do not have to be big. Small denomination gift cards to healthy retailers like Whole Foods Market, NutriSystem, and GNC can still fit well within your budget, and help control the budget by improving corporate wellness across the board. Stress is an epidemic in our country and our workforce, using corporate wellness is an easy way to combat stress and all get better together.
For more information on corporate wellness and combatting the effects of stress in our workforce check out this article from Ariana Huffington of the Huffington Post.
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: corporate wellness, employee incentives, employee motivation, health and wellness, health and wellness incentives, health and wellness programs
Posted in General, Health & Wellness, Incentives & Engagement | No Comments »
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 »
Tuesday, March 12th, 2013
Employers have been making the connection between workplace wellness initiatives and a healthy workforce. Prioritizing wellness in the workplace is a great way to increase productivity and raise your bottom line. According to Bucks’ Consultants’ new study: Working Well: A Global Survey of Health Promotion and Workplace Wellness Strategies, which polled more than 1,300 organizations in 45 countries, executives are ranking workplace wellness initiatives as a top driver of productivity and profitability. Ensuring your workforce is healthy, whether offering smoking cessation programs or group weight loss initiatives, is an easy key to success for your business.
Rewarding employees for reaching the goals of their wellness programs is a low cost way to both increase participation, and control healthcare costs for your organization while still having positive effects on your bottom line. Using small incentives such as gift cards for healthy retailers such as NutriSystem, GNC, or Whole Foods Market, are easy investments in your workplace wellness initiatives that will ensure the goals of the program are met. Keeping employees satisfied and supported at work, controlling costs, creating a healthier workforce, and improving productivity and profitiability are all reasons top executives are making workplace wellness a key topic in organizational planning and execution. If you are looking for more information on making workplace wellness initiatives a priority at your organization check out this article from Human Resource Executive Online.
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: gift card incentives, health and wellness, health and wellness incentives, health and wellness programs, healthy lifestyle
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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, 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
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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 »
