Your employer wants you to be healthy. A healthy employee means cheaper healthcare premiums, lower absentee rates, and a more effective workforce. So increasingly, companies are offering Wellness incentive programs to encourage their staff to “think fit”.

According to a recent article by Jen Wieczner in the Wall Street Journal, there are a number of different approaches that may work – and surprisingly, many of them are driven by a savings of only $100 to the employee. While the article cites some companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Caterpillar who offer discounts of $500 or more from their annual premiums, Wieczner also shows that $100 may be the magic number that will motivate a majority of employees to take action.

Wellness programs, as with all incentive programs, can include a wide range of tactics, including

• Awareness (biometrics tests, healthcare questionnaires),
• Action-based (weight loss programs),
• Progress-based (achieving specific cholesterol or BMI numbers) and
• Targeted Incentives (made to measure for each employee).

The impact of each tactic will vary depending on demographics, management buy-in and how well the program is implemented. An effective incentive program must also have a strong communications element, to ensure the employees are engaged and understand the benefits. And the program must be designed to ensure appropriate targets, milestones and rewards are set to create the required behaviors.

It seems that Wellness programs are increasing in popularity. And why not. After all $100 seems a small price to pay for a healthier workforce.