{"id":757,"date":"2020-01-02T10:48:16","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T17:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/?p=757"},"modified":"2026-03-09T18:04:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T00:04:29","slug":"wellness-program-incentives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/","title":{"rendered":"Wellness Program Incentives: The Complete Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 ez-toc-wrap-left counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"cursor:pointer\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#How_should_wellness_program_incentives_be_used_to_drive_lasting_behavior_change\" >How should wellness program incentives be used to drive lasting behavior change?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#How_should_employers_structure_wellness_program_incentives\" >How should employers structure wellness program incentives?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#How_can_wellness_program_incentives_be_structured_effectively\" >How can wellness program incentives be structured effectively?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#What_are_benefits-based_wellness_incentives\" >What are benefits-based wellness incentives?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#How_can_organizations_shift_from_extrinsic_incentives_to_intrinsic_motivation\" >How can organizations shift from extrinsic incentives to intrinsic motivation?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#Should_wellness_incentives_use_rewards_penalties_or_both\" >Should wellness incentives use rewards, penalties, or both?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#Is_there_a_more_effective_approach_to_wellness_incentives\" >Is there a more effective approach to wellness incentives?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#Why_is_simplicity_important_in_wellness_incentive_design\" >Why is simplicity important in wellness incentive design?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#What_should_be_included_in_a_comprehensive_employee_well-being_program\" >What should be included in a comprehensive employee well-being program?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#How_important_are_incentives_compared_to_other_wellness_program_elements\" >How important are incentives compared to other wellness program elements?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#What_different_approaches_can_motivate_employees_to_participate_in_wellness_programs\" >What different approaches can motivate employees to participate in wellness programs?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#What_are_best_practices_for_managing_wellness_program_incentives\" >What are best practices for managing wellness program incentives?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#What_are_good_prizes_for_employee_well-being_programs\" >What are good prizes for employee well-being programs?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"#\" data-href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#Frequently_Asked_Questions\" >Frequently Asked Questions<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote executive-summary is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\" style=\"border-width:1px;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);font-size:17px\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p style=\"font-size:20px\"><strong>Executive Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group executive-summary\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\"><strong>How do wellness program incentives improve participation and results?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"executive-summary\" style=\"font-size:16px\">Wellness program incentives increase participation by giving employees a clear, immediate reason to take part in health activities. When incentives are simple, fair, and tied to healthy actions rather than outcomes, employees are more likely to engage and stay involved. Effective incentives support long-term behavior change by reinforcing positive habits instead of forcing compliance. When designed correctly, incentives help wellness programs reach more employees and produce measurable health improvements.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-should-wellness-program-incentives-be-used-to-drive-lasting-behavior-change\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_should_wellness_program_incentives_be_used_to_drive_lasting_behavior_change\"><\/span>How should wellness program incentives be used to drive lasting behavior change?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Wellness program incentives help employees adopt and maintain healthy behaviors for the rest of their lives. Unhealthy behaviors drive chronic diseases, elevated health risks, and many employee-related expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ask yourself these questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Why do I exercise regularly? &nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why do I eat a healthy diet?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why do I strive to have a healthy lifestyle?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Gift cards, insurance discounts, or T-shirts do not motivate people to <em>maintain <\/em>healthy behaviors.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-101705 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/2a8b632b3a98564a461f83729ae7ce6e.wellbeing-program-incentives-300x216.jpg\" alt=\"Wellness Program Incentives, employee wellbeing programs, wellness incentive programs examples, out of the box wellness ideas, wellness program goals and objectives, wellness program incentive ideas, how to increase employee participation in wellness programs\" width=\"601\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/2a8b632b3a98564a461f83729ae7ce6e.wellbeing-program-incentives-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/2a8b632b3a98564a461f83729ae7ce6e.wellbeing-program-incentives-1024x736.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/2a8b632b3a98564a461f83729ae7ce6e.wellbeing-program-incentives-768x552.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/2a8b632b3a98564a461f83729ae7ce6e.wellbeing-program-incentives.jpg 1287w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 601px) 100vw, 601px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>People who adopt healthy behaviors long-term are likely motivated by the benefits of being healthy. When people internalize the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, they are more likely to keep those habits for the rest of their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, we should <strong>still <\/strong>use incentives in a well-being program. &nbsp;Successfully applying incentives involves knowing when to apply them and how to help people shift from external rewards to internal benefits of healthy behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-should-employers-structure-wellness-program-incentives\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_should_employers_structure_wellness_program_incentives\"><\/span>How should employers structure wellness program incentives?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider this perspective. Perhaps you have heard of the<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Transtheoretical_model\"> transtheoretical model of behavior change<\/a>. We call this model the stages of change. It includes different psychological stages through which people progress as they learn to adopt and maintain healthy behaviors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These stages are pretty easy to understand. They include pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"310\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Intrinsic-and-extrinsic-incentives-1024x310.png\" alt=\"wellness and stages of change, Wellness Program Incentives, employee wellbeing programs, wellness incentive programs examples, out of the box wellness ideas, wellness program goals and objectives, wellness program incentive ideas, how to increase employee participation in wellness programs\" class=\"wp-image-808\" style=\"width:650px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Intrinsic-and-extrinsic-incentives-1024x310.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Intrinsic-and-extrinsic-incentives-300x91.png 300w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Intrinsic-and-extrinsic-incentives-768x233.png 768w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Intrinsic-and-extrinsic-incentives.png 1478w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The stages of change model helps us understand exactly how&nbsp;to apply different incentives in a wellness program. Those who exercise regularly are maintainers. They maintain daily exercise habits because they like how exercise feels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regular exercisers are more likely to maintain a healthy weight, sleep better, better handle stress, participate in competitive sports, or to get outside more often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those who exercise regularly don\u2019t depend upon extrinsic (external) rewards or incentives to motivate them. The motivation comes from the inside. These intrinsic (internal) rewards provide motivation to continue the behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyone who maintains a healthy behavior long-term, such as avoiding tobacco, eating healthy, getting high-quality sleep, or exercising regularly, does so because they recognize the benefits that come with these behaviors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And it is these benefits that provide the motivation to keep maintainers in the maintenance stage.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3257 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/5ef7418d-74dd-4bc3-8c9d-b7944ebc5185-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"motivating employees to be active, Wellness Program Incentives, employee wellbeing programs, wellness incentive programs examples, out of the box wellness ideas, wellness program goals and objectives, wellness program incentive ideas, how to increase employee participation in wellness programs\" width=\"572\" height=\"381\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/5ef7418d-74dd-4bc3-8c9d-b7944ebc5185-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/5ef7418d-74dd-4bc3-8c9d-b7944ebc5185-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/5ef7418d-74dd-4bc3-8c9d-b7944ebc5185-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 572px) 100vw, 572px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>The stages of change model also includes the action stage. In this stage, people are more likely to try a new behavior. They might engage in a healthy lifestyle for the very first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-can-wellness-program-incentives-be-structured-effectively\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_can_wellness_program_incentives_be_structured_effectively\"><\/span>How can wellness program incentives be structured effectively?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Most people who are in the action stage respond well to extrinsic or external rewards. Here is a side-by-side comparison of the differences between internal or intrinsic rewards and external or extrinsic incentives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"table-responsive\">\n<table class=\"table table-bordered table-striped\" style=\"width: 100%;\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Intrinsic Rewards<\/th>\n<th>Extrinsic Rewards<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Provide deep personal satisfaction<\/td>\n<td>Come from outside (gifts, cash, tangible rewards)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Are learned or discovered<\/td>\n<td>Can create interest in something<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Are driven from within<\/td>\n<td>Provide positive, immediate feedback<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Often change over time<\/td>\n<td>May not lead to intrinsic motivation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Found in all long-term habits<\/td>\n<td>Don\u2019t always lead to long-term habits<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Can be called benefits<\/td>\n<td>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Those who are just starting a new behavior probably lack the intrinsic motivation they need to maintain the behavior because it does not yet exist. This is why the beginning of a new behavior is exactly the right time and place for well-being incentives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All the water bottles, squeeze balls, gift cards, T-shirts, and other external rewards won&#8217;t have much of an effect on people who are already physically active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But they will have an impact on those who are in the action stage. And those who are just beginning to experiment with a new lifestyle.  External incentives&nbsp;can be very effective at nudging people down the road towards a healthy lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wellness incentives serve as a tool to encourage people to adopt healthy behaviors long enough to experience the benefits. Once they feel the benefits, incentives are no longer needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the challenge is to use external rewards to motivate people until they recognize and enjoy the intrinsic rewards of a healthy lifestyle.. When an employee starts to enjoy the intrinsic benefits of their health behaviors, they are much more likely to adopt those behaviors for life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remember, incentives are not necessary to<em> maintain<\/em> healthy behaviors, but they help people in the action stage of behavior change to stay on track..<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recent surveys reveal the most common extrinsic rewards used in U.S. well-being programs:<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-805\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Most-popular-wellness-incentives-1024x626.png\" alt=\"Wellness Program Incentives, employee wellbeing programs, wellness incentive programs examples, out of the box wellness ideas, wellness program goals and objectives, wellness program incentive ideas, how to increase employee participation in wellness programs\" width=\"1024\" height=\"626\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Most-popular-wellness-incentives-1024x626.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Most-popular-wellness-incentives-300x183.png 300w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Most-popular-wellness-incentives-768x469.png 768w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Most-popular-wellness-incentives.png 1214w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>Reducing Corporate Health Care Costs 2013; Deloitte Consulting LLP, January 2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\">WellSteps <\/a>uses incentives with all of our wellness customers. We use incentives because we understand that they significantly help people get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We also understand that they are not a long-term solution to behavioral maintenance. Here is an example of what most WellSteps clients do in their wellness incentive programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To help employees adopt and maintain healthy behaviors, we provide small gift cards randomly awarded to employees who successfully complete different aspects of the wellness program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, completing a personal health assessment, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2016\/07\/11\/how-to-do-biometric-screening\/\">biometric screening<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/18\/wellness-challenges-wellness-challenge-ideas\/\">behavior change campaign or challenge<\/a> will qualify an employee for a drawing. We don\u2019t give these small incentives to every single employee, but they do get a chance to win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We have found that even greater participation happens if the employers will establish a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/17\/wellness-program-incentive-ideas\/\">benefits-based incentive plan.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<p>[video_embed url=&#8221;https:\/\/vimeo.com\/352510277\/&#8221;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\" id=\"h-what-are-benefits-based-wellness-incentives\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_benefits-based_wellness_incentives\"><\/span>What are benefits-based wellness incentives?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Benefits-based well-being incentive programs typically include the incentive of a discount on insurance premiums, paid time off, a contribution to an HSA or HRA, or a lower co-pay or deductible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These types of incentives are more expensive than randomly awarded gifts, but they tend to have more impact on employee engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3087\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/corporate-1024x388.jpg\" alt=\"Wellness Program Incentives, employee wellbeing programs, wellness incentive programs examples, out of the box wellness ideas, wellness program goals and objectives, wellness program incentive ideas, how to increase employee participation in wellness programs\" width=\"1024\" height=\"388\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/corporate-1024x388.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/corporate-300x114.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/corporate-768x291.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/corporate.jpg 1583w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>Some WellSteps clients offer a $50\/month discount off the cost of an insurance premium, or $600 per year per qualifying employee. To sum it up, some companies spend more and some spend less than this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For many years, WellSteps and other wellness consultants have studied the impact of various wellness program elements. One element being the influence of incentives on program participation. From this work, we have categorized wellness program engagement strategies into four categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Minimal Communication:<\/strong> with minimal communication, employee well-being programs make program announcements via email, newsletters, and posters. Typically with this type of marketing results in about 19% of employees who participate.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Extrinsic rewards or incentives<\/strong>: employees earn rewards when they participate in various wellness activities. The use of incentives can induce another 27% of employees to engage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Wellness committee involvement, targeted program marketing<\/strong>: any time employees are involved in the worksite well-being committee, there is a tendency for wellness programs to have better participation. Having employee representation on a wellness committee gives employees a sense of program ownership. What&#8217;s more, companies with a wellness committee are more committed and motivated to see that the program is successful. When committee efforts are combined with carefully written and targeted marketing materials that use text messaging, creative graphics, video, company newsletters, and special invitations, engagement goes up another 19%.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Benefits-based incentives strategy<\/strong>: lastly, when companies use a benefits-based incentive strategy the motivation to participate dramatically increases. In short, companies with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/17\/wellness-program-incentive-ideas\/\">benefits-based incentive program<\/a> typically have 30% more participation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-823\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/impact-of-wellness-incentives-1024x535.png\" alt=\"Wellness Program Incentives, employee wellbeing programs, wellness incentive programs examples, out of the box wellness ideas, wellness program goals and objectives, wellness program incentive ideas, how to increase employee participation in wellness programs\" width=\"1024\" height=\"535\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/impact-of-wellness-incentives-1024x535.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/impact-of-wellness-incentives-300x157.png 300w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/impact-of-wellness-incentives-768x401.png 768w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/impact-of-wellness-incentives.png 1299w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<p>2011\/2012 Staying@Work Survey Report; Towers Watson\/National Business Group on Health and&nbsp;WellSteps Aggregate Data<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When combined, a well-organized workplace well-being initiative should be able to reach at least 90% participation. This level of participation is a great start but it is not a complete wellness strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-can-organizations-shift-from-extrinsic-incentives-to-intrinsic-motivation\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_can_organizations_shift_from_extrinsic_incentives_to_intrinsic_motivation\"><\/span>How can organizations shift from extrinsic incentives to intrinsic motivation?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is an example of a WellSteps campaign poster. The very first thing on the poster is a call to action to an intrinsic reward: \u201cFeel Less Stressed Now.\u201d The poster mentions the possibility of winning a $50 gift card but more importantly it talks about the intrinsic benefits of being able to control your stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The focus is on the intrinsic rewards not the incentives. The poster for the WellSteps Move It Campaign, for example, starts with, \u201cYou will feel and look better than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"676\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/SF_11x17_SBS-676x1024.jpg\" alt=\"stress free campaign\" class=\"wp-image-4277\" style=\"width:414px;height:626px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/SF_11x17_SBS-676x1024.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/SF_11x17_SBS-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/SF_11x17_SBS-768x1164.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/SF_11x17_SBS.jpg 1489w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-4278 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/MoveIt_SBS-684x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Wellness Program Incentives, employee wellbeing programs, wellness incentive programs examples, out of the box wellness ideas, wellness program goals and objectives, wellness program incentive ideas, how to increase employee participation in wellness programs\" width=\"443\" height=\"663\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/MoveIt_SBS-684x1024.jpg 684w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/MoveIt_SBS-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/MoveIt_SBS-768x1149.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/MoveIt_SBS.jpg 1510w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 443px) 100vw, 443px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>At the end of every WellSteps <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/07\/best-worksite-wellness-programs\/\">behavior change campaign<\/a>, we ask participants how their life has improved. Doing this reminds them of the intrinsic benefits they experience when they adopt and maintain healthy behaviors for life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, in the WellSteps campaign called Feel Fitness, employees are encouraged to participate in regular physical activity to help raise money for a good cause. They are also encouraged to pay attention to the benefits of exercise each week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This way, while employees are helping others, they also discover benefits of regular exercise. Helping employees recognize and enjoy the benefits that come regular exercise will increase the odds that they will become a maintainer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Helping employees experience the intrinsic rewards that come from healthy behaviors will help them enjoy healthy lifestyles for many years to come, even without the wellness program. In short:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Don&#8217;t make a big deal of the incentives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Make a big deal out of the benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\" id=\"h-should-wellness-incentives-use-rewards-penalties-or-both\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Should_wellness_incentives_use_rewards_penalties_or_both\"><\/span>Should wellness incentives use rewards, penalties, or both?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Wellness professionals and companies often discuss whether or not to use incentives or disincentives within their incentive program. In other words, which is better to encourage behavior change, carrots (positive rewards) or sticks (punishments)? Remember, the goal of every corporate well-being program should be to help employees adopt and maintain healthy behaviors for life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In truth, some employers insist that the only way their employees will change behaviors is if they are punished for unhealthy behaviors. Punishing employees is the same technique cowboys use to train horses! But, to get a horse to do a target behavior, trainers make the right choice easy and the wrong choice painful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Employers do the same thing when punishment is used to encourage non-smoking or having healthy blood cholesterol, etc. It is no surprise that the companies that punish employees are also most likely to have a toxic culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many logical arguments for and against the use of punishments as a way to change behavior. However, we live in a society where punishments for poor behaviors are commonplace. To demonstrate, if you break the law-you get punished. The belief is that a punishment will help people extinguish or stop poor behaviors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There may be times when this approach is successful in a workplace setting. For example, some workplaces are extremely dangerous so safety is a number one priority throughout the organization. Everybody agrees that employees need to be safe at work so failure to follow safety protocols could lead to termination or punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In some situations, negative reinforcement can impact behavior but this reinforcement is often accompanied by fear. Fear can be a motivator when it comes to adherence of safety rules, but it is not very effective in helping people adopt and maintain healthy behaviors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-is-there-a-more-effective-approach-to-wellness-incentives\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_there_a_more_effective_approach_to_wellness_incentives\"><\/span>Is there a more effective approach to wellness incentives?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>WellSteps has worked with hundreds of clients and we discourage all of them from using negative reinforcement (sticks) to motivate employee health behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, clearly, we believe this approach is counterproductive to the goals of the wellness program. Also, there is no evidence to suggest that a wellness program which uses punishments will have any long-term success. Maintainers are mostly likely to develop lifelong healthy habits when they experience consistent positive reinforcement over a long period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-818\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Wellness-Incentives-1024x508.jpg\" alt=\"Wellness Program Incentives, employee wellbeing programs, wellness incentive programs examples, out of the box wellness ideas, wellness program goals and objectives, wellness program incentive ideas, how to increase employee participation in wellness programs\" width=\"1024\" height=\"508\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Wellness-Incentives-1024x508.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Wellness-Incentives-300x149.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Wellness-Incentives-768x381.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Wellness-Incentives.jpg 1234w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-is-simplicity-important-in-wellness-incentive-design\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_is_simplicity_important_in_wellness_incentive_design\"><\/span>Why is simplicity important in wellness incentive design?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>What would you say if you were hired to consult with company about an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2017\/02\/17\/wellness-incentive-management\/\">incentive&nbsp;program<\/a> that had over 100 lines of activities, requirements, exceptions, rules, point totals and reward standards? We would say, in a word, overcomplicated!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a real company. Someone within the company had invested a lot of time and effort into getting&nbsp;this&nbsp;wellness incentive program designed and tested. They had worked hard to create the program which used an elaborate Excel spreadsheet and point system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the program went live, they were surprised that no one participated despite the sizable incentive reward.&nbsp;The program might have been too complicated and cumbersome. The truth is that participating in that program would have been about as simple as completing a tax return!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a well-being incentive program to be effective, it must be easy to explain, easy to understand, and easy for employees to use. Today, everybody has a smartphone and with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/wellsteps-apps\">WellSteps app<\/a> we have made it easy for our clients to validate their wellness activities with just a few clicks. When it\u2019s easy to use and understand, employees will participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-should-be-included-in-a-comprehensive-employee-well-being-program\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_should_be_included_in_a_comprehensive_employee_well-being_program\"><\/span>What should be included in a comprehensive employee well-being program?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are several components to a successful wellness program. Some ideas include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/01\/best-worksite-wellness-programs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Behavior change campaigns<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/corporate-wellness-ideas-wellness-activities-wellness-initiatives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wellness activities<\/a> to promote healthy habits<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Smoking cessation programs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/corporate-health-coach-companies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Health Coaching<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Exercise tracking (with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/01\/wearables-well-being-programs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">device integration<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wellness incentives for employees<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Feel free to click on the links above to learn more about each of these components of wellness. Let&#8217;s take a deeper look at incentives for wellness programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-important-are-incentives-compared-to-other-wellness-program-elements\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_important_are_incentives_compared_to_other_wellness_program_elements\"><\/span>How important are incentives compared to other wellness program elements?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It is hard for most people to change behaviors, but it is pretty clear what it takes for them to succeed. The <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20230928014801\/https:\/\/www.welcoa.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/newsviews_odonnell.pdf\">AMSO model<\/a> of behavior change drives everything we do at WellSteps. This model includes four main components. In order for employees to successfully adopt and maintain healthy behaviors, they need to become aware of and educated about their target behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, employees need to be sufficiently motivated to change. In addition, they need the skills and tools required to be successful. They need support from others. Lastly, they need a supportive environment with rules and policies that make it easier to maintain the behavior for life. Wellness incentive programs are a tiny component of this larger strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many ways to motivate employees to improve lifestyles including: using punishments with the corresponding fear, explaining intrinsic benefits of healthy behaviors, helping employees to experience the pleasures that come from healthy behaviors, and providing positive peer pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-802\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/AMSO-motivation-1024x620.png\" alt=\"Wellness Program Incentives, employee wellbeing programs, wellness incentive programs examples, out of the box wellness ideas, wellness program goals and objectives, wellness program incentive ideas, how to increase employee participation in wellness programs\" width=\"1024\" height=\"620\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/AMSO-motivation-1024x620.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/AMSO-motivation-300x182.png 300w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/AMSO-motivation-768x465.png 768w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/AMSO-motivation.png 1156w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-different-approaches-can-motivate-employees-to-participate-in-wellness-programs\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_different_approaches_can_motivate_employees_to_participate_in_wellness_programs\"><\/span>What different approaches can motivate employees to participate in wellness programs?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There are other ways to motivate employees as well. Employee recognition can go a long way to reinforce positive performance. Creating a poster for each of your wellness champions and letting them share their wellness story with others. Using before and after pictures or letting employees tell their story in their own words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stories can be shared in company newsletters, on company websites. They could be posted in a special Hall of Fame somewhere in the building. Incentives are just one way to motivate employees to transform their lives. It is important to include other forms of motivation in an effective wellness incentive program.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"325\" height=\"398\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/motivate-ii.png\" alt=\"weight loss example\" class=\"wp-image-814\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/motivate-ii.png 325w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/motivate-ii-245x300.png 245w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 325px) 100vw, 325px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"843\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Motivate-III-843x1024.png\" alt=\"impact of healthy living\" class=\"wp-image-815\" style=\"width:334px;height:405px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Motivate-III-843x1024.png 843w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Motivate-III-247x300.png 247w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Motivate-III-768x933.png 768w, https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Motivate-III.png 926w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 843px) 100vw, 843px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Many times wellness incentive programs become THE wellness program. &nbsp;The tracking, awarding, and processing of the incentives consumes the wellness budget and personnel time. Too many wellness programs are not really wellness programs at all. They are employee incentive programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This narrow focus on incentives means that much of the meat and potatoes of effective wellness has been completely abandoned. The <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20230928014801\/https:\/\/www.welcoa.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/newsviews_odonnell.pdf\">AMSO mode<\/a>l helps maintain the focus on the end goal: helping employees adopt and maintain healthy behaviors. Wellness incentives should be one&nbsp;part of all well-being programs, but nothing more than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the past 10 years, WellSteps has seen some excellent and some horrible wellness incentive programs.&nbsp; From our experience, here are the 5 most important practices:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-are-best-practices-for-managing-wellness-program-incentives\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_best_practices_for_managing_wellness_program_incentives\"><\/span>What are best practices for managing wellness program incentives?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Use incentives, but don&#8217;t make a big deal of them. Make a big deal out of the benefits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Make sure your employees know what all the benefits are. Give them a &#8220;What&#8217;s in it for me?&#8221; list.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Never use punishments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use both immediate incentives and larger benefits-based rewards<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Start with incentives \u2013 transition toward intrinsic rewards<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>WellSteps has had several clients that have made incentives simple but effective. Having very clear communication as to what the employee participant will earn at the end of the program year is important. An example that we have seen as a successful program incentive is 1 point = $1. This motivates participants because they know exactly what they are earning and what they will receive at the end of their program year. We have seen all sizes of companies use this incentive method. Company sizes have ranged from 50 employees to 28,000 employees. Although this is a great incentive, there are so many simple and effective  wellness program incentives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-are-good-prizes-for-employee-well-being-programs\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_good_prizes_for_employee_well-being_programs\"><\/span><strong>What are good prizes for employee well-being programs?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The prizes for a wellness program largely depend on the budget of the company. Below are several wellness incentive examples for all budgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sports equipment (running shoes, wearable devices, etc.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gift cards <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>PTO <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>T-Shirts or other company branded materials<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Water bottles<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Benefits (lower insurance premiums or deposits into HSA)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2025\/08\/06\/employee-wellness-tools\/\">Beyond the Usual Swag: Support Employee Wellness with Tools<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/demosignup\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"920\" height=\"516\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/get-wellsteps-walking.bmp\" alt=\"healthy employees\" class=\"wp-image-2810\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-frequently-asked-questions\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Frequently_Asked_Questions\"><\/span>Frequently Asked Questions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"schema-faq wp-block-yoast-faq-block\"><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1773100962584\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">What makes wellness program incentives effective in improving participation?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Effective wellness program incentives reward effort, not perfection. Employees are far more engaged when incentives celebrate consistency\u2014like daily tracking or completing small challenges.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1773100981079\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">What types of wellness program incentives are most popular with employees?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Gift cards, wellness items, PTO hours, raffles, and recognition are among the most requested wellness program incentives. People love rewards that feel personal and flexible.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1773100981869\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">How should HR structure wellness program incentives for maximum fairness?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">The key is transparency. Wellness program incentives should be clearly communicated with deadlines, rules, and alternative paths for employees who need accommodations.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1773100983060\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">How do digital tools improve the delivery of wellness program incentives?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Digital platforms automate tracking and fulfillment so HR doesn\u2019t manage everything manually. That\u2019s why many employers use WellSteps Rewards to manage their wellness program incentives seamlessly.<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1773100984076\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"> Why do wellness program incentives boost long-term engagement?<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">When healthy habits are rewarded consistently, employees stay motivated longer. Wellness program incentives encourage ongoing participation instead of one-time spikes.<\/p> <\/div> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How should wellness program incentives be used to drive lasting behavior change? Wellness program incentives help employees adopt and maintain healthy behaviors for the rest of their lives. Unhealthy behaviors drive chronic diseases, elevated health risks, and many employee-related expenses. Ask yourself these questions: Gift cards, insurance discounts, or T-shirts do not motivate people to&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Read More &raquo;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Wellness Program Incentives: The Complete Guide<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[45,58,39,22],"class_list":["post-757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-incentives","tag-behavior-change","tag-best-wellness-programs","tag-incentives","tag-wellness-programs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Wellness Program Incentives: The Complete Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here is everything you need to have effective wellness program incentives. See case studies and examples from real wellness programs.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wellness Program Incentives: The Complete Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Executive Summary How do wellness program incentives improve participation and results? 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That\u2019s why many employers use WellSteps Rewards to manage their wellness program incentives seamlessly.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Question","@id":"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#faq-question-1773100984076","position":5,"url":"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/02\/wellness-program-incentives\/#faq-question-1773100984076","name":"Why do wellness program incentives boost long-term engagement?","answerCount":1,"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"When healthy habits are rewarded consistently, employees stay motivated longer. Wellness program incentives encourage ongoing participation instead of one-time spikes.","inLanguage":"en-US"},"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=757"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111342,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757\/revisions\/111342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wellsteps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}