Financial Incentives for Weight Loss: Results From a Workplace Wellness Program (2012) is a new study which evaluates the attrition and the degree of weight loss in wellness programs based on offering employees financial incentives in various forms. You can see the full study here. So what happens when you attach financial rewards to a Workplace Wellness and Weight Loss Program?

Unfortunately, not much. This study showed that more than two thirds (68%) of all participants dropped out before the completion of the year-long program. An end of program payment resulted in no greater weight loss than achieved by the control group that was provided no incentives. Even trying to get additional ‘buy in’ from employees by getting them to pay a deposit was relatively ineffective - resulting in a lower level of uptake from the outset, and only an extra 2 pound increase in weight loss upon completion.

This research begs the question – do financial reward incentives and a weight loss focus provide the best wellness approach for organisations seeking to improve and maintain employee health, wellbeing and performance?

Extensive research says no. Here’s why.

INCENTIVES

• Despite numerous studies there is no magic number for amount, frequency or method of financial incentives you can successfully offer employees for wellness program success.^[1]
• Recognition has a time-lag. Incentives are often paid at the end of a program, or at designated intervals. The time-lag in recognition reduces an employee’s motivation, increasing the drop off rates of your wellness program.^[2]
• Those who are receiving financial incentives by achieving positive results are more likely to stop taking part in the program once they get their reward. This shows that your employees are often ‘in it for the money’ and not to change their lifestyle.^[3]
• Employees may revert to unhealthy, even dangerous methods of weight loss before ‘weigh ins’ to gain financial incentives. There is a long history of financial incentives for weight loss unintentionally creating unhealthy behaviours in the workplace (such as taking laxatives, diuretics, heat exhaustion or over-strenuous exercise just before being weighed).^[2] This purge mentality also makes it highly likely they’ll revert back to unhealthy lifestyles, and put weight back on once the incentive is removed.^[4]

SO WHAT IS THE ANSWER?

• Spend your money on engaging your employees through internal communications and a fun and exciting wellness program – by doing so you get better uptake, and can impact long-term behaviour change – both of which are limited in a weight loss only program.
• By creating a wellness program that is built on engagement, excitement and fun, employees are intrinsically motivated, and get their recognition from behaviour and lifestyle changes. Rewarding overall increased physical activity, continuity of positive behaviour and understanding of nutrition best practice means you’re empowering employees to take charge of their health for the long term.
• Creating a community for employees to embrace and share healthy habits is very effective, by utilising the teamwork mentality. A weight loss focus alone tends to be intensely personal subject, and therefore cannot benefit from the team aspect.
• Include all employees - even those who are reasonably healthy and not overweight. Wellness program benefits should look at all facets of physical and mental wellbeing in order to achieve holistic and effective health and wellbeing improvement for all employees. Focusing on weight loss alone automatically rules these employees out.

Sources:

^[1] When and Why Incentives (Don’t) Work to Modify Behavior (2011), Gneezy et al.

^[2] Financial Incentives for Weight Loss: Results From a Workplace Wellness Program (2012), J. Cawley and J. Price.

^[3] Financial Incentive–Based Approaches for Weight Loss - A Randomized Trial (2008), Volpp et al.

^[4] The Oxford Handbook of the Social Science of Obesity (2011), Jones-Corneille et al.

Dr Eric Teasdale is the Chief Medical Officer – Global Health and Wellbeing for AstraZeneca – a global biopharmaceutical company with over 61,000 employees in over 100 countries worldwide. Would you like to know how they go about implementing their successful global health and wellbeing strategy? Watch and see.

To see the effect the GCC has had on other organisations and employees, see our testimonials.

The Foundation for Chronic Disease Prevention has just released some compelling research on the comparative health effects, both physical and mental, of taking less than 5,000 steps a day and taking more than 10,000 steps a day.

Embed this infographic on your site by copying the following code:

<a href="http://www.gettheworldmoving.com/blog/steps-to-a-healthy-life"><img src="http://static.gettheworldmoving.com/media/sys/downloads/steps-to-a-healthy-life.jpg" alt="Where are you on the steps to a healthy life?" width="600"  border="0" /></a><br />Via: <a href="http://www.gettheworldmoving.com">Global Corporate Challenge</a>

To help you diagnose the current state of your organisation's corporate health, try our quick check up guide and find out just how well your workplace is.

1. Do you have a wellness program that is accessible, achievable, attractive and available to every staff member regardless of their geographical location, age and current state of health?

If a wellness program is not accessible to all workers, it can be a case of healthy staff getting healthier, while those most in need are left behind. As importantly, if a wellness initiative is not graded to all health levels, lifestyles and abilities it will immediately be disregarded as unattainable.

2. How excited are your staff about your workplace wellbeing initiative?

If it isn’t exciting and engaging, no health initiative on earth will be effective. An apple a day may keep the doctor away - but how do you make eating the apple the fun bit? The golden rule is engagement. Engage your staff with a program that is multifaceted, supportive, enjoyable and scientifically proven and you are well on the path to a happier, healthier organisation.

3. Do you effectively communicate your wellness initiatives?

If there is not an awareness of a workplace health program, its effectiveness will be minimal. The best answer – incorporate a wellness program that does the awareness rising for you. This will not only make your job easier, it will greatly increase the program’s success.

4. Does your wellness plan take a holistic approach to workplace wellbeing and is it designed for long term behavioural change?

An effective program should incorporate exercise, nutrition, stress management, team-work, self efficacy and life outside of work. And it must be for the long term. Workplace health is about developing new habits and to do this takes commitment and a long term outlook.

5. How well is stress being tolerated in the workplace?

You already have the answers through productivity, staff reviews, absenteeism, stress leave and job satisfaction results. Workplace health goes hand in hand with worker’s resilience, so examine how capable your staff are at moving forward through times of high pressure, change and challenge. An effective wellness program should have the ability to accurately measure and impact workplace resilience.

6. Are you getting results?

Look for the key indicators of a successful wellness program. Is your absenteeism rate falling? Is there awareness in the business about healthy eating or disease risk reduction strategies? Are staff getting fitter? Losing weight? Is morale higher? Are teams working together better? How is the energy level in the workplace? Are staff returning from long term illness faster? Are behaviours changing?

All of these indicators tell you how healthy your workplace is and whether your wellness strategy is working as effectively as it should be. If you are not getting tangible results, chances are your wellness programs need reviewing.

See the results 1,000 of the world's leading organisations experienced by taking part in the 2011 Global Corporate Challenge®

AstraZeneca had 5,432 employees take part in the Global Corporate Challenge® 2011. Walking over 6.5 billion steps collectively with an organisation-wide average step count of 13,000; we’re pleased to announce that AstraZeneca is the world’s Most Active Organisation. We speak with Sue Connelly Global Health & Wellbeing Manager on this amazing achievement.

How many years has AstraZeneca been involved in the GCC?

Four years

What impact does the GCC have on AstraZeneca each year?

We have had year on year increases in the number of teams participating in the GCC; from 43 teams in our first year to over 780 teams in 2011. Participating in the GCC contributes to employees’ sense that AstraZeneca is committed to their health & wellbeing. Participants report feeling fitter, healthier and in some cases benefit from a welcome reduction in overall weight. AZ gains by having healthier and more energised employees. It is particularly helpful to individuals who struggle to include exercise in their daily routine due to busy jobs and lives.

How does AstraZeneca get such a high level of involvement?

Clear support from global senior management. Leaders do more than just endorse the GCC, they actively participate. We have had two teams from our Senior Executive Team this year, including participation from our CEO David Brennan. Next year members of our Board have expressed an interest in taking part.

What does it mean from an organisational perspective to be considered the world’s Most Active Organisation?

We are really proud to be awarded the GCC world’s Most Active Organisation. There has been an enormous amount of activity all over the globe during the event; steppers have found exciting, fun and even challenging ways to increase their step count and this has undoubtedly led to our success.

What advice would you give to other organisations wishing to increase the activity levels of their employees?

Support from senior leaders is critical; they literally have to ‘walk the talk’. A good communication strategy linking the GCC to existing business goals is also important. This has been great for individuals and also for team building.

2011 is the first year Adobe has taken part in the Global Corporate Challenge. Rosemary Arriada-Keiper, director, Global Benefits, talks about Adobe’s participation in the GCC so far.

Tell us about Wellness at Adobe.
Adobe is committed to being a healthy employer with wellness programs that increase our employees’ awareness of their health and encourage them to take action to maintain or improve it.

Why did you choose to take part in the GCC 2011?
We wanted to help our employees get active and have fun. The GCC was simple, global, encouraged team work, and seemed like something that would fuel our competitive spirit.

How did you get so many employees involved from so many countries?
We had a communication strategy in place and utilized various vehicles such as messaging from our leadership, posters and flyers in high traffic areas. We also provided incentives to the teams who were among the first to register and we designed several internal competitions with wellness-themed prizes.

What results have been achieved so far?
Adobe’s 4,501 employees have walked 3.5 billion steps after 95 days of the challenge, collecting a company-wide step average of 11,937 – almost 4 times that of the average office worker. After week 12, the average Adobe employee step count has increased by 2,500 steps since they started the challenge, and 78% of participants are walking over 7,500 steps per day.

According to the most recent GCC participant study, 92% of Adobe employees feel the GCC has had a positive impact on their overall lifestyle behaviour. 31% are walking to work more often, and 26% are taking more lunchtime walks.

What visible impact have you seen in the workplace?
We’ve heard of employees swapping sit-down meetings for walking meetings, there is a lot more traffic in the stairwells, and many have scheduled team outings on the weekend to improve their health, wellbeing and team work.

In addition, we have seen quite a bit of socialization among employees as they compete with each other and compare progress. The program has created a buzz and level of excitement across the company that we have not seen in a while.

Faced with understaffing and nerve-wracking medical care costs, corporations are re-invigorating their human resource departments and corporate wellness programs. To stay lean and mean, companies need aggressive corporate wellness that emphasizes corporate health and teamwork qualities that in the past have been back-burner issues.

In terms of the stress that seems universal in today’s business climate, exercise programs have proven to be an effective antidote. The data in support of fitness, a healthy diet and healthy lifestyle is undeniable.

Yet, corporate wellness initiatives are often pushed aside by employees and in turn ignored by HR directors because of the lack of enthusiasm. Most often, time constraints are cited as a roadblock, but lack of imagination and the absence of fun are silent obstacles that turn employees away.

Programs that do work offer recognition for achievement, health benefits, fun and team collaboration. Not only are these employees reaping rewards but improved corporate health saves money on health insurance premiums, disability expenses, worker’s compensation and in some cases auto insurance.

Beyond those tangible corporate rewards, the individual gains energy, becomes more productive and takes pride in their accomplishment and in most cases, new physique. Usually, employees view these programs skeptically because they do not believe the HR department will follow through and because professional guidance or assistance is unavailable. Nine years ago, the Global Corporate Challenge® (GCC) was launched. The goal of the GCC founders was to address the increasing rates of inactivity in the workplace, resulting in increased obesity and diseases(/blog/obesity-linked-to-poorer-mental-health).

The GCC is committed to:

• Expanding corporate wellness
• Improving employee fitness and awareness
• Increase corporate team building abilities
• Encouraging employee daily activity
• The promotion of employee cooperation
• Educating employee’s about fitness
• Increase the team atmosphere as teammates must work together to achieve the common goal.
• Encouraging teammate abilities to problem solve.
• Educating on nutrition
• FUN

Does It Work?

Independent clinical research has been conducted on the GCC since 2006. The work health results are proven. The GCC has now fine-tuned the corporate challenge to the point that HR departments regard the professionally managed 16 week team walking program as one of the most critical aspects of their HR or wellness program.

Participants work in teams of seven. The team goal is that each team member averages 10,000 steps per day over a 16 week span. Pedometers are provided by the GCC and are used to tabulate each walker’s daily tally. Participants then log onto the GCC site and enter the daily figure. The GCC then converts the step count to a distance and charts the team’s progress on a virtual tour of the world. Teams can compare their progress with other teams or simply track their own progress. The point is to be fit and achieve the 10,000 steps goal which is the recommended standard by the World Health Organization. Last year the average step count per participant was a not too shabby 12,725.

Does the GCC work? You tell me. Last year 130,000 participants from more than 1,000 companies and 83 countries enrolled. Participation has increased every year showing that corporate wellness professionals must like the results. Corporations may enter as many teams as they like and that has led to some morale boosting competition. Men and women of all ages and fitness levels are encouraged to try the GCC program.

Find out more on how the workplace health program works.

Small steps to giant leaps for ROI

Click on the image to read a recent article on the GCC in Human Capital Magazine.