The most common characteristics of high-Return On Investment (ROI) recognition programs – regardless of their monentary value – are their spontaneity and perceived value by employees themselves.

In reality, the cost of some of most effective spot awards and bonuses often amount to less than 1% of base pay – and the awards don’t even have to be given in cash.

Less sense of entitlement

Part of the problem with traditional end-of-year or quarterly bonuses (apart from the fact that they cost companys an average of 10% of base pay) is that workers expect to receive them for reaching certain goals.

Sometimes workforce simply expect it no matter what. for  instance, at many firms, an annual holiday bonus is viewed as an entitlement and individuals  inevitably grumble that it’s not high enough. on the flip side, with spontaneous awards and bonuses, workforce are often pleasantly surprised.

Benefits advisor Ken Stahlmann spells out four keys to making the latter type of awards work, even if they’re lower in cost –

1. Creativity is crucial

The most effective programs ordinarily give out awards weekly or monthly.  To avoid over-stretching the budget – and avoid a ho-hum attitude establishing in – creativity is a must.

One way that never gets old –  combining time off with a second, non-cash award. Example –  One firm gives a half-day off in combo with movie passes once a month.

Another, at weekly staff meetings, holds a random drawing for a dinner gift certificate, plus permission to leave work early once.

2. Make it personal

Rewards have more lasting impact when they’re geared to people ’s personal needs or interests. Two examples –

• one firm with many foreign-born, low-wage employees awards a $20 pre-compensated phone card after 90 days of service, and a $100 card for outstanding work, and

• Another company with a lot of sports nuts took several top-performers to a ball game. Managers said it was the best $200 they’ve ever spent as for building ongoing enthusiasm.

3. Add structure

The awards might seem spur of the moment, but top programs have a fixed budget and structure set before anything is handed out. Example –  One retail firm awards “points” for good work. Folks can then trade in their points for store merchandise.

By letting individuals  bank points for additional valuable rewards, the company saw a solid jump in retention.

Other companies prefer to let workers reward each other. for  instance, a small healthcare provider keeps a “goodies box” on-site – compensated for in petty cash and stocked by workers themselves.

When someone spots a peer going the extra mile, he or she pulls out a prize and awards it.

The program is a immense hit –  It’s immediate and personal, yet structured.

4. Don’t let good intentions backfire

Most spot awards go over well. But keep these four issues in mind –

• For most cash or cash-value awards, there are tax implications (just as with traditional bonuses)

• Awards need to be spread around or else resentment can creep in

• Make certain honorees don’t mind being the center of attention (some firms have accidentally alienated people  they tried to reward), and

• Be certain the reward is something people  actually want. One firm that awarded a VIP parking space next to the CEO found no one used it. No one wanted the CEO knowing what time he or she came and left.

The plan is the detailed map of what kinds of wellness programs will be offered, when and where they will be scheduled, how they will be marketed and assessed, and what the budget is.  

It is crucial that you plan your wellness activities based on your goals and goals, as well as the budget since different strategies will yield different outcomes.  For  instance, when your objective is to elevate awareness on a topic, then distributing flyers or scheduling a one-time education session may  be appropriate.  

Nonetheless, if your goal is to change behavior, then different strategies could  be necessary, such as ongoing weekly sessions and support groups.  Click here to link to Program Design Choices for more ideas.

Wellness Program Marketing

This is the time to plan your marketing and advertising strategies! Just how can you market the health promotion program and ongoing activities?  No matter how you decide to, market often, keep it fresh, and remind employees again and again!  

Consider having an overall kickoff activity to let everyone know about the wellness program. Upper-Level Management should provide the introduction or invitation so that all workforce are aware of their support and leadership in the wellness program.

Possible advertising methods –

• Sending email messages, including reminders

• Posting flyers,

• Displaying bulletin board postings,

• Writing articles,

• Sending letters or

• Sending special invitations.  

Other Health Promotion Program Considerations –

• Is the wellness program promoted to all employees or to a specific target audience?

• Do you have a health promotion program champion (someone who is connected with different groups in the organization, and well respected) who can help in your promotion efforts?

• When your marketing efforts don’t seem to be working, do you have a way to revisit and adjust your strategy?

• Just how will you determine success and evaluate your wellness program?  and how will you collect the information needed to evaluate your wellness program?  

Topics most often included in Wellness Programs –

• Nutrition

• Exercise/Exercise

• Tobacco Use Cessation

• Bone Health

• Heart Health

• Healthy Back

• Stress Reduction

• Chronic Disease Awareness and Prevention

• Self-care; Wise Healthcare Consumer

• Screening Services (BMI, blood pressure, bone density, cholesterol, glucose, posture, vision, and other…)

• Ergonomic Assessments

• Health Fairs

• Kids/family Events

• Others topics that workers have interest in  

The topics and kind of Wellness Program planned depend on the needs and interest, overall goal and resources available.  

Program Design Options include awareness programs like brochures and/or education sessions, behavior modification or modification programs like use of tobacco cessation and weight loss classes, and environmental or organizational support like no use of tobacco policies or healthful selections in vending machines.  

The wellness programs planned also depend on the demographics of your workforce. When you have a young, healthful workforce, you may want to focus the wellness attention on keeping workforce healthful and not need to screen for disease.  

Instead you may want to focus on healthy lifestyle behavior such as exercise and good nutrition to prevent the begin of disease.  Click here for additional information on strategies for keeping workers well, identifying disease early, or returning workers to work who already have a chronic illness.

It’s also vital that you consider, and plan how you’ll evaluate the success of your wellness program.  The system needs to be established for tracking certain data and recording events depending on the wellness program goals and desired outcomes.  

Step 7 discusses health promotion program analysis in more detail.   and Step 6 will launch your health promotion program!

They’re the most well-liked recognition incentives among workers, a recent study  shows.  The best part –  the incentives generally amount to less than 1 percent of base pay. That also can makes this option attractive to C-levels.  And the awards don’t even have to be given in cash.

Spontaneity grabs ‘em

Traditional end-of-year or quarterly bonuses cost businesss an average of 10% of base pay yet often have a lower payoff in morale and retention.

Reason – Staff Members appreciate them less because they expect to receive them for reaching certain goals. By their nature spot awards are spontaneous and compensated out immediately. Honorees are pleasantly surprised and see the corporation values their work.

Here are four keys to successful spot bonus programs, as reported by benefits consultant Ken Stahlmann –

1. Creativity is crucial

The most effective programs typically give out awards weekly or monthly.  To avoid over-stretching the budget – and avoid a ho-hum attitude setting in – creativity is a must.

One way that never gets old –  combining time off with a second, non-cash award.

Example –  One firm gives a half-day off in combo with movie passes once a month. Another, at weekly staff meetings, holds a random drawing for a dinner gift certificate, plus permission to leave work early once.

2. Make it personal

Rewards have more lasting impact when they’re geared to individuals ’s personal needs or interests. Two examples –

• one firm with many foreign-born, low-wage staff awards a $20 pre-paid phone card after 90 days of service, and a $100 card for outstanding work, and

• Another firm with a lot of sports nuts took several top-performers to a ball game. Managers said it was the best $200 they’ve ever spent for building ongoing enthusiasm.

3. Add structure

The awards may seem spur of the moment, but the most effective programs have a fixed budget and structure set before anything is handed out.

Example –  One retail firm awards “points” for good work. Folks can then trade in their points for store merchandise. By letting individuals  bank points for additional valuable rewards, the corporation saw a solid jump in retention.

Other companies prefer to let workers reward each other. for example, a small healthcare provider keeps a “goodies box” onsite – compensated for in petty cash and stocked by workers themselves.

When someone spots a coworker going the extra mile, he or she pulls out a prize and awards it.

The program is a gigantic hit –  It’s immediate and personal, yet structured.

4. Don’t let good intentions backfire

Most spot awards go over well. But keep these issues in mind –

• For most cash or cash-value awards, there are tax implications (just as with traditional bonuses)

• Awards need to be spread around or else resentment can creep in

• Make sure honorees don’t mind being the center of attention (some firms have accidentally alienated individuals  they tried to reward), and

• Make sure the reward is something people  actually want. One firm that awarded a VIP parking space next to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) found no one used it. No one wanted the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) knowing what time he or she came and left.

The trip might end up ok, or it may end up disastrously.  Yet, with a little thoughtful planning, you increase your chances for a successful experience.  Clear objectives and objectives are needed to plan your wellness program to ensure success!

Wellness program goals and goals are different from one business to another depending on the population, needs, interests and resources. Nevertheless, well thought out goals based on your corporation’s needs assessment will form the foundation of a successful health promotion program!

Health Promotion Program Mission Statement

The first consideration is a mission statement for your Health Promotion Program.  The mission statement is the overall expression of what the Health Promotion Committee wants to accomplish by implementing a health promotion program.  

It’s crucial that you consider how your Health Promotion Program fits in with the company mission statement, contributes to the overall mission and supports the company bottom line.  This will integrate your efforts throughout the company operations.  

Here are some examples of Health Promotion Program mission statements –  

At XYZ Company, maintaining an environment that supports worker health and safety is our underlying value. It is the mission of the Health Promotion Program to assist in developing wellness services that fosters and upholds that value.

It’s the mission of the XYZ Wellness Committee to foster healthier lifestyle choices to reduce health risk factors, improve overall well-being, and maintain a productive, active work force.

Wellness Program Goals

The objectives and objectives further define your mission and are based on your needs assessment.  Depending on the needs assessment, executive management expectations and worker interests, examples of objectives can include –  

The goal(s) of XYZ Wellness Program in year XXXX is to –   (one or more of the following examples)

• Reduce absenteeism by one day per employee

• Lower musculoskeletal injuries by 10%

• Decrease unnecessary emergency room visits

• Decrease or contain healthcare costs

• Improve dietary habits of employees

• Reduce health risk factors  

Wellness Program Objectives

Specific Wellness Program goals help meet your long-term goals and vision.  Both short term and long term goals ought to be developed as the stepping stones to accomplish the goals and mission.  

In addition to objectives for the expected participant outcomes, process objectives should also be developed for the health promotion program process itself.  For  instance, process objectives might include how many employees you want to take part in the health promotion programs, how many sessions on a topic are going to be offered, the kind of wellness sessions that’ll be implemented, etc.

Goals need to be easily measurable within a set time frame. Try using the SMART formula to create both your long and short-term goals and goals –

• Specific (one behavior or outcome)

• Measurable (one result that may be observed or investigated),

• Attainable (but also challenging),

• Realistic (do you have the resources to achieve?), and

• Time specific (within 3 months – up to 5 years)  

This is the who, what, when, where, why, and by how much method.  For  instance, an objective for a weight reduction program that has an overall goal of improving healthy eating and promoting a healthy weight is that –  

Participants (who) will lose an average of .5 – 1 lbs per week (specific what that is measurable) after the 12 week lunchtime program (time specific what, when and where) for a minimum of 6 lbs weight loss per participant (attainable and realistic).

Or –  

Participants (who) will attend 11 of the 12 sessions (specific what that is measurable) and name at least one healthier consuming change after the program (specific what, when, where)

An example of an objective for coaching personnel with elevated cholesterol might  be –  

To reduce the sum cholesterol (specific what) of high risk personnel with cholesterol over 240 mg/dl (specific who) to 200 mg/dl (measurable how much) through one-on-one counseling sessions offered at the workplace (where) by X date (ex, after 6 months) (attainable, realistic and time specific when) to lower the risk factor for heart illness (why).  

And one last example of a process objective for a use of tobacco cessation program with an overall goal to assist participants in committing to quit for life –  

By the end of the 4-week use of tobacco cessation program, 10% of the participants will have quit use of tobacco.  Each participant are going to be contacted at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months from the program’s end to determine quit status (process objective) and 10% of those who quit will still be smoke free after one year.

You have now completed Steps 1 through 4, including establishing your Wellness Committee. It’s now time to plan your wellness activities!

The scariest part –  Victims of benefits-related ID theft often make out worse than those who fall prey to the more common variety.  The bad guys are ahead of investigators after such thefts occur, and are often very good at covering their tracks.

Likewise, because benefits ID-theft is a relatively new kind of crime, there’s no well-established system for victims, plan sponsors and vendors to set things straight after the fact.

401(k) accounts a prime target

Not surprisingly, employees’ 401(k) accounts have become the main target for benefits thieves.  An alarming MSNBC news report showed just how easy it could be for thieves to tap into an employee’s 401(k) accounts – When an online account gets hacked into or account paperwork falls into the wrong hands, it takes only several mouse clicks to wipe out the victim’s retirement savings.

With typical credit-card or bank account fraud, victims need only call their card issuer or bank, report the crime and refuse to pay for an item. But 401(k) theft is much, much harder to resolve.

Three immense obstacles –

1. Money in 401(k) accounts is not federally insured, like a bank account.

2. 401(k) accounts rarely – if ever – come with automatic identity theft protection from the vendor, like credit cards.

3. Even when the theft is successfully resolved, the situation becomes an ERISA nightmare for plan sponsors, because your company also has to account for the way the theft affected the growth of the employee’s account before the money was restored.

• First it ensures that your health promotion program activities are going to be targeted to meet your organization’s specific needs so that outcomes can be achieved.  

• Secondly the needs assessment provides the information you’ll need to evaluate the effectiveness of your health promotion program.

It’s often tempting to rush the assessment – namely when time is limited or those with experience already have an idea of needs. Do not give in to this temptation!  

It is crucial to understand what your business needs are, what upper-level management expects, and what staff members want in addition to expect, before you create a health promotion program.  

Consider and gather data on –

• Demographic Information

• Health Risk Factors

• Medical Claims

• Injury Rates and Causes

• Workers’ Compensation Claims

• Short and Long Term Disability Claims

• Absenteeism

• Culture Audits

• Worker perceived needs and health risks

• Management expectations or desired outcomes

There are lots of ways to assess this information. Despite the fact that some of data collecting process may  be time eating, remember that it is however essential to plan health promotion programs that target specific issues.  

This information will be crucial to set goals and for evaluating  wellness program success. How else can you know when outcomes have been achieved?

Choices to help gather the wellness program information –

• Confidential Health Risk Appraisals (HRAs) with a Business Group Summary Report click here for additional information on Health Risk Appraisals (HRAs) or Assessments

• Biometric Testings like cholesterol, blood pressure (BP) and blood sugar click here for additional information on health testings.

• Employee Needs and Interest Surveys

• Suggestion boxes placed around the company

• Focus Groups or hosting a luncheon meeting as a focus group

• Sending out a confidential email questionnaire

• Review records and databases including OSHA logs, first aid reports, insurance costs  

Once your needs assessment is complete, the Health Promotion Committee can review the results and start planning and prioritizing health promotion program choices.  

Planning should be based on objectives and identified outcomes, Step 4 of the seven step process!

Seventy-three% of all firms (59% of small employers) have an EAP. But how well does the average employee assistance program work? Not as well as we’d hope. A Mid America Coalition on Healthcare study found –

• just 50 percent of 6,400 staff surveyed said they’d use the EAP if they felt overwhelmed by personal issues, and

• one-third said they didn’t even know how to access its resources.

The good news –  Firms like yours have seen dramatic improvements in three relatively simple steps

1. Employee attitude surveys

The best beginning place –  Take the pulse of your workers with a short, confidential attitude survey.

Goals –  Ask staff members when they know how to use the EAP’s resources. Then test workers’ knowledge and opinions of depression and other personal issues that may affect their workplace performance and/or safety. In the final section, determine how staff members would handle a serious personal issue.

In other words, determine where your people  would likely turn for help. Would staff members seek out the EAP? Would they prefer to discuss the issue with their family doctor? A psychological health professional?

The Mid America Coalition’s survey remains an great design model from which to craft a recent survey for your own employees.

2. Promote EAP through education

Your survey data ought to help you pinpoint areas where workforce need more education about your EAP. Some awareness-boosting techniques that have gotten results –

• Lunch-and-learn sessions. Possible topics include dealing with personal-finance stress, caring for elderly parents, understanding depression or dealing with a dependent who’s potential psychological health issues.

• Staff Member newsletter. When you’ve a benefits newsletter, spotlight the EAP from time to time. Some businesses without newsletters have done e-mail campaigns or targeted mailings instead.

• Worksite posters spotlighting EAP.  The ones that work best are often posters designed around a specific theme (e.g., anxiety about personal debt) rather than a general “need help?” message. In addition to posters, you might want to distribute wallet cards with employee assistance program (EAP) contact info.

Need help finding educational material? There’s lots of free EAP-related pamphlets and FAQs here. Do not forget –  When doing employee assistance program education, constantly remind personnel that the program is strictly confidential.

3. Make certain to work with supervisors

For legal reasons, supervisors need to tread carefully when they suspect an employee has a psychological health issue.

What you don’t want –  supervisors taking disciplinary actions without consulting HR or playing amateur psychologist and “diagnosing” the employee’s problems. Here’s a PDF of some proven tips and talking points for doing supervisor-specific EAP education.

Medical Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance –  Beware non-discrimination issues

HIPAA’s non-discrimination rules impact both mental health benefits and general health plans. Under current interpretations, heath programs can no longer have benefits exclusions that deny benefits for injuries resulting directly or indirectly from pre-existing mental health issues.

That’s true even when the psychological condition wasn’t diagnosed until after the injury and even when the injury was self-inflicted. Example –  Suppose an staff member gets hurt in a worksite accident he or she caused. After the fact, the staff member is diagnosed with a mood disorder that previously escaped detection by the employee’s physician.

Under current regs, health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA)-covered plans can’t deny benefits. This puts employers in a bind. Mental health issues like depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder are one of the medical conditions that’re most likely to go undiagnosed or underdiagnosed.

That’s why, in most corporations, having a strong EAP is one of your best compliance tools.

Typical Functions of a Health Promotion Committee –

• Analyzing needs and interests

• Brainstorming health promotion program ideas

• Creating activities

• Developing communication plans

• Marketing wellness programs to peers

• Serving as champions of the Wellness Programs

• Helping with analysis  

Your Health Promotion Committee must be representative of all levels of the business.  Consider all areas of the workforce – multiple sites, shift workforce, diversity (race, gender, ethnicity), and departments.  

It’s also crucial to consider who’ll chair or co-chair the Wellness Committee and whether or not there are the finances to support a wellness manager or occupational health expert, even on a part-time or contractual basis.  Click here for more information on the benefits of a health expert.  

Depending on your business size and resources, if you already have a business Safety Committee you could want to consider making it the Safety and Health Promotion Committee.  You can request volunteers or invite workforce to participate.  

The number of Wellness Committee members depends on the size of your company; notwithstanding, you need enough members to get the work done and yet not too many to keep it manageable, ordinarily a minimum of 4 members and maximum of 12 to 15 members.  

It’s imperative that you include skeptics of wellness as well and not just those staff members already practicing healthy life choices.  

Depending on your workplace, consider representatives from the following areas –

• Staff Member representatives from a cross section of different departments,

• Upper-Level management ,

• Health and safety professional(s),

• Human resources specialist(s),

• Benefits staff or someone from finance,

• Your staff member assistance program (EAP) provider (if applicable), Click here for more information on EAPs

• Medical or occupational health staff (if applicable).

Establish an effective Wellness Committee!  the Wellness Committee should meet regularly with a planned agenda and action items.  Successful Wellness Committees have a shared mission, vision and objectives.  

Members need to believe that their participation is worthwhile and appreciated, that their work is important, benefits the business and colleagues, and they are recognized for their contributions. Refer to the NC Workplace Programs section for instances of what other organizations have implemented.

Demand for these benefits remains high.  One study found that 87 percent of job applicants are familiar with the idea behind telecommuting and flex-time, and the majority express a desire to have at least periodic access to such programs.

Environmental interest groups have pushed the feds for years to develop incentives for businesss to encourage telecommuting.  The pressure has risen as gas prices have continued to soar.

Notwithstanding, flex-time programs have leveled off in some sectors, and there’s been a decrease in telecommuting.

Today, about half of all corporations where telecommuting is feasible permit employees to work from home on a case-by-case basis. But the percentage of businesss offering full-time telecommuting has dropped in recent years.  Nowadays, only about 20% to 25% of businesss offer the benefit year-round.

Even some national employers that are well-known for their telecommuting programs have scaled back. AT&T, for example, lately asked several thousand home-based staff to come back into the office.

Hewlett-Packard and Intel have done the same thing.  and the federal government recently noted a 7.3% drop in telecommuting workforce. Why the cutbacks?

Employee Assistance Program – Pros and cons

Offering workers telecommuting or flex-time could be a good recruiting and morale-boosting tool, as well as a way to retain workers who need to relocate, would otherwise have a need to quit or take leave or commute long distances to work.

But the programs are not without their drawbacks. Some of the main reasons companys give for scaling back or eliminating them –

• Business culture – It’s easier to build a sense of organizational stability and an individual connection between workers, colleagues and supervisors when individuals  interact face-to-face on a daily basis.

• Security – One of the hidden costs of authorizing employees to telecommute (or else come in early or stay late) is keeping sensistive information safe. Some the cutbacks are being driven by companies’ IT departments.

Particularly, managers have raised concerns about stolen laptops, identity theft or other crimes driven by hackers gaining access to information via workers’ home Internet connections.

• Productivity – Many supervisors find it easier to ensure high productivity when everybody is working under one roof at the same time.  There’s also a widespread view that most employees get things done faster and more accurately when they’re not distracted by things at home.

The bottom line on the bottom line

Work-life programs like flex-time and telecommuting remain a useful benefit to offer employees, and a lot of businesses still provide these benefits for economic reasons.

But once the potential hidden costs are weighed, it’s often better for the bottom line to limit the scope of these programs.

Organizations that are thinking about starting a telecommuting program ought to look closely at job descriptions and telecommuting candidates. Some positions are poorly suited for remote work, and some staff members are more up to the challenge than others.

But unless the corporation creates objective criteria for permitting or denying flex/telecommuting requests, such programs can actually damage morale.

The last thing any company wants is to open supervisors(and the company) up to accustations of favoritism or discrimination because of seemingly random decisions on which workforce in their department can and can’t flex their schedules or work from home.

Genuine support from executive management also lends credibility to the health promotion program. It’s key that executive management be visible supporters and role models for your Health Promotion Program.

Employees need to be involved on a few levels so that they feel ownership of the wellness program. Employees are the wellness program stakeholders!  

All employees should have an opportunity to provide input and feedback through needs and interest surveys and health promotion program examination tools.  The information gathered should be used to plan health promotion programs that target those needs and interests to ensure participation, buy-in, and support.

There are a few methods to identify staff member needs and interests such as –

• Conducting Employee Focus Groups

• Discussing Wellness Interests During Department Meetings

• Distributing and Summarizing a Needs and Interest Survey

• Including an Opportunity to Give Suggestions on Each Analysis Tool  

Any one or combination of several techniques will ensure that the health promotion program meets what workforce want.  Click here for a sample Needs and Interest Survey.

Step 3 provides additional information on determining health promotion program needs.  But first, establishing a Wellness Committee can help you involve upper management and employees, determine need, and plan your health promotion program.