Employee Wellness Plans : Incentives can be used to broaden participation rates, help with completion or attendance at programs, and to help people shift or adhere to healthy lifestyles. The purpose of the incentive is to encourage employees to adopt beneficial behaviors or maintain an existing beneficial behavior. Everyone who achieves a objective or maintains a behavior should receive something. Many corporations also offer incentives/rewards merely for participating in activities.

Stay away from being the “best” or doing the “most.” Encouraging staff members to be the best or doing the most promotes excessive behavior, discourages others, and creates elitism. The best designed incentive programs are ones which are based on achieving objectives that are attainable by most people. Recognition, acknowledgment by top management, or special privileges are examples of great intangible incentives and rewards.

Incentive ideas:

• Free or Low-Cost:
   o Certificates
   o Movie passes
   o Recognition in employee newsletter
   o Mugs
   o Water bottles
   o Commendation from management
   o T-shirts
   o Hats

• Moderate Cost:
   o Entertainment tickets
   o Sweatshirts
   o Waist packs
   o Subscriptions to health magazines
   o Health and fitness books
   o Videos

• High Cost:
   o Week-end getaways
   o Dinner for two
   o Clocks
   o Watches

• Others:
   o Cash
   o Gift certificates