Health & Wellness Incentives: How Corporates Can Step Up the Game of Employee Wellness Programs

According to Jessica Pryce-Jones, the author of the book 'Happiness At Work,' you spend one-third (or more) of your life at work. If you put that into calculation, it estimates to be a staggering 90,000+ hours! 

Now imagine yourself living that 'one-third' of life in a miserable and stressed state? What happens next is detrimental, which you (knowingly or unknowingly) fail to pay heed to and affect the other two-thirds of your life more miserably. 

The pressure to meet financial targets might tempt business leaders to focus only on their balance sheets and disregard what turns out to be a manageable and quantifiable lever that’s proven to impact the most crucial bottom line—Employee wellbeing. 

Sadly, a good well-being culture has always been a mere slogan or a generic health program, which is often delegated to the HR department to manage the company's healthcare costs tactically. 

However, the reality is that wellbeing is neither a ‘program’ nor a ‘topic.’ It is a mindset, cultural orientation, or ethos within the workplace. 

Employee wellbeing is non-negotiable. Period. 

That’s why employee wellness programs have long existed, but they have evolved—owing to the significant change in the employees’ behaviors. 

Employee wellbeing goes beyond having ergonomic standing desks, a basket full of fresh fruits, vibrant motivational posters, furry companions, fancy parties, smoking cessation sessions, or periodic health screenings. 

Today, it’s all about how companies go the extra mile in promoting a healthy, happy, and productive workplace by taking an engaging approach to wellness. 

And the secret to driving this is through the right health and wellness incentives. We have put together a detailed guide to help you decode this secret better. Let’s dive in. 

What is a corporate wellness program 

A corporate wellness program is a collection of benefits or initiatives that a company implements in the workplace to enhance the overall wellbeing of its employees.  

Corporate wellness programs enable companies to encourage healthy habits in the workplace. When employees are healthy at work, they are happier and more productive. Also, such programs help employers to save on healthcare costs. 

The objective of a wellness program shares a mutual interest where a company helps employees stay healthy to further facilitate a happy work environment for better business outcomes in return. In addition, companies promote their employee wellness programs to increase job satisfaction and attract top talents. 

What is health and wellness incentive? 

Health and wellness incentive is a way to encourage and motivate employees to achieve desired outcomes of a corporate wellness program.  

Wellness incentives or wellness rewards, however you call them, refer to any type of prize (gift cards, movie tickets, premium discounts, wellness swag, paid time off, etc.) that a company offers to its employees to adopt healthy behaviors. For a wellness program to be engaging, incentives play a key role. It’s the ‘nudge’ to get employees to make healthy decisions. 

7 Benefits of implementing wellness incentives for employees 

Just like tax breaks and grants encourage organizations to adopt employee wellness programs, rewards and incentives motivate employee participation. With that said, here are a few more advantages of incorporating them: 

1. Increases participation in wellness programs 

Low participation in wellness programs often stems from a lack of motivation or engagement.  Try incorporating incentives and see the magic happen. Sometimes, all we need is extrinsic rewards to get the job done!  

When employees know they will be rewarded for achieving wellness milestones, they are more likely to actively engage in corporate wellness initiatives. 

With Empuls, HR teams can automate wellness rewards, ensuring that employees can easily track their progress and redeem incentives effortlessly.  

By integrating rewards directly into wellness programs, organizations can significantly boost participation, making health and well-being a shared goal across the workforce.  

2. Builds camaraderie among employees 

Implementing incentives on a health initiative has the power to evoke the emotion of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), allowing employees to experience activities (that aren't related to work) with their peers.  

This could be from participating in an outdoor adventure, eating a healthy meal together for a week, or going to the gym. The interaction between coworkers facilitates a stronger bond, which also helps them to work better together. 

3. Encourages healthy competition among peers  

Humans, by nature, are competitive creatures. Even people who are comfortable staying on their sidelines are prone to be motivated when an element of 'rewards' is associated with a program.  

Rewards inspire individuals to put in more effort to achieve specific goals. For example, rewarding employees with a $100 gift card for walking 5000 steps a day motivates others to do the same and fuel healthy competition. 

4. Boosts healthy behaviors in the company culture 

Rather than forcing the employees to be healthy, meaningful incentives help boost healthy behaviors in the workplace. It also encourages people to share and apply different tips in their day-to-day lives to promote healthy living. 

5. Reduces employee absenteeism rate  

The more you care for your employees' health with some proactive initiatives, the less likely they will fall sick. While investing in corporate wellness programs is the ideal way, incentives act as a catalyst in driving engagement and help you achieve the ultimate goal of a low absenteeism rate.  

Believe it or not, good health impacts an employee's morale positively. Research also suggests that for every dollar that a company spends on employee wellness, it saves $5.82 on absenteeism costs. 

6. Boosts engagement levels 

Health and wellness incentives for employees also result in higher engagement levels. It creates a keen 'interest' and triggers a 'don't-give-up' attitude to achieving specific health goals.  

It makes wellness activities more fun and creates opportunities to develop a culture of collaboration and enthusiasm. Once that happens, it results in a better engagement at the workplace. 

7. Great way to attract new talents  

Did you know that by 2027, the corporate wellness market is anticipated to be worth a whopping $97.4 billion? If that wasn’t enough, hear this. It is also growing at a compounding yearly rate of 6.8%.  

Considering this trend, your health and wellness programs will undoubtedly become one of the key differentiators to attract top talents than your competitors. 

Challenges faced by corporates with employee health and wellness programs 

Employee health is extremely personal; getting your workforce to buy the idea of a wellness program and, further, sticking to it is critical. Implementing a culture of wellness is excellent, but obstacles are inevitable. 

Here’s a list of common roadblocks that tend to cause low engagement levels in wellness programs and the respective solutions to prevent possible setbacks: 

1. Problem #1: Your employees have no clue that a wellness program exists. 
   Solution: Make sure to communicate about the program on the most active channels. It could be through emails, WhatsApp groups, push notifications, videos, colorful posters, or business communication platforms. 
2. Problem #2: Your employees see no value in the wellness program. 
   Solution: The success of a wellness program comes down to how well you market it. It doesn't matter what initiative you implement, and employees will only be interested if it benefits them directly.  

This needs experimentation or, even better, take surveys to find out what they would consider an 'ideal' wellness program in the workplace. Factor in their needs and personal wellbeing. 

3. Problem #3: Your employees aren’t motivated to participate. 
   Solution: Have you ever seen an employee feeling excited about joining a program right after an HR launches it? No! Unless there's a motivational element attached to it, forget about your employees even opening that announcement email.  

This is where incentives/rewards play a crucial role. Since these are the core components that trigger participation and engagement, make sure that they are highlighted clearly. Also, give a clear message of how participants can earn the incentives and foster a healthy well-being culture. 

Types of health and wellness incentives 

Choosing a wellness incentive for your health program can be perplexing at times. No one wants their time, efforts, and money to go in vain. Hence, it is essential to understand the different types of wellness incentives and how each can bring more value. 

1. Financial incentives 

These are tangible incentives where the cost varies based on an item’s quantity and quality. Allocate the budget either on the number of employees participating in the wellness program or the number of yearly winners. Financial incentives can be categorized into three levels:  

 -Low-cost incentives (less than $100)
Sports bags, fancy water bottles or eco-friendly boxed water cases, travel mugs, protein powders, yoga mats, self-care kits, headphones, etc. 
 
-Medium-cost incentives ($100 to $300): 
Small health equipment, health magazine subscriptions, gym memberships, running shoes, wearables, etc. 
 
-High-cost incentives (above $300): 
Luxury dining, expensive gadgets, holiday trips, paid day-off, outdoor adventures, etc. 

2. Non-financial incentives 

These are non-tangible incentives. If planned and executed right, they have no cost. It can be something as simple as 2 days of paid leave for achieving 10,000 steps a day consistently for a month or enjoying flexible work hours for exercising 1 hour every day for a week. 

3. Participation-based incentives 

These are wellness incentives you can give your employees for participating in a health program or an event. It could be from attending a 45-minute smoking cessation session to enrolling on a 26-mile marathon. 
 
The reward could be digital gift cards, digital award certificates, or a point-based system. This type of health incentive is popular and highly effective, as it encourages employees to collaborate as a team. 

4. Progress-based incentives 

These are wellness incentives that not only demand employee participation but also be proactive. The program could be from accepting the weight loss challenge by shedding some pounds within 3-6 months to showing up to the gym consistently for 2 months. 
 
Whether the outcome is achieved or not, employees are still rewarded for the progress they make every week/month. 

5.Outcome-based incentives 

As the name implies, these are incentives that employees get for achieving any health-related outcome. It could be weight loss, sustaining normal blood pressure levels for 30 days by practicing yoga or not smoking for a month.  
 
The winners can be rewarded with medium to high-cost incentives for achieving the preset health goals with consistency and patience. 

Wellness incentive ideas for your corporate health programs 

Here are 12 wellness incentive ideas for corporate health programs: 

Low-cost wellness incentives 

Affordable yet effective ways to encourage wellness in the workplace. 

1. E-Gift cards for health & fitness stores – Offer digital gift cards for fitness apparel, supplements, or sports equipment from brands like Decathlon or Nike. 
2. Subscription to meditation & mindfulness apps – Provide subscription to apps like Calm, Headspace, or Simple Habit to support mental well-being. 
3. Healthy snack boxes – Curate nutritional snack hampers with protein bars, dry fruits, and herbal teas as a small token of appreciation. 
4. Online wellness workshops & webinars – Host virtual yoga, meditation, or nutrition sessions, redeemable via experience-based rewards. 

Medium-cost wellness incentives 

Investing in employees' long-term health and fitness. 

5. Wearable fitness trackers – Reward high-performing employees with smartwatches or fitness bands to track their steps, heart rate, and sleep. 
6. Spa & wellness retreat gift cards – Give employees a chance to unwind with massage and spa experiences, redeemable through Plum's gift card catalog. 
7. Standing desks or ergonomic office equipment – Promote workplace wellness by providing vouchers for ergonomic chairs, laptop stands or standing desks. 
8. Meal plan & grocery gift cards – Encourage healthy eating habits by offering grocery vouchers for organic food brands or meal delivery services. 

High-cost wellness incentives 

Premium wellness incentives that show deep commitment to employee well-being. 

9. Annual gym or wellness program sponsorship – Fully sponsor a 12-month gym membership, yoga classes, or virtual fitness coaching for top achievers. 
10. Wellness retreats & getaways – Reward high-performing employees with wellness retreats at 5-star resorts. 
11. Home gym equipment gift cards – Provide gift vouchers for fitness gear like treadmills, stationary bikes, or resistance bands. 
12. Corporate health screenings & premium health plans – Offer annual wellness checkups, dental care packages, or premium health insurance upgrades. 

How to increase participation in wellness programs 

Enhance employee awareness of well-being programs 

Many employees remain unaware of the wellness initiatives available to them. Organizations must improve communication by involving leaders, managers, and peers in promoting these programs.  

Personalizing wellness offerings and sharing real employee success stories can make these programs more relatable and impactful. 

Address stigma and apathy around well-being 

Fear of stigma, especially in mental health, often prevents employees from utilizing well-being support. Companies should encourage open discussions, train managers to support employees, and create peer networks that normalize well-being conversations. Showcasing real-life success stories can help drive engagement and break down barriers. 

Make participation easy and time-efficient 

Busy schedules often hinder wellness program participation. Organizations should implement opt-out enrollment to ensure employees automatically benefit without additional effort.  

Integrating well-being activities into daily routines, such as step challenges or well-being check-ins during meetings, makes participation seamless and sustainable. 

Develop a well-designed and timely wellness program 

A successful wellness program should empower employees, make them feel valued, and encourage proactive participation. Achieving this requires a well-planned and well-marketed initiative tailored to employee needs. Experimentation and continuous improvement are essential to identify what resonates best with the workforce. 

Use incentives to drive engagement 

Even the best-designed wellness programs won’t succeed without the right motivation. Incentives act as the fuel that powers participation and engagement. Offering rewards, recognition, and tangible benefits can significantly boost employee involvement and ensure the program’s effectiveness. 

How corporates and popular wellness apps drive employee wellbeing via rewards 

Employee wellness is all the rage. No doubt. You'll see more companies jumping on the bandwagon these days. A few examples of how fitness apps and businesses promote health, productivity, and happiness by leveraging wellness rewards or incentives to drive engagement. 

1. Wellness app: Sweatcoin 

Sweatcoin is a perfect example of how wellness rewards, when implemented in the right way, can drive engagement. The app pays you crypto rewards to walk. While their basic mobile app is free, it has a walking step limit per day. It uses the phone’s accelerometer and GPS to convert your steps into ‘sweatcoins.’ For every 1000 steps, the app gives you 0.95 sweatcoins, which can be easily exchanged for services, goods, and gift cards such as vacations, iPhones, and charitable donations. 

2. Wellness app: Winwalk 

Winwalk is another excellent example that leverages rewards to drive engagement for their fitness app. Unlike wellness apps that pay their users for every 1000/2000 steps, Winwalk pays its users to walk for 100 steps. It enables you to earn coins, which can be redeemed for e-gift cards from well-known brands like eBay, Amazon, Starbucks, Nike, and even cryptocurrency. The idea of this app is simple—the more you walk, jump, run, sweat, and cut down on calories, the healthier you become, and the better the rewards! 

3. Wellness app: AIA Vitality 

AIA Vitality is a science-backed, personalized wellness program that’s designed to get people to make healthier lifestyle choices by providing support, tools, and health incentives. The app encourages positive behaviors and enables users to earn AIA Vitality Points by eating well, taking more steps, and completing routine health checks. 

These points can be then redeemed for attractive rewards such as dining, shopping, travel, and discounts. So, the more Vitality points a user earns, the higher the Vitality status, and the more rewards to unlock. 

4. Wellness program: Google 

Google’s wellness programs have always been the talk of the town. From free bikes roaming around their massive campuses to fancy massage parlors, relaxing nap rooms, color-coded cafeteria to lego stations, ping-pong tables, on-site laundry, and whatnot. You name an amenity or an employee perk, and they have it. 

Google has set the standards of office and employee experience so high that even the biggest and world-renowned companies have a hard time matching them. When they say that their employees are their biggest assets, they mean it! And that’s why they have every damn thing to help Googlers achieve a perfect work-life balance. 

5. Wellness program: Fitbit 

Fitbit Wellness is yet another popular health initiative that got the world talking. They have not only improved the fitness levels of their employees but also saved them huge business costs. Their initiative has successfully brought down sick leaves and reduced illnesses that negatively impacted productivity. 

Interestingly, their wellness initiative leverages their own 'wrist tracker technology' to inspire competition in the office. The most active employees are rewarded with wellness incentives, motivating even the sedentary staff to step up their game. 

It might be infeasible for most businesses to outfit each employee with an expensive $150 wristband; however, the key takeaway is that Fitbit believes in encouraging people to move more. This shows that through fun contests and incentivizing with small rewards, a company can cut down on lost productivity and lost wages. 

How to create a wellness incentive program that works like a charm 

For an employee wellness program to work like a well-oiled machine, it should incorporate incentives. No doubt. They are the ultimate drivers that help motivate your employees in making a long-term behavioral change. 

But often, wellness incentive programs are so overwhelming that managing, budgeting, processing, and tracking the incentives become a huge task in itself. The challenge is to manage an effective wellness program but, at the same time, it doesn't consume excess time, effort, and resources. 

The world’s best wellness programs are the ones that were able to strike a perfect balance between improving their employees’ health and the delivery of the right incentives. 

To help you crack this and make incentives work like a charm for your wellness programs, here are a few things to keep in mind: 

1. Choose the right wellness rewards 

Take any wellness program, and its underlying objective will be to adopt and practice healthy behaviors. And to encourage that, you need to back it up with the right incentives. Give small incentives like digital gift cards to employees who successfully complete various aspects of your wellness program. 

You can even try a benefits-based quarterly or annual incentive plan such as discounts on insurance premiums, holiday trips, lower co-pay, or paid time off as a strategy. 

Although benefits-based incentives are more expensive than rewarding winners with small gifts, they significantly impact employee engagement levels. 

2. Decide what health activities or behaviors to incentivize 

For better wellness incentive management, it’s vital to discuss with your wellness committee (or the team managing it) to narrow down the list of health activities or health behaviors that you would like your employees to achieve. 

Once you determine that, the next step is to start small, as this gives everyone a chance to earn it. With time, make more improvements in their health. 

With experimentation, you will soon know what is working for your employees and what isn’t. This will further help you understand what behaviors to incentivize in the coming years.  

Implement outcomes-based incentives to see the results faster. When done right, these incentives can even help build employee morale and trust. 

3. Assign values for accomplishing specific health tasks 

A good wellness incentive program must always follow this rule—keep things simple. It might be tempting to create intricate point-based systems to track the progress of your incentives but resist the urge. 

Jot down the various health tasks you want your workforce to do to earn a reward. Next, rank this list in this order: the most important ones on the top followed by the least important ones. 

Next, use a point-based system. For example, send 1000 points if an employee achieves the target of walking 5000 steps a day consistently for a month. Similarly, assign values (or the number of points) for every health task in your created list. 

Assign maximum points to the most critical activities and minimum points to those less critical. Doing this requires proper planning and must be done to give your employees enough opportunities to qualify for wellness incentives. 

4. Enable employees to pick their own incentives 

Create flexibility in the system to enable your employees to get maximum incentives with different combinations of health activities. 

Give them a choice. Let them pick from a list of reward options because not all fingers are the same. When it comes to gifts and rewards, everyone has their preferences. Giving them the flexibility to select their incentives drives happiness too. 

5. Make sure to track the engagement levels 

Once you have launched the wellness program with the right incentives, it’s time to track the engagement levels to measure its effectiveness. 

Keep track of employees participating in the wellness program, how proactive they are, how well they are achieving their health goals, and how they redeem their incentives. This data report will serve as a foundation for measuring the crucial metrics and help come up with innovative ideas in the future. 

How to choose the right reward platform for your wellness programs 

Selecting the right wellness rewards platform is crucial for driving engagement, boosting participation, and ensuring seamless reward distribution. Here are the key factors to consider when choosing a rewards & incentives provider for your wellness programs: 

1. Comprehensive reward catalog 

A diverse reward catalog ensures that employees find incentives that truly resonate with them. Look for a platform that offers: 

• Digital gift cards for major brands like Amazon, Walmart, and Starbucks. 
• Health-related experiences such as gym memberships, spa retreats, or wellness subscriptions. 
• Corporate wellness benefits like health insurance subsidies, fitness reimbursements, and wellness perks. 

2. Experiential wellness rewards 

Beyond monetary rewards, experiential incentives create deeper engagement. Choose a platform that offers: 

• Spa retreats for relaxation and stress relief. 
• Fitness challenges & adventure experiences to promote an active lifestyle. 
• Mindfulness and wellness workshops to enhance mental well-being. 

3. Global rewarding capabilities 

For businesses with a global workforce, ensuring that rewards are accessible across locations is critical. Check if the platform supports: 

• Multi-currency rewards for seamless international transactions. 
• Multi-location reward accessibility to cater to diverse teams. 
• Localized gift cards & experiences so employees can redeem rewards within their region. 

4. Seamless HRMS & wellness app integration 

Integrating wellness incentives with existing HR systems simplifies program management. Look for: 

• Direct integrations with HRMS and wellness tracking apps. 
• Automated reward distribution based on participation and milestones. 
• Easy API connectivity for custom workflows. 

5. Omnichannel reward distribution 

Ensure your wellness rewards platform allows instant and flexible distribution through: 

• Email, SMS, WhatsApp, and in-app notifications. 
• QR codes & redemption links for easy access. 
• Scheduled & automated delivery for birthdays, milestones, and achievements. 

6. Data-driven insights for better engagement 

A wellness rewards program should be measurable and scalable. Choose a platform that offers: 

• Engagement analytics to track participation rates. 
• Spend insights to optimize budget allocation. 
• User feedback tools to refine incentives over time. 

FAQ’s