How do you recognize and reward employees for their wellness achievements and contributions?

??Public Recognition ??Personalized Rewards ??Incentives ??Extra Time Off ??Flexible Work Arrangements ??Wellness Challenges ??Monetary Rewards ??Peer Recognition ??Leadership Involvement

From what I’ve seen from the HR leaders I work with - recognition and rewards play a pivotal role in reinforcing positive outcomes and behaviors within a wellness program. Beyond boosting engagement and satisfaction, they contribute to increased morale, productivity, and loyalty while reducing absenteeism and turnover. Recognizing employee well-being demonstrates care, values their input, and acknowledges their achievements, fostering a positive work environment that encourages teamwork, collaboration, creativity, and innovation.

There are many ways to reward, few practical solutions are here : 1. Create a weekly/monthly challenges which can be applied for any activities like cycling, running, yoga, zumba, etc on Sharepoint (Inhouse tools)/Strava/ Apple Health, other third party wellness/wellbeing apps. Someone performing well on this, tag them to some goodies, redemptions, pass to Decathlon, ERG rewards 2. As most of the organizations use MS Office, so we can integrate MS Viva analytics with health apps, and then arrive at the work life balance metric added to the performance management. Point 1 is employee driven and point 2 is manager driver, so when we have this win win situation we will see the best results coming out.

When we create an employee wellness program with a company, step 2 in our framework is to learn what the employees value. Knowing values makes it easy to curate rewards that stick. Do they value more time with their families? Do they value recognition? Do they value financial reward? Also, it's great to celebrate individual victories. But an overall incentive needs to be global, for participation only.

Employee engagement goes beyond just their work contributions. Recognition of wellness supports the whole person, shows that they are valuable, provides team building and participation opportunities and more while encouraging something that supports attendance and all the other ways they can show up at work.

Recognize the small wins, not just the big milestones. Whether it’s an employee who has consistently taken steps to improve their mental health, someone who has hit their fitness goals, or a team that collectively participated in a wellness challenge, all contributions deserve a spotlight. Celebrate the journey as much as the destination—progress over perfection. Consider a holistic approach by recognizing achievements in different wellness areas: physical health, mental resilience, work-life balance & community involvement. Action tip: Acknowledge someone who has made mental health a priority by regularly using company-provided meditation resources, or reward a team that has collectively reduced their sedentary time during the workday.

One of my favorite designs is having employees get their biometrics done and then having the results be provided to their primary care physicians. In the event something pops up in the biometrics results, the PCP can work with the individual on treatment (or just heathy living recommendations/advice).

We recognize completing the wellness initiative. Examples: Participating in the full 6 weeks steps challenge or our employee 5K walk/run. What matters is the participation not who had the most steps or who was the fastest. We want to encourage positivity and a culture of inclusivity to all!

Recognizing and rewarding employees for their wellness achievements can be creatively addressed through inclusive activities. Introduce workplace challenges that promote healthy competition and team spirit, like using step counters to track. Organize weekend or evening walks, inviting employees to bring their families and pets, fostering a sense of community. Engage in activities like dancing or bowling, offering alternatives to traditional social gatherings centered around drinking. Encourage volunteer days, allowing employees to bond over contributing to the community. Emphasize inclusivity in these activities, ensuring no one feels excluded due to physical ability, cultural or religious beliefs, race, sexuality, age, or gender.

We facilitate recognition through our activity challenges & community board. Virtual team or individual challenges go a long way in inspiring healthy competition, rivalry, fun and of course building positive habits. On our leaderboards, one can see team and individual contribution. We celebrate every milestone, every contribution to team / org goals in our community boards - recognition is a powerful enhancer of sustained motivation :)

Offering a "Wellness Day" to your employees that encourages them to use it specifically on a wellness activity goes a long way. It is important to provide guidelines and samples of what it can be used for. You should offer suggestions and tie it to the culture of your company. Some ideass are to complete a certain activity such as classes offered thru your EAP, various vendors you work with, as well as what activities you are promoting that align with your wellness program. Promoting the use of the day(s) to have annual physicals and using the day to get them or getting dental/vision check ups can also be valuable and no cost to them.

Many companies believe in rewarding good work with more work. Instead of making the employee feel demotivated, provide actual tangible or intangible rewards that the employee would be happy to get. A hard worker can get a badge, a plaque, a half day off, a gift voucher, a letter of appreciation and even a social media mention. The newer generation would probably feel happier by sharing their appreciation and showcasing it to the world.

Acknowledge employees' wellness achievements publicly, such as during team meetings or through company-wide announcements. Highlight their efforts and the positive impact they've had on themselves and their colleagues. Take the time to provide personalised recognition to employees for their specific wellness accomplishments. This could include sending a handwritten note, an email expressing appreciation, or having a one-on-one conversation to commend their efforts.

Measuring and evaluating can be done in multiple aspects, post eval surveys, group zooms, seeing reductions in workers' comp claims, etc. The most important thing is to set your goals and expectations before installation so you know what you're trying to hit.

Measuring and evaluating the impact of employee recognition and rewards on wellness programs is crucial. Use diverse tools like surveys, data metrics, and feedback for comprehensive insights. Conduct surveys such as organizational culture and climate, employee satisfaction, and wellness program evaluations to gauge employee sentiment. Track participation and retention rates, health outcomes, and cost savings for quantitative analysis. These evaluations help refine your recognition strategy, ensuring it remains effective and meaningful. Sharing successes based on these metrics can boost morale and celebrate the program's achievements. This approach ensures your wellness initiatives are not just well-intentioned, but also impactful.

When measuring and evaluating employees' wellness achievements and contributions, you can adopt a structured approach to ensure a fair and meaningful recognition and reward system. Define clear, measurable criteria for wellness achievements. This could include participation in wellness programmes, progress in fitness goals, or improvements in mental health and stress management.

To build a positive wellness culture, involve and empower employees in recognition. Seek their input on what and how they want recognition. Encourage peer nominations, provide tools for goal tracking, and establish a wellness committee. Fostering gratitude and appreciation creates engagement, a sense of community, and belonging.

Before starting send out group wide survey. During installation make sure everyone knows and has ample opportunity to join. In the middle of the program(6 months in) do another survey asking what they like and don't like. Find out what needs to be changed and improved on in the future.

Your team need autonomy to be able to excel. Give them opportunities to input on strategy, their own growth and development, the organisation, socials and culture.

To create a supportive wellness culture in your organization, it's essential to involve and empower your employees in the recognition and rewards process. Encourage open conversations about mental health and well-being. This not only helps employees manage their own wellness but also fosters empathy and support among peers. Keep staff informed about organizational changes, initiatives, and goals. This transparency builds trust and aligns everyone towards a shared purpose. By making employees feel informed and involved in decision-making, you reduce confusion and stress, creating a more cohesive and supportive work environment. This approach ultimately strengthens the wellness program, promoting a sense of community and belonging.

Fostering a positive wellness culture is all about getting your team invested! Involve them in creating the recognition and rewards system from square one. Survey what wellness accomplishments they value most and how they'd like to be celebrated - silly costume parties, shout-outs in meetings, extra vacation days? Let their voices speak. Empower employees to nominate coworkers going above and beyond, spreading that good energy. Supply tools to easily share wins and goals with the group. Maybe form a wellness committee where different department reps can craft fun activities and incentives. An ownership mentality sparks when people feel heard and appreciated for their efforts.

You need to understand your budget, time horizon, goals all before installing it'll save a lot of headache and worry down the road.

Maybe an unpopular opinion. Offer wellness options, that are attractive enough so that people don't need rewards to adopt. It is really that simple!

This is going to sound simple. But before doing this process. Be sure to: 1. Ask permission. 2. Understand the strategy 3. Get clear on the long-term plan. Also ensure that it: A. Aligns with a C-suite goals. B. You have allocated money. And there are no privacy violations. Assuming that's all good. 1. Ask people how they want to be recognized. 2. Tailor your plan based on that feedback. Please don't assume. Have an idea but get feedback. Understand what behavior will be celebrated. And ensuring that equity is at the center. Which means that rewards are accessible and inclusive.

Celebrate employees' wellness milestones, such as completing a marathon or achieving a personal health goal, with small celebrations or tokens of appreciation.

Have you created a wellness committee? Getting more people involved lightens the load and creates new ideas for programming. Have a budget. Don't start a wellness program without a strong budget to maintain for at least 3 years. Results won't happen overnight.