With experience from thousands of wellbeing projects, we at HeiaHeia have identified two straightforward and almost bomb-proof concepts for using a digital wellbeing platform: "wellbeing challenges" and "wellbeing incentive programs". Challenges were covered in the previous article, so now we will focus on wellbeing incentive programs.
Wellbeing incentive programs: motivation to stay active
What is it? wellbeing incentive program is typically an ongoing model of wellbeing promotion in which participants collect exercise or other wellness activities in order to achieve or maintain a target level of activity. Typically, the goal is to encourage sustained activity in ways that the individual enjoys. Participants can join at any time, unlike a challenge, which is usually time-limited.
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Why? |
An incentive program is an excellent way to encourage continued activity. Lasting lifestyle changes have a cumulative effect on wellbeing. |
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What? |
Activity can mean exercise, steps or small wellbeing actions that can be defined separately. |
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Who? |
The whole work community, i.e. anyone, regardless of their starting level. |
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When? |
An incentive program is particularly suitable for ongoing initiatives, so there is no specific timetable. Of course, the activity can be encouraged through different theme weeks, competitions or other challenges. Monitoring and rewarding can be done, for example, on a quarterly basis. |
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Where? |
An activity journal can be kept wherever you are thanks to its digital implementation, and it also works in international, multi-site, and remote working organizations |
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How? |
The logic can be based on a number of steps, exercise or points agreed by the work community - or, for example, on reaching a level recommended by experts. The system is based on an easy-to-use application, which is also ideal for importing information from smart devices (watches, wearables, etc.). |
Why incentive programs work
A successful wellbeing incentive program allows individuals to choose how and when to participate. This keeps the threshold for participation very low. Rewards can be distributed, for example, on a quarterly basis, which encourages both participation and staying active. Some of our customers give extra days off as a reward.
On an individual level, keeping a diary is a very effective way of monitoring one's progress, which is a significant motivating factor. HeiaHeia's community-based features also bring the powerful element of peer support to motivation.
Case examples
CGI, Cramo, Sony, and NHK among others have all implemented excellent wellbeing incentive programs - you can find customer testimonials on our blog behind the links.
The chart below depicts the impact of a program can have even over several years. These are three customers who are making use of a wellbeing incentive program. We have indexed the initial user count of each customer to a baseline value of 100, to facilitate the comparison of their development over time. The graphs show that participation has remained very stable over the last three years.
Do you want to hear how your workplace could implement a wellbeing or physical activity program that motivates employees of all ages and starting levels to get involved? Contact us.
