Imagine you’re reaching for the last glazed doughnut, when someone says they will give you $20 to put it down. Would you find yourself eating the doughnut or opting for the money? Hopefully, the money would be enough of an incentive to decline the doughnut. Incentives motivate some employees to engage in healthier behaviors that yield weight improvement, and are an excellent way to keep employees proactive on their path to a healthier lifestyle. If your office is considering implementing a corporate weight loss program, a great way to ensure a more successful turnout is to offer an incentive for adopting a healthier lifestyle. For example, you can get paid to lose weight!
Of course, a monetary prize isn’t the only option for a corporate weight loss program. Paid time off and other prizes are also excellent motivational triggers that will encourage employees to engage in healthier habits. Incentives work by providing a prize that an employee will receive once the objective is met. With increased health improvements, one can earn a more valuable prize. Incentives are a way to motivate participants to reach the finish line and maintain their weight loss resolutions. Corporate weight loss programs tend to work better when weight loss incentives are up for grabs. They can even provide friendly competition within the company!
Corporate weight loss programs are an excellent way to motivate employees to finally learn healthier lifestyle habits. A few helpful tips on how to use incentives in a wellness program are as follows:
- Ask employees to pay a small fee for the contest. This will keep them invested and also contribute to the cash prize for the overall winner. Include smaller monetary prizes for the second and third place winners. The contest can also be split by gender, as men typically lose weight at a faster rate than women.
- Offer a free paid day off to all who lose a certain amount of weight. Consider offering this prize to those who have lost at least 5% of their body fat over the course of the contest. A small incentive can go a long way and keep participants active throughout the course of the contest.
- Keep the focus on the overall concept of a better and healthier lifestyle. It’s important that participants know the overall goal of the contest is to improve their well-being, and the incentives are simply there to honor their hard work.
There are many excellent ways to use incentives in a corporate weight loss challenge. But one thing is certain…incentives are excellent motivation boosters when used in a friendly and competitive corporate-sponsored weight loss program.
