Incentive - August 2008 - (Page 12) IN THE NEWS continued from page 8 offered in smoking cessation programs ranged from $5 to $600 and those in weight management programs went from a low of $5 to a high of $500. The average value of incentives per person per year ranged between $100 and $300, with an overall average of $192 per person per year. The use of gift cards in these programs seems to be on the rise, with the study showing their use jumping from 17 percent in 2007 to 28 percent in 2008, going from the fourth-highest reward choice to the numberone spot. Merchandise and cash/bonus awards remained steady, with premium reductions seeing a dramatic 15 percent drop between the two years. Dermer emphasizes that the use of incentives has also expanded in the types of healthy behaviors they are being used to reward. Companies that a year or two ago were using incentives to motivate workers to fill out a health-risk assessment, are now often using them to encourage preventative screenings, disease management and other measures, in addition to the risk assessment questionnaire, says Dermer. Incentive’s own parent company, Nielsen Business Media, is among those companies, providing an award redeemable for a $50 gift card from a variety of retailers for completing an assessment survey, and another $50 gift card after participating in a follow-up program. The study reflects this expan- sion, showing that while “participation” in a wellness program is the top behavior rewarded with incentives, almost 40 percent of responding companies award incentives for “completing a program,” and such behaviors as “maintaining outcomes” and “achieving goals after program” are strongly represented as well. According to Dermer, the rise in incentives can be seen as a corrective to the underwhelming response from many employees to wellness programs that many employers began providing their workers a few years ago. “Back in 2005 and 2006, employers believed that if they built great health programs, people would come,” says Dermer. “They came back to find that, generally speaking, programs without incentives will oftentimes have something like 10 percent participation. There’s just more of a realization now that incentives are a critical component to rolling out health programs.” With employers not only having to pay for workers’ regular health care costs, but also for the additional in-house services that are quickly becoming the norm at major companies, incentives are being seen as a way to ensure that employees are making these efforts worthwhile. Dermer explains that “incentives, unlike other health tools—like building a gym, for example—have a guaranteed return-on-investment just by their very nature.” The Incentive Editorial Advisory Board • Ira Almeas, President, Impact Incentives and Meetings • Bill Boyd, President and CEO, Sunbelt Motivation and Travel • Adrienne Forrest, Assistant Vice President, Special Markets, Bulova Corp. • Karen Eglitis, Unit Business Manager, Premium & Incentive, Bose Corp. • Terry Markwart, Director & Assistant General Mgr. of U.S. Sales, Canon USA • Steve Lowe, Director of Sales, Harrah’s & Harveys Lake Tahoe • Rodger Stotz, Vice President, Managing Consultant, Maritz Incentives • Jon Von Rentzell, Vice President, Recognition and Rewards, Carlson Marketing • Joe Zanone, Senior Vice President, Movado Group Inc. • Gail Fitzgerald, Vice President Hotel Sales & Marketing, CityCenter Las Vegas • Chris Flatt, Executive Vice President Hotel Sales & Marketing, Wynn Las Vegas • Cindy Mielke, Manager, National Accounts, Marketing Innovators • Anne Platt, Director, Gift Card Services, Best Buy • Dick Gaeta, President, Premier Incentives • Art Masarky, Senior Director, Human Resources, Heineken, USA • Dennis O. Borst, President and COO, Patriot Marketing Group • Patrick Sullivan, President, PRA Destination Management New York • Michael Arkes, President and CEO, Hinda Incentives Do you recognize this destination? E-mail jennifer.juergens @nielsen.com with your answer, and be entered into a drawing for a $50 American Express gift card. Visit www.incetivemag .com/wherearewe for the full-size photo. Last month’s picture featured the Florida town of Celebration. The winner was Guillermo Gutierrez of Florida First Capital Finance Corporation 12 | Incentive | August 2008 | incentivemag.com http://www.incetivemag.com/wherearewe http://www.incetivemag.com/wherearewe http://incentivemag.com
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