Fitness Incentive Program Ideas

Corporate fitness programs not only build camaraderie and morale, they can improve company bottom lines considerably. Improved worker health results in lower absenteeism, improved productivity, decreased health care costs and fewer lawsuits, according to the Wellness Council of America. Incentives and contests can help your company increase employee participation in wellness programs.

Benefits

A corporate fitness program improves employee health in several ways. Workers lose weight, reduce stress, lower blood pressure and sleep better. All of these can reduce sick days, doctor visit and workplace injuries. For example, lower-back injuries cause employees to miss 100 million work days annually, according to the Wellness Council of America. The DuPont corporation decreased disability days at its Tennessee plant by 14 percent after instituting a wellness program, saving almost $120,000 annually.

Motivation

While employee education is an important part of any corporate wellness program, a fitness incentive program motivates employees to participate. Holding a team competition or offering cash or other prizes can create a buzz throughout your workplace and get more employees participating.

Team Competitions

One way to increase fitness program participation is to create a team contest. You can draw names at random to create teams, pit management against staff, place workers from different departments on teams to create more interaction or have different offices face off against each other.

Weight-loss Challenge

Weight loss is one aspect of fitness that concerns or interests many people. Create a weight-loss challenge as either an individual contest or team competition. You can award a prize or prizes based on total number of pounds lost or percentage of individual or team weight lost.

Fitness Challenge

If you don't want to focus on weight loss only, have a broader fitness competition. Track total number of verifiable hours participants exercised during the competition period, how much each person or team lowered their cholesterol or a fitness challenge, with participants or teams competing in tests such as number of sit-ups and push-ups, minutes on a treadmill or jumping rope, timed laps swum or other measurements. Work with a fitness professional and your insurance company to create a test that is safe for all participants.

Incentives

You can use a variety of incentives to motivate employees to participate in a fitness program. You can award cash prizes, trips, gift certificates, extra vacation days or other tangible rewards. You can add prestige with winners names on plaques displayed at headquarters, a mention in the company newsletter and press releases sent to local papers. With team events, the winning team might get to name the charity that receives a donation from the company. Whenever you award prizes, make sure the rules are clear, the judging criteria are objective and that all employees are eligible -- if you set up a contest for one department or employees with more than one year's service, you may create ill will among other employees.

Originally published by www.livestrong.com