MENUMENU
  • FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR

  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

HR Morning

MENUMENU
  • FREE RESOURCES
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • HR DEEP DIVES
        • Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for HR Professionals
          Employment Law
          Labor Law Posting Requirements: Everything You Need to Know
          Recruiting
          businesswoman selecting future employees on digital interfaces
          Recruiting Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
          Performance Management
          vector image of young female making star rating
          Performance Review Resources
          Employment Law
          Understanding Equal Employment Opportunity and the EEOC
          Recruiting
          Onboarding Resources for HR & Hiring Managers
  • CORONAVIRUS & HR
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • Performance Management
  • HR Technology
  • More
    • Leadership & Strategy
    • Compensation
    • Staff Administration
    • Policy & Procedures
    • Wellness
    • Staff Departure
    • Employee Services
    • Work Location
    • HR Career & Self-Care
    • Health Care
    • Retirement Plans

Gambling? A better way to kick-start wellness

Christian Schappel
by Christian Schappel
January 11, 2012
2 minute read
  • SHARE ON

Getting health plan participants to take the first step toward improving their health is often a daunting task for plan sponsors. Standard financial incentives don’t always work. But a new study has found another carrot that may help.
What is it? Encouraging employees to channel their inner gambler.
Where it all begins
A key first step in the implementation of many wellness programs is getting employees to complete health risk assessments (HRAs).
The problem: Without an incentive, employees won’t take them. Cutting employees a check helps, but it’s often not enough.
But a recent study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion suggests employers take another path: Create group lotteries.
A breakdown of the study reported by the Health Behavior News Service, part of
the Center for Advancing Health, revealed that enrolling HRA participants into a lottery for a chance to win a large cash prize worked better than offering every participant a smaller — but guaranteed — payout.
The study split nearly 1,300 employees from the same company into three groups:

  1. In the first group, $25 was offered to everyone who completed an HRA.
  2. Each employee in the second group was offered $25 cash and a $25 grocery gift card for completing an HRA, and
  3. Employees in the third group were broken into lottery teams of four to eight people. Each week, a lottery team would be selected at random and each team member from the selected group who filled out an HRA would win $100. And if 80% of the team completed an HRA, the prize increased to $125.

Note: The cumulative cost of the incentives offered to the second and third groups was the same.
Result:

  • 40% of group one — the cash-only group — completed an HRA
  • 42% of group two completed an HRA, and
  • 65% of group three — the lottery group — completed an HRA.

Source: “Team Lotteries Motivate Employees to Participate in Wellness Programs,” by Katherine Kahn, Health Behavior News Service, 1/5/11.

Get the latest from HRMorning in your inbox PLUS immediately access 10 FREE HR guides.

I WANT MY FREE GUIDES

Keep Up To Date with the Latest HR News

With HRMorning arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on labor laws, benefits, retention and onboarding strategies.

Sign up for a free HRMorning membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
HR Morning Logo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linked In
  • ABOUT HRMORNING
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Employment Law
  • Benefits
  • Recruiting
  • Talent Management
  • HR Technology
  • Performance Management
  • Leadership & Strategy
  • Compensation & Payroll
  • Policy & Culture
  • Staff Administration
  • Wellness & Safety
  • Staff Departure
  • Employee Services
  • Work Location
  • HR Career & Self-Care

HRMorning, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest HR and employment law news for HR professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, HRMorning delivers actionable insights, helping HR execs understand what HR trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

During your free trial, you can cancel at any time with a single click on your “Account” page.  It’s that easy.

Why do we need your credit card for a free trial?

We ask for your credit card to allow your subscription to continue should you decide to keep your membership beyond the free trial period.  This prevents any interruption of content access.

Your card will not be charged at any point during your 21 day free trial
and you may cancel at any time during your free trial.

preloader