More than a third of U.S. companies either offer or plan to start offering financial incentives for employees to lose weight. The only problem: Those types of programs rarely have a lasting impact.
A large study by Cornell University set out to determine the effect of financial incentives on weight loss programs and found that they usually don’t work — at least not for very long.
It looked at seven employer programs over an extended period of time and found that the average weight loss per participant in most was just over a pound. Employees will shed weight early on to earn the initial payouts and gain most of it back later.
A reasonable alternative
What can companies do to put a bigger, more permanent dent in employees’ waistlines? Consider asking employees to put their money where their mouths are — by setting up a refundable bond system.
Here’s how it works: Employees volunteer to sign an agreement that they’ll pay a designated amount of money if they fail to lose a certain amount of weight by a set date.
Sure, this type of setup may cut down on the number of people who decide to join — but it’s an attractive proposition for those who are really serious about losing weight.
Does it work? The companies in the Cornell study that offered refundable bond options achieved an average weight loss per participant of nearly four pounds.
Psychologists say people are more motivated by the thought of losing their own money than winning somebody else’s.
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