While traditional wellness programs are firmly embedded in
corporate culture, a couple articles reminded me there are still a lot of innovative
ideas for supercharging health in the workplace:
1) The Wall Street Journal spotlighted the gamefication of wellness
program from companies such as UHG, Humana, and Aetna. As I’ve discussed in the past, the ability to
quantify and track progress to a goal, while wrapping in social communities, can
make fitness fun.
However, I’m still not convinced these are good investments. First, as the article states, the research on
these games is thin. While anecdotes suggest they
are successful, we can’t say with certainty if they drive better behavior,
especially for people who need it most and may not be participating.
What I find more challenging is the incentive structure. While a lot of people participate to improve
their health, others are drawn in by the giveaways and prizes. Arguably, the bigger the incentive, the more
people who will participate, which is how employers will generate the most savings. But a bigger prize also means more people may
try to game the system (most of these programs are self-reported) or be less
than honest about their progress. The
article mentions some programs require special equipment (e.g., a pedometer),
but that may dissuade employees, especially those on the fringes, from
participating.
I’d be interested to see a business case comparing the value
of the prize to the number of people participating and their average health improvements. I would be curious to see if there is some prize
level that encourages so many people to participate that their benefits, no
matter how small, outweigh the costs of others trying to outwit the system.
2) Another article via PSFK highlighted a meeting table withbicycle pedals attached, allowing employees to exercise and generate
electricity. Similar to the hotel concept I previously discussed, I love this idea for a few reasons.
First, it brings fitness into the everyday work environment,
but is less awkward than some solutions (e.g., standing treadmill desks), and
offers the benefits to a wider range of employees. Second, it brings a little green energy into
the office and encourages environmental conservation. Finally, from a more practical standpoint, it
can cut down on meeting times, which has its own benefits for employees. In fact, I’ve heard of one other company that
has been successful by having only standing tables in meeting rooms.
Sure, there are some practical concerns to implementing
these bikes (e.g., price, worker buy-in, hygiene), but I could see employees of
all shapes and sizes using this for the novelty and health benefits.
