What Drives Employee Engagement?

A small percentage of employees account for the majority of a health plan's total cost. 

It's imperative to move these high-cost, high-risk members into a lower-risk category.  Wellness programs have been introduced into the marketplace as a potential way to curb costs; however, some report minimal success after a failure to ignite participation from this unhealthy subset.  

In most cases, the healthy population is more inclined to participate as they are being rewarded for behaviors they most likely have adopted already.  Members of the unhealthy subset must be reached through clearly defined incentives that matter to them.  

How do you determine which incentive strategy will yield the best results for your organization?

Consider what matters most to your employeesEmployees may be more motivated to participate if rewards are in the form of premium discounts or penalties, or if they receive additional cash prizes or extra vacation time.

We have found that one-size-fits-all incentive programs fail to spark action among the most crucial population subset, the members who are driving up costs. It is helpful to go directly to the end user to gauge interest in certain incentive options by using tools such as employee surveys or focus groups to drive employee engagement.

Take into account government regulationsIf you're working with a wellness vendor, you should have an expert team keeping you informed on the latest compliance updates.  It's important to know what regulations are changing under the Affordable Care Act and how it can affect your incentive structure. Most recently, regulations have mandated that employers may incentivize wellness program participation with up to 30 percent of the total cost of coverage.  Incentives may not exceed this amount. Stay tuned to our Compliance Updates feed for the latest regulation updates.

Have a clear strategy

Once you have determined the incentive structure, it's time to put it into action.  You'll need a wellness vendor that can stratify risk from highest to lowest at the member level, allowing you and the vendor to work together to identify who will benefit the most from outreach. Providing a strong incentive structure to those who are at the highest risk is essential to gauging return.  

Measure Results

Measuring program participation and activity through a cloud-based system relieves your Human Resources of manual tracking.  If you decided to include premium differentials in your incentive strategy, make sure that your vendor supports an automated process that makes it easy to deliver these rewards to your members.

It's important to note again that one approach to wellness incentives won't work for all organizations.  Take inventory of what matters most to your employees, check your compliance with government regulations and have a plan to put your program in action.

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