Welcome to the holiday season!  We have arrived in that sweet spot between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day: weeks when most of us will add up to 3 pounds to our waistlines, often permanently.  (Between the mashed potatoes and the pumpkin pie, we get it!)  But before you see “elastic-waist pants” on your employees’ wish lists, think of this as an opportunity for managers and HR professionals to promote employee wellness programs.  With everyone’s mind on their waistline, there’s no better time to devise new ideas to fight the battle of the bulge and to get employees health-conscious for the new year.

These ideas don’t have to be expensive or grandiose, although formal employee wellness programs have been shown to increase employee loyalty, attendance, and productivity, and ultimately lower overall costs.  An informal program like a weight-loss challenge offers many of the same benefits of a large-scale program, and is also a fun and motivating morale-builder.  You’ll be amazed how the pounds will come off when a little friendly competition is involved.  You can structure the challenge so that employees receive incentives for reaching their goals and are held accountable for their progress, two factors proven to motivate weight loss.  Fortunately, it’s easy to work these criteria into a department-wide or company-wide wellness challenge.

A tried-and-true approach to incentive is to award a prize to the employee or the department that loses the highest percentage of body weight over the course of the challenge.  The prizes don’t have to break the budget, and can be as simple as a gift card or a pizza party.  Trust us—the real drive comes from people’s competitive spirit.  Prizes can also be given to individuals or groups for reaching incremental weight-loss goals of 5 pounds, 10 pounds, 20 pounds . . . and don’t forget to recognize consistent weekly weight loss.

Accountability can be created with a large and colorful chart that displays everyone’s progress.  Starting weights can be included at each employee’s discretion.  (It’s not necessary to show starting weights because progress is measured in percentage of weight lost, but starting weight must be disclosed to the person calculating the weight loss.)  This method creates accountability because participants can monitor each other’s progress, for better or worse.  It also builds incentive for participants to post good numbers and earn praise or bragging rights.

By wrapping incentive and accountability into a good-natured weight-loss challenge, employees will beat that holiday bulge in no time!  And just think—if a small, informal program can bring this much good, what good could a large-scale employee wellness program do?

Wondering if an employee wellness program is right for your business?  We at YES! Your Human Resources Solution can help you decide.  Our professional Human Resources consultants will examine your employee benefits and recognition programs and suggest ways to optimize them for your unique workforce.  Our recommendations can start you on the road to healthier and happier employees, and a more productive business.

Let us help you optimize your employee benefits!  For more information about YES! Your Human Resources Solution, Orange County’s premier HR consulting firm, visit our website or contact us for a free consultation.