Find the Right Types of Employee Rewards and Programs to Promote Well-Being

The burnout is real. Employees are feeling it as they face heavier workloads and see the lines blurring between work and personal time. Many people don’t believe that their employers recognize these burnout risks or support a culture that helps employees deal with them. By implementing the right types of employee rewards, however, employers can show how much they value their teams’ well-being.

READ MORE: Why Employee Rewards Programs Are Key for a Positive Workplace Culture

The Growing Challenge of Employee Well-Being

Before considering the types of employee rewards to use, employers should take the measure of their teams to figure out the issues that need to be addressed. Feelings of burnout and unhappiness have become a serious concern among employees, especially considering pandemic shifts toward remote work and increasing resignations. That means many teams are trying to do more work with fewer members. Here’s the proof:

• More than half of directors and managers say they will look for a new job in the next year, with burnout from the pandemic being one of the top three reasons why, according to Qualtrics.
• A separate Qualtrics study on employee experience trends found that only 60% of individual contributors rate their well-being favorably.
• Among U.S. employees of every generation, a larger percentage reported feeling burned out in February 2021 than in January 2020, before the pandemic, according to Statista. Generation X saw the biggest increase, from 40% to 54%.
• Burnout and fatigue worry remote and in-office employees equally, with 43% of each citing it as a concern, according to the Workforce Institute at UKG.

Wellness Programs Are a Win-Win

Looking out for your employees’ well-being is a smart strategy for both you and them. You can create a variety of different types of employee rewards and programs to promote habits that support physical, mental, and financial health, such as:

• Smoking cessation
• Biometric screenings
• Financial education
• Meditation classes
• Exercise
• Healthy eating

All these programs help your business objectives by increasing productivity, reducing absenteeism, boosting retention, and improving recruiting efforts. According to a 2021 Statista survey, U.S. employees overwhelmingly agreed that employers’ well-being programs:

• Make them feel better about their employer (84%).
• Make the company more attractive to potential employees (83%).
• Enhance or improve their overall employment experience (83%).
• Help them be as productive as possible (79%).
• Help them avoid getting sick (79%).
• Are one of the reasons they stay at their job (75%).

The Best Types of Employee Rewards for Wellness

To get employee well-being programs off the ground or ensure continued success of already established programs, offering incentives is key. And of course, when it comes to employee rewards, you can’t argue with the efficacy of gift cards. According to Fiserv’s 19th annual Prepaid Consumer Insights Survey, 74% of employees said they would enroll in a gift card incentive program to make healthy lifestyle changes. In addition, the percentage of those who said they have received a gift card as an employee reward or incentive nearly doubled since 2019.

Since gift cards are already part of many company programs, it’s easy to extend these types of employee rewards to wellness initiatives. However, make sure you’re tailoring the selection to reflect the goals of your program. Instead of gift cards for Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, or Papa John’s, choose rewards that will help your employees incorporate healthier habits. For example, consider gift cards for:

• Healthier restaurant options, such as Subway or Panera.
• Meal-kit delivery services, such as Hello Fresh and Home Chef.
• Activewear retailers, like Under Armour, Nike, and Columbia Sportswear.
• Sporting good retailers, such as REI.
• Pharmacies and health care retailers, like CVS.
• Grocery stores, including Safeway and Kroger.
• Retailers and services that provide relaxation and self-care, such as Spafinder and Bath & Body Works.

Other Ways to Incorporate Employee Rewards

Supporting employee well-being doesn’t end with wellness programs. It’s also important to incorporate rewards that help improve employees’ job satisfaction and happiness, which leads to better mental health overall. Don’t forget to include employee recognition and appreciation and promote work/life balance in your wellness strategy. Another area that rewards can help address is employee engagement, which is more difficult than ever thanks to remote and hybrid workplace models. With a combination of programs and employee rewards, you can make sure you keep your team happy, healthy, and productive.

BHN Rewards can help you streamline your programs with all types of employee rewards. Contact us or sign up for a free account to get started!

about the author

Hannah Prince

Hannah is a reformed journalist who has more than 15 years of experience and now focuses on content marketing for innovative tech companies.

Hannah is a reformed journalist who has more than 15 years of experience and now focuses on content marketing for innovative tech companies.