94% Assessment Completion. 92% Engagement. (In 4 weeks!) Oh, and 5x ROI...
Two recent client deployments surprised us.
First, some background: our service combines a “high-performance person” assessment with self-improvement tools, programs and services. The path to “high-performance” requires engaging people in the things that make them happier, healthier (and yes, cheaper to insure) and more productive. It seems simple, right?
Turns out, it’s not. But in our last two deployments, we have achieved 94% and 91% assessment completion in the first 4 weeks of deployment! For comparison, check to see what you got from your Health Plan’s Health Risk Assessment last year. 10 percent? 20? Maybe 25?
More importantly, we have achieved even higher numbers (92% and 96%) for the ongoing use of our behavior change tools. (At least 4 weeks’ worth, anyway). These include things like:
• Challenging a co-worker to a goal
• Tracking goals (of your choosing)
• Participating in community forums
• Completing a blood screening
• Working with a health or condition-management coach
• Walking for charity
Employees earn points for any or all of these, depending on how we set up your company’s incentive program. Points buy anything from that ego-snack feeling you get when you hit the high-score on Ms. Pac-Man (mine is 343,290, posted in 1991), to cash, to reimbursements for wellness expenses like bikes or gym memberships, to up to 20% off your insurance premiums. (The latter is what we do at Limeade, and for me, this equates to $171 per month in my pocket. For the average US employee, a 20% premium is $160 per month). And no, I’m not counting Limeade as one of the two companies – unlike us, these employers each have hundreds of employees.
The 5x ROI, you ask? We will dig deeper into the truths and fallacies of long-term Return on Investment soon. But in a strictly tactical, short-term sense, the 6% of people not earning their incentives will pay for the cost of the Limeade service 5 times over. It’s like saying: if you want free healthcare, let’s engage in some wellness. If not, it’s a free country. And your healthcare will still be 80% free. It shows how wellness can facilitate the introduction of a cost-saving plan design.
But it’s not all about incentives. We attribute this remarkable engagement to a different way of thinking. We have a more scientific view – but the unscientific one is a little simpler to digest. It’s something like this:
In other words, attention to the details that matter can add up to some exceptionally positive outcomes. With this general approach, we are starting to find the right incentive structures, viral features and communication strategies to maximize engagement with different employers of all stripes.
One client, a mid-size employer in the hospitality industry, recently launched their Limeade service with a “health premium discount” incentive. Within a month, 96% were setting and tracking goals, challenging their peers, and participating in goal-directed community forums online.
And here’s the cool part: The employees are hosts, servers, cooks and dishwashers, with a sprinkling of management. For the most part, they don’t have computers at work. That means they aren’t sitting in cube farms gazing at computer screens all day. (Sounds nice). They have about 20 locations in 5 states. We hear this all the time in our sales meetings: “It may work for high-tech companies, but not for warehouse workers.” It’s simply not true.
An employee’s take (spell-checked but otherwise unedited):
The restaurant business is a crazy business for anyone, whether you have family or not. But again I view things differently in that I came to them for a job, they hired me and I have agreed to the terms by continuing to stay on…
If I truly disagree with something then I run it through my chain of command with why and with solutions.
As far as the Limeade, at first I was a bit put off too but since following through with it, I personally have found it as a great motivation to care for myself. Since we started it I have been eating better and exercising more regularly. Granted money always plays a role in any company making any changes but looking at this in a positive manner, this makes you pay attention to your health & learning to take better care of yourself. I don't take that as a company that doesn't care but exactly the opposite.
The points that we have to build are only 125 by September, that doesn't seem very demanding to me, plus these chats give me the opportunity to see different viewpoints and this helps me to see what changes I can make for myself and our team.
Another client, a white- and blue-collar electrical contracting firm, chose a wellness reimbursement, with pre-set quarterly promotions. Their strategy isn’t about singling out the costly-to-ensure – it is about building a culture of performance. And even though incentives won’t affect their insurance costs at all in the short term –they achieved 91% assessment completion and 92% post-assessment engagement in 4 weeks.
And 91% completed a blood screening as well.
I guess the point is this. Don’t mail it in with an “if we build it, they will come” approach. Don’t think getting the most eager 15% to complete a once-a-year survey makes a dent. Launch a program that ties the outcomes you care about to your values and actions. Simply practice what you preach, and you’ll profit.