4 sure-fire tips to make your wellness program work

BCBSRI’s Wellness Premium Reward helps small businesses earn up to 8% back on their annual medical premium based on employees’ wellness activities. 

Last year, AVTECH Software in Warren, RI, earned over $28,000 through the program—with 100% employee participation. Here are their top 4 tips for making wellness work.

1. Explain the why

AVTECH Software manufactures Room Alert™ environment monitoring solutions to protect organizations against unexpected damage and downtime. They protect their team by covering all of the health insurance premium for employees and their dependents. It’s a core component of the company culture, says Chief Executive Officer Rick Grundy, and helps differentiate the business in a highly competitive job market. But with rising healthcare costs, maintaining this benefit isn’t easy. 

That’s where Wellness Premium Reward comes in. 

“Wellness Premium Reward helps us offset costs so we can continue to offer this level of healthcare coverage,” Rick explains. 

The company earned nearly $6,000 with the program in 2019, their first year. Post-pandemic, they set their sights on reaching their maximum possible payout. So, AVTECH explained to their employees why their support was crucial to reaching their goal—and how it would benefit the entire team. That was all the motivation their group needed.

2. Make it easy

The first step is registration. AVTECH introduced the program (which runs on the Virgin Pulse platform) during an open enrollment meeting. They demonstrated the registration process at that time and similarly encourage registration during new hire onboarding.

3. Lead by example

If you want your program to succeed, you need to trust and inspire, says Director of People Operations Dino Aguiar. “You can’t command and control,” he adds.

For his part, Dino was the company’s top points earner last year. Dino wears his fitness tracker around the clock, participates in company challenges, and shared a video highlighting all the creative ways he earns points at home. 

If video isn’t your style, that’s fine. Just don’t sit on the sidelines and expect your team to take you over the finish line.

4. Make it fun

Understand what motivates, engages, and inspires employees (and management) and then integrate that into every aspect of your program, Dino recommends. A few ideas:

• Award quarterly gift cards to top points earners 
• Create a company leaderboard (and make sure you’re on it)
• Encourage employees to create teams and devise their own challenges
• Promote company-wide events like weekend step-a-thons

Benefits beyond earnings 

As important as the 2023 payout was to their business, the team at AVTECH knows the benefits go beyond dollars earned. Wellness programs can help improve health and well-being, lower stress levels, and reduce absenteeism. They can also build camaraderie and strengthen teams. Everyone wins.

To learn how Wellness Premium Reward could support your business, contact your broker or BCBSRI account representative.