Human resource employees have a daunting job; they must keep current, potential and former employees happy. Keeping a balance and affectively communicating with all employees at a company, being patient with each employee’s different personality and providing benefits that cater to all takes a creative, resourceful and intelligent human resource department.

One of the human resource department’s most important tasks is maintaining a happy and healthy employee base. Happy and healthy employees are crucial for all businesses. When employees are unhappy with how they are treated at work or if they feel their work goes unrecognized, they are not as productive, which hurts the company. Just as an employees’ attitude is important, so is their health. If an employee is too stressed and pressed for time, they will end up falling ill, which also hurts business. A Human resource department can prevent both of these things by having an employee incentive and an employee wellness program.

An employee incentive program revolves around recognizing an employee’s work, their birthday or other accomplishments. An employee incentive program revolves around giving an employee something for their work. An employee wellness program encourages and rewards employees who adapt and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Although each program is similar, both are essential to any company.

Employee incentive programs need not be complicated to be effective; they merely need to hit on a few key subjects:

- Give incentives to all potential, former and current employees
- Give products or incentives that stand out and will be remembered
- Have a built in recruitment program revolving around employee referrals
- Create interesting internal campaigns
- Give employees gifts for their accomplishments

- Source: Advertising Specialty Institute article “Apply Within” form Advantages, by Christopher Hosford

Most incentives listed above revolve around the quality or quantity of work an employee does. This is good, but there are other ways to help employees become the best they can possibly be. This is where the second type of incentive program comes into play; a health and wellness program.

A health and wellness program typically centers around keeping employees attune to what is considered a healthy lifestyle in order to keep healthcare costs down and employees healthy.

In HR Management, the article, “Rethinking Rewards – Using Incentives to Improve Wellness Program Results” by Paul Terry, Ph.D., of StayWell Health Management, “A common refrain in health care reform is that containing health care costs will require more shared responsibility from consumers. It’s reasonable to anticipate that as employees bear more of the financial costs of unhealthy choices, the more motivated they will be to stay well.”

According to StayWell research, “if employee health is not well managed, an employer can see significant increases in health care claims costs and insurance premiums, not to mention feeling the effects of absenteeism and lost productivity.”

Health and Wellness programs consist of myriad of options. They can include on sight doctor visits, gym memberships, smoking cessation courses and exercise and healthy eating programs.

Employee incentive and health and wellness programs are important inclusions to any business. Make you HR job easier by considering adding these programs to your company to get stellar results. Remember, a happy employee base equates to a successful company.