Healthier workers are those not made ill by their job
Why pay employees to exercise when you can threaten them? That is the somewhat menacingconclusion some people have drawn from a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicinelast week.The researchers challenged a few hundred people to take 7,000 steps a day and offereddifferent incentives to different groups. They discovered that people were much moremotivated by the fear of losing money than the hope of earning some.For the $6bn corporate “wellness” industry — which aims to cajole employees into beinghealthier — the implication seems to be clear. Employers should put down carrots and startbrandishing sticks.The study hit a nerve with me because last year I strapped on an array of gadgets to allow mybosses to track my exercise, heart rate and sleep patterns for a week. Companies were givingthese devices to employees as part of their wellness initiatives and I wanted to try one.
In the course of that week, I think I figured out the answer to the question of how best toincentivise employees to exercise more. It is not to bother at all.
Admittedly, it is hard to argue with the wellness industry’s sales pitch that a healthier workforceis more productive and cheaper (if you are on the hook for employee healthcare costs, thatis). The question is how you go about it.
Wellness programmes that encourage employees to exercise more, eat better food and giveup smoking are popular but the hard research, such as it is, suggests that these “lifestyleinterventions” are the least effective part of any strategy. A seven-year study of PepsiCo’sprogramme concluded that the company did reap lower healthcare costs but all the savingscame from the “disease management” part of the programme: the bit that helped people withexisting problems such as diabetes.There is also the risk of unintended consequences. When I was wearing my gadgets I felt Iwould be judged not just on what I did at work, but on what I did in my free time too. Onenight I walked around the block at 11pm because I was worried my “step count” was too low.My flatmate thought I was slightly unhinged.
I wasn’t the only one, it turns out. When researchers André Spicer and Carl Cederströminvestigated the effects of corporate wellness programmes, they found they often ate intoemployees’ free time and made them anxious.
Stress and anxiety are the health risks you can miss if you are too focused on issues likefitness. A friend of mine used to work at a big management consultancy where he did longhours under a lot of pressure.As a coping strategy, he started going to the gym late at night. He said it was the only time hefelt he had any control over his life. He was doing so much exercise he would have won a goldstar in most wellness programmes but in fact he was burning out.
This is what irks me about initiatives that simply urge employees to run more and eat better.Such wellness programmes are based on the idea that your health affects your work but ignorethe fact the reverse can also be true.