Your Monthly Check-Up: Work Wellness Programs, Incentives and Social Media

Wellness incentives and workplace health initiatives are all the rage right now, with more and more companies adopting wellness programs and offering incentives to employees who commit to embarking on a healthier lifestyle. Workforce.com writer Michelle V. Rafter covers this topic in her recent article, titled “Can Social Media Produce Wellness Results?” In the article, Rafter focuses on New Jersey’s Chilton’s Hospital, which, in March 2011, entered a countrywide fitness challenge after trying for years to get its employees to better monitor their health.

According to the article, employees formed teams of six in competition with other local businesses to see who could eat the healthiest, walk the most or lose the most weight. During the 100-day challenge, participants used a private, Facebook-like social network to share results, cheer each other on and get involved socially. As an incentive to participate, Chilton Hospital offered $150 to each member of the winning team and $500 to the employee who lost the most weight. But it wasn’t necessarily the money that was driving would-be participants to sign up. “People wanted to be on the winning team,” says Julie McGovern, Chilton’s VP of Administration and HR.

The argument can be made that it’s now easier and perhaps more fun to be a part of a work-related wellness challenge or health initiative that has a social networking aspect attached to it. People spend so much of their time on Facebook, Twitter and similar sites during the day anyway, why not appeal to this interest and turn their social networking time into something a bit more productive, not to mention good for helping keep employee health care costs down.

While it’s certainly not necessary to incorporate social media into your wellness program, it is a good way for participants to interact, share results and track their goals. And as more employees are bringing their smartphones to work, it becomes easier for participants to stay connected to games and social media either on their own or in conjunction with their company’s wellness program.

With regard to the Chilton Hospital 100-day challenge, the 336 participants use an online game platform to track losing a total of 1,230 pounds, eating an additional 8,918 servings of fruit and vegetables and putting in 1,274 extra days of exercise, according to McGovern. “It wasn’t just exercise and eating better,” she says, as quoted in Rafter’s article, “People made a commitment to stop smoking, take stress management classes and control ongoing disease.”

Some companies are already reaping the benefits of employing healthier workers in the form of lower healthcare costs and fewer medical claims. According to the article, Sprint Nextel Corp. estimates it saved $1.1 million through a companywide fitness challenge launched in 2011. Read the Workforce.com article here and get more ideas about how your employees can benefit from developing a wellness program.

PS: June is Great Outdoors Month! Why not get outside and enjoy the weather and the free exercise opportunities while they last? Plan a hike, fly a kite with your kids or bike your local riverfront or shoreline trail!

Merchandise Monday: Summer Party Games

Summer is officially here, as of this Wednesday, and it’s time to let the games begin – backyard party games, that is! Summer wouldn’t be summer without the casual outdoor barbecue, and no outdoor party is complete without backyard staples such as volleyball, horseshoes and “bags,” which has different nicknames depending on what stage of life you’re in.

The best part about these particular games is that the rules are few, and most of them can be played with one hand so you can use the other to hold your burger or beverage. It doesn’t matter if you’re good or not, because it’s all in fun. After all, it’s a party! You win just by showing up.

Park & Sun Sports® Rally Pro Toss Set

This combination set includes a bean bag and ring toss set for both indoor and outdoor use. Whether camping, playing in the backyard or living room, or tailgating before the big game, this set will provide hours of fun for the whole family. Easy to set up and featuring an angled base station, the set comes with everything you need to start playing right out of the box. Shake things up at your next barbecue or tailgate party when you bring out this fun set.

Park & Sun Sports® Spiker Flex Volleyball Net

This is the perfect addition to your summer barbecue. The Spiker Flex sport level volleyball net system is the most advanced, truly portable volleyball system. The set comes complete with 1.5” steel poles for durability, a Flex-Net adjustable torque system, 8” steel stakes, a pre-measured boundary with corner anchors, a cord winder, full-size equipment bag with zipper and carrying straps, an 18-panel machine-stitched volleyball and a hand pump. Get ready to have some real fun on the beach or in the backyard this summer when you round up your friends and family for a game.

Park & Sun Sports® Pro Horseshoe Set

Take your game to the next level with the Horseshoe Pro Set. This high-quality set is made with premium materials and includes four professional-style anodized horseshoes with chrome and black oxide finishes. The unique “saddle” style bag keeps your set protected and organized. It’s made of durable 600 denier material and features convenient access cutout, storage pockets and enclosure straps for score rods. Your next outdoor party will be a hit when you challenge your friends and family to this classic game.

Now that we’ve transported you into weekend mode, it’s time to get back to work. But remember these classic favorites at your next block party, family graduation or when you’re looking for a little friendly competition on a hot weekend afternoon. You’ll be outside, and you’ll have a good excuse to fire up the grill or crack open a beer. It doesn’t get any better than this on a summer day!

What’s your favorite party game? Do you have another tradition at your backyard barbecues? Talk to us in the “Comments” section below!

Merchandise Monday: Are You Beach-Ready? Part 2

Back in March, we posted a blog focused on fitness products in anticipation of the coming swimsuit season. And now that time has come. That double-edged sword of warm weather and extra winter pounds that make you not want to trade your sweaters for tank tops.

But don’t worry. We at Hinda have just the solution – actually three – to help you get back in shape and ready to strut your stuff on the beach or at the pool. The best part of these products is that you don’t even have to set your DVR while you hit the gym; you can do all the working out you (don’t) want right from the comfort of your own home.

Body-Solid® Best Fitness Vertical Knee Raise

Looking for a convenient and effective way to get in shape? Owning the best vertical knee raise is like having multiple workout stations in a single, lightweight piece of equipment. Ideal for cramped quarters because of its small footprint and lightweight design, this machine puts you in complete control of sculpting your abs, chest, back and arms. The freestanding vertical knee raise challenges you to use your own bodyweight to efficiently power your way through gut-slimming routines and muscle-defining exercises. No more excuses!

Body-Solid® PowerLine Ab Bench

The Leverage Ab Bench has a unique design that provides full range of motion abdominal resistance and increased abdominal contraction for quicker and more effective core training. The ab bench features a specially designed curved back pad that places the user into a deep pre-stretch position for a more intense abdominal contraction. From this position, the exercise motion ranges from 30 degrees back of center to 30 degrees forward of center, working the entire abdomen. The bench's extra-wide, sealed ball bearing pulley allows complete freedom of movement for oblique workouts as well. Sit back, relax and then get to work!

TV Gym™

It’s hard pulling yourself away from your favorite show to hit the gym. Now you don’t have to. TV Gym transforms any chair into a home gym. And with over 50 exercises to choose from, you’ll get a great workout and never get bored. TV Gym includes a dual 360-degree roller system with resistance adjuster and built-in backpack straps, two non-slip soft-grip ergonomic handles, two foot straps, two interchangeable power flexors, the Lose 10 Pounds in Three Weeks Diet Plan and an easy-to-follow workout instruction book. Never miss a workout – or your favorite show – again!

OK, now we’ve just given you two Merchandise Monday blog posts with great tools and tips to help you get in shape for the summer. We’ve even given you the easy options where you don’t even have to leave the house. If we made it any easier, we’d do the workouts for you. But since that’s not possible, we’re just going to suggest you check out some of these products and let us know what you think in the “Comments” section below!

Missing: Sales – Reward Offered

The case for non-cash rewards just keeps getting stronger. A new study called “Sales Performance Management 2012: How Best in Class Optimize the Front Line and Grow the Bottom Line” conducted by the Aberdeen Group and distributed by the Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) sheds some more light on the importance of recognition and rewards as part of the total compensation package. The top 20 percent of companies signify the “best in class.”

The key finding of this study is that organizations that provide non-cash recognition perform better, and best in class companies (21 percent) are more than twice as likely to provide this type of recognition as other companies (10 percent). Furthermore, organizations that provide non-cash rewards or recognition had an average year over year annual corporate revenue increase of 9.6 percent versus three percent for all others. Best in class companies also saw increases in revenue per sales FTE and team attainment of quote versus other companies that saw deceases in these areas.

“This study definitively shows organizations that implement non-cash reward and recognition programs outperform all other organizations in several major business indicators,” noted IRF Chief Research Officer Rodger Stotz in Premium Incentive Products magazine. “Perhaps the lesson to be learned from this analysis is that professional sales staffs respond to measureable rewards and recognition much like other employees, so it’s not surprising to find that companies using such programs post better results.”

Merchandise Monday: Fun for Kids!

We always use our “Merch Monday” column to talk about the great new products that have been added to Hinda’s assortment, and usually the products we focus on are geared more toward adults or groups. So today, we’d like to switch things up a bit and talk about three fun new products for kids only! After all, you can always redeem for gifts for your children, grandchildren or other youngsters in your life. In all honesty, though, you’ll probably get just as big of a kick out of these items as the kiddies do!

LunaTik® TikTok for iPod Nano®

Show some art school cool with the latest TikToks, inspired by the CMYK color model. Bright hues rock your wrist with some serious style. TikTok is a simple snap-in design that allows the user to quickly and securely snap the iPod Nano in and out of the wrist dock and transforms it into a modern, multi-functional timepiece. Show off your style and keep your tunes right at your fingertips.

Crayola® iMarker™ Stylus

Crayola ColorStudio™ HD helps young artists unlock limitless discovery and play on an iPad®, complete with pictures, color, animation, sound and music. The iMarker™ digital stylus is the key. Like a marker, crayon, pen and paintbrush in one, iMarker creates your favorite Crayola colors within the ColorStudio HD App. iMarker safely interacts with iPad's MultiTouch display, allowing the ColorStudio HD app to differentiate between the child’s input (finger taps, swipes, etc.) and the input from iMarker automatically.

With pictures, animations, sound effects and music, ColorStudio HD always has something new to discover and color. And new pictures are available through ongoing updates automatically when you sync your iPad. Parents can share the work their children (or themselves) have created by printing it or through e-mail and Facebook.

Jelly Belly™ Party Pack

Looking for a way to entertain your kids during the hot summer months? This kit contains everything you need for an ice treats party at home!  The kit includes a Jelly Belly Electric Ice Shaver, Jelly Belly Flute Pops Mold, 20 cone cups and straws and 16 servings each of Jelly Belly Berry Blue and Very Cherry Premium Flavor Syrups. Cool off this summer with this sweet treat from Jelly Belly.

Kids always need new and different ways to stay entertained, especially during those long, long breaks from school. And since there’s only so much summer reading they can handle in a day, why not pick up one of these fun options and help them stay focused and out of trouble? Your kids will be happy to have a new toy to brag about to their friends, and you’ll be Super[InsertRelationshipToChild].

And you’ll thank us, which you can feel free to do below in the “Comments” section.

Your Monthly Check-Up: Work Out While You Work

Everyone knows that leading a sedentary lifestyle is bad for your health, but when you’re eyeballs-deep in the nine-to-five grind, it’s not so easy to take a break from the computer and get the blood flowing. Sure, you get up to refill your coffee and take the subsequent bathroom break – maybe you even stop and chat with a co-worker at a neighboring cubicle – but is there more you can be doing during your workday to stretch the ol’ limbs and prevent secretary spread?

In fact, there’s plenty you can be doing, and you can make it fun instead of turning it into a chore (that’s what your after-hours workouts are for). Fran Melmed highlights five great tips for getting some exercise at work in her recent TLNT.com blog post titled “5 Tools to Help Get Employees Up and Out of Their Desks.”  

In her article, Melmed shines the spotlight on five tools to help get you up and moving during your day. Hotseat, Fitbolt and Workpace are all computer-based platforms geared toward getting employees away from their computers and into solo or group fitness activities intermittently throughout the day. “Instant Recess” is a book and concept that focuses on this very topic. And tip #5 is to bring your dog to work as an excuse to get out for walks.

Why not start incorporating one or two of these tools into your workday? Try one out and see how it feels, or mix and match a few until you find a combination that lets you take a break here and there while still meeting your deadlines. What have you got to lose (besides that fast-food gut)?

Let us know how it goes – maybe we’ll test some of these out, too!

Merchandise Monday: Intriguing Audio

Yamaha RestioCan you hear that? Your favorite song just came on Internet radio while you work. Maybe you’re cranking some thumping beats to help energize your run. Or are you playing soft sounds to lull your babies to sleep? Whatever the case may be, music plays a huge role in everyday life, whether or not you’re even aware of it.

Today we’re highlighting several new audio items that have been added to Hinda’s assortment this month that have really caught our eye. What’s interesting about these items is that not only do they provide great sound for all your listening needs, but they have additional functionality and aesthetic appeal to boot.

Grace Digital’s Eco Terra Rugged and Waterproof Boom Box

Forget John Cusack in “Say Anything” – this is not your typical boom box. The Eco Terra Boom Box is a floating waterproof iPhone®/MP3 player case which is fully submersible in water. An internal waterproof storage compartment holds and protects your keys, MP3 player, credit cards, driver's license and cash, keeping it safe from sand, sun and water. A uniquely designed exterior pressure release valve ensures your case is closed airtight and easily opened at low and high altitudes. When thrown into the water, the Eco Terra case will rotate to float with the speakers pointed up so you can always enjoy your tunes. Enjoy the nostalgia of an old-school boom box without losing your street cred.

iPod® Nano with TikTok Multi-Touch Watch Band

You’ll have no excuses to skip your workouts when you’ve got this pair in your corner. The iPod Nano keeps you moving and grooving with your favorite songs at your fingertips. Shake to Shuffle lets you literally give Nano a shake and it skips to a different song in your music library. LunaTik®’s TikTok is a simple snap-in design that allows the user to quickly and securely snap the iPod Nano in and out of the wrist dock. It cleanly and simply integrates the Nano and transforms it into a modern, multi-function timepiece. With 18 different clock face designs to choose from, you can have a new watch style whenever the mood strikes you. Crank the tunes, strap on your Nano watch and get moving.

Yamaha® Restio™ Floor Standing Audio System

This is a speaker system like you’ve never seen before. The Restio is an elegant new floor-standing style desktop audio system that is entertaining, energizing, relaxing in the evening and invigorating in the morning, with sophisticated styling and superb sound. Featuring a built-in iPhone®/ iPod® dock, a CD player, a USB input, an FM/AM tuner and IntelliAlarm, it’s an endlessly enchanting companion. A thin body style and half-moon shaped stand allows you to position Restio right up against a wall. Restio also features a digital clock and looks more like a work of art than a speaker system. It’s sure to make a statement among your home décor and will be cause for conversation whenever guests come over.

Like what you hear? How do you prefer to listen to your tunes? Are you in the market for an upgrade of your personal or home audio? Talk to us in the “Comments” section below – we promise we’ll listen!