Many organizations are focusing on the wellness of their employees—not only to keep healthcare costs low, but also to improve productivity and reduce truancy rates and burnout. Recent studies show that wellness programs have created a 25 percent reduction in costs pertaining to sick leave, health plans, workers' compensation, and disability insurance while improving stress management, absenteeism, and job satisfaction rates. However, developing an effective wellness program can be difficult. One of the best ways to get employees to buy into a program is to offer incentives. Employees’ bad habits die hard, but offering incentives makes these habits a little easier to break. Include employees in prize drawings, increasing vacation days, or gifts. By injecting a little healthy competition into a wellness program, employers can get employees interested. Ensure that this competition is fair for all employees, however. Also, it’s important to change the program around regularly. Stagnant programs get old fast, and employees drop out quickly. For big celebrations like New Year's and Thanksgiving, it can be fun to introduce seasonal goals.