Kronos Case Study:
Weight Loss Contest Scores A Big Win

Client: SmartHealth, Inc. 
Provides practice management and patient communications products to health care professionals

Wellness is enmeshed in the corporate culture at SmartHealth, where health care premium costs are about 50 percent of the national average. Kronos delivers comprehensive on-site wellness programming and health screenings for nearly 400 SmartHealth employees in Arizona and California.

The Kronos Challenge:
SmartHealth wanted to offer employees a fun, engaging way to lose weight and get healthier. The company wanted to build on health improvements that resulted from an expanded presence of Kronos programs – including a 12-week Kronos Weight Management class. 

Solution:
Kronos worked with the company’s Wellness Team to launch a company-wide, team-challenge weight loss contest. Because Kronos teaches making healthy lifestyle changes to lose weight and keep it off, the contest is designed to run for six months – long enough to outlast any immediate results participants might see with “crash” diets. Led by an experienced Kronos Health Educator, the campaign helps team members go the distance with:

• One-on-one and team health coaching
• Monthly education and support meetings presenting proven nutrition and fitness tips
• Motivating incentives – in addition to a grand prize-winning team, cash prizes are also awarded to the teams with the highest percentage of weight loss during each three-month period of the challenge

Result:
Encouraged by top-level support, employees caught the excitement – 110 people (one-fourth of all SmartHealth employees) participated in the contest, dividing into 25 teams with names like Losin’ and Lovin’ It, SmartLosers and Lean Mean Lovin’ Machines. Each issue of the employee newsletter profiled several teams, group photos were posted in the hallway at every worksite, and a large “thermometer” gauge prominently displayed the total number of pounds lost to date.

In just the first month of the competition, participants lost 437.5 pounds – an average of 4 pounds per person. At the three-month mark, the teams had lost a total of 703.5 pounds, and the 1^st place team had shed 9.39% of their combined body weight. Equally important, participants adopted positive lifestyle changes; in addition to eating less, many cut back on soda and began drinking more water, eating out less frequently and exercising regularly.