A Vitamin or an Aspirin?

Vic Blog and Insights

What does taking care of one’s health really mean? Are Purposeful users looking for a “vitamin,” something that makes you even better than you currently are? Or, are they in need of an “aspirin,” that is, trying to fix something that’s gone wrong? We ask this question amongst ourselves at Kumanu: are we building an application that fixes people’s problems or one that helps people become even better? Can you do both?

Continue reading

Some Thoughts on Engagement

Vic Blog and Insights

Engagement is a very complex issue. It’s an issue I’ve personally studied for decades and come around to the conclusion that a single percentage describing engagement is almost always an oversimplification of reality. The real proof in the pudding is not how frequently a person “touches” an application, which can easily be manipulated by financial incentives. It’s whether people change their lives for the better, and we know that even this measure has different meanings for different people.

Continue reading

Are We Getting Engagement and Behavior Change Right? Part 2

Blog and Insights, Chief Innovation Officer - Eric Zimmerman, MPH, MBA

Let’s go from theory to practice. Which of the following statements are true?

1. Participation incentives produce health behavior change
2. Incentives tied to biometric outcomes lead to improved outcomes
3. When it comes to engagement with apps or web portals, the more the better.

Which sounds right to you. All three? None of the above? Read on for the answer.

Continue reading

Are We Getting Engagement and Behavior Change Right?

Blog and Insights, Chief Innovation Officer - Eric Zimmerman, MPH, MBA

Let’s start with this question: what is engagement, anyway, and why do we care so much about it? Is engagement what happens on the wellness portal, or is it what happens in my daily life and work? Am I gaining confidence, skills, and inspiration, or am I clicking for points? If I engage with wellbeing apps or resources for just a while, or once in a while, BUT I build new mindsets and habits, and stronger purpose and connection lasting a lifetime, is that a success, or a failure?

Continue reading

How to Unlock the Power of Intrinsic Motivation

motivation in the workplace

In the workplace, financial and non-financial motivators are used to drive engagement and performance. but motivation is highly personal and differs for each employee. In this blog, we discuss types of motivation tactics used to get the best results out of each of your people for greater engagement and performance.

Continue reading

Diversity in the Workplace

an ice berg floats with the very top of it above the surface

Diversity is often compared to an iceberg. There are parts visible above the surface, like ethnicity and physical disability, but then there’s much more beneath the surface: cultural background, economic status, educational history, and more.

Continue reading

Measuring Performance According to Goodhart

nails and a hammer on a wooden deck

You might have noticed it in your own workplace. Someone higher up the ladder introduces a new performance measure and immediately, everyone prioritizes that measure – often with unintended and at times bizarre consequences. A classic anecdote of this in action involves a nail factory in the former Soviet Union.

Continue reading

Measuring Employee Engagement

an engaged employee

After examining the ways 12 different companies are measuring employee engagement, one thing is clear: the traditional methods of measuring engagement are ineffective in the modern workplace. Employers come up short in two key areas, and this blog provides practical solutions to solve these problems.

Continue reading