1/26/2013

If you are thinking about offering your employees a program to stop smoking, how do you choose the program that is best for your company? There are so many options out there-from hypnosis to drugs like Chantix to teleseminar classes. How can your company get smokers and chewers to participate without a complete revolt or cranky employees?



When choosing the right stop-smoking program for your company, your company could provide a variety of options to help your employees quit smoking. Research has shown that offering more than one smoking cessation program tends to confuse and overwhelm employees. If offered too many choices, they don't join any of the stop-smoking programs.



Instead of offering a confusing array of choices, consider having a stop-smoking professional help your company assess the needs of your employees and offer advice on which stop-smoking group or program would be best. I often do this for my clients, at no charge and no obligation.



To get the best-possible results from a smoking cessation program, be sure to choose one that focuses on making behavioral changes over time, because smoking is both a psychological and a physical condition. In fact, most recommended programs take up to six weeks to prepare a smoker to quit.



Smokers and chewers need time to detoxify from nicotine. Smokers and chewers also need time to change their behaviors, routines, and habits. It takes at least twenty-one days to break a habit.



How do you encourage your employees to take advantage of your smoking cessation program?



Keep in mind that even if you've chosen the best smoking cessation program around, it is often hard to get smokers to take advantage of it, even though they might want to quit smoking or chewing.



Most smokers say that a lack of time and money are the biggest reasons they don't want to participate. So what can you do to get your employees to commit to quitting smoking?



The best way to solve the time issue is to choose a class system that is extremely convenient and flexible for everyone. Teleseminar-based quit smoking programs like the one offered by Nicotine Solutions are ideal because they can be attended from just about anywhere. Classes can be run on-site during lunch hours or after work as well.



Some companies decide to pay 100% of the costs of a smoking cessation for their employees. But this can backfire because the employee does not have a personal investment in the program. In fact, programs that do not cost the employee anything are sometimes viewed as worthless. If your company truly wants to pay the entire tuition for the quit smoking program, you can certainly do that or another option is you can reimburse all (or part) of the costs after the employee has remained smoke-free for a set amount of time. Say, six months or a year. Or you can offer partial payment up front. Then reimburse the balance at the end of a set period of time.



The final way I'm going to suggest you handle the money objection is also the one I've found to be most effective. Simply create liberal payroll deduction plans to cover the tuition of the stop-smoking program that way the student has a personal investment in the process, and it doesn't cost your company anything to help smokers quit.



Whatever stop smoking program you decide to offer, don't forget that in order for it to be a success, you need to do more than just put it in place. Proper planning, promotion, and follow-up are all required if you want you employees to participate.
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