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"There are so many objections to wellness programs among employers when we talk to them, but when you do it right, they're very successful," said Rajiv Kumar, founder and CEO at ShapeUp, a wellness provider.

Here is a sampling of best practices shared:

1. Reward healthy behavior, and reward with accuracy.

For incentives to work, you need the carrot and the stick.

Healthy behaviors absolutely need to be rewarded, Kumar said. Plus, there needs to be verifiable data that measures the progress and success of wellness goals.

"There should be data to back this up," Kumar said. "Verified activity data is effective for everybody."

2. Make it personal.

"The incentive needs to resonate personally with your employee but it also needs to resonate broadly," said Inta Brazelis-Simeone, manager of benefits at Textron Systems.

"One size does not fit all so we diversify incentives. We offer a variety of rewards that appeal to our different employees."

3. Reward often and promptly.

There's nothing less motivating for an employee than hitting a milestone or reaching a goal and waiting around for a reward a year later.

To work properly, wellness programs need to reward employees frequently. "We design incentives as a motivator to help them and help them help themselves," Brazelis-Simeone said.

4. Pay it forward.

Think beyond gift cards or discounts when considering rewards.

Many wellness programs are beginning to offer employees to give their incentive money earned to different charities and organizations.

"It's really about paying it forward to organizations," said Jim Huffman, senior vice president of employee benefits at Bank of America. "And employees get behind that, behind organizations that are important to them."

5. Keep it fresh.

The value of incentives change as the needs and situations of your employees change.

"You don't want your program to become stale," Brazelis-Simeone said. "For us that means regularly surveying our population and see what they are looking for."

6. Communication is key.

"If you can't get the word about wellness to your employees, and to their spouses, and tell them what's going on, it's not going to work," said Kembre Roberts, manager of people at Southwest Airlines.

And communication methods should vary from the technological (company intranet, company email, and vendor technology) to print products (company publications and mailers) to simple verbal communication.

Roberts noted that as many as half of Southwest's employees don't regularly check their email, so peer-to-peer communications is key in getting employees informed about the company's wellness program.

7. Ask employees what they want.

Wellness simply is about your people, Huffman said, so it's important to understand what they want out of the programs. "Do surveys and ask them what they want," he said. "Find out what's important to them and what will drive their participation."

8. Focus on employee health.

This one seems pretty simple, but it's worth noting: to have a successful wellness program, you need to address employee health concerns and listen to what they want out of it.

For example, Type II diabetes is a growing concern among many Americans (and employees), so it's something many want their employers to help address.

Also, the wellness program shouldn't just be about hitting targets; it should also be about making the employee feel good.

"It doesn't matter if an employee loses 40 pounds; if it doesn't make them feel good to do it, then it's the wrong program for your company," Roberts said.

By focusing on what matters to employees, the program will fall into place, Roberts said, by reducing risk factors, achieving financial savings and also developing employees into informed and engaged health care consumers.