So far in this Walk@Lunch Week we’ve talked about the reasons you should spend your lunch “hour” walking. We’ve talked about the benefits to your body, we’ve talked about the benefits to your sanity. Today, we’ll talk about the benefits to your bottom line. Your wallet/purse/man-bag,  that is.

Yesterday, I went to Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina’s Chapel Hill headquarters for their kick-off of both Walk@Lunch Week/Day (technically, it’s just a day, but we here at GGNC have decreed it worthy of at least a week’s observance) and their Focus on Exercise second quarter challenge. I was curious about the event not because BCBSNC sponsors this blog (although … ) but because who better than a company that provides health insurance would better appreciate the wisdom of keeping its employees healthy and thus, not going to the doctor. And missing work. And filing pricey claims. It’s not philanthropy, it’s just plain business sense.

BCBSNC rewards employees for healthy behavior, and not with just a water bottle, a T-shirt and an atta-boy/girl. Rather, they award employees credits toward reducing their health care premium. The health insurer’s program is called Healthy Dividends. Employees are required to log their activity, undergo an annual biometric health screening and an online health assessment. The more they participate, the more credits they earn — up to $750 worth against their medical premiums, according to BCBSNC Wellness Manager Jen Arnold. Arnold says about 2,000 of BCBSNC’s 4,700 employees participate in the program.

For added incentive to keep employees moving, the company also kicked off a six-week Focus on Exercise program. The company is divided into teams, the teams collect points based on individual employee’s activity. Among other things, they have to document working out at least three times a week for at least 30 minutes and watch a weekly health-related online presentation.

What helps make the program work — and I say this based on employee response and reaction at a pep rally of sorts to kick off the program — is that this is a top-down deal. At the kick-off, Don Bradley, Senior Vice President for Healthcare and Chief Medical Officer, said his goal is to lose 12 pounds during the six-week program (though he declined to say from what to what). He also vowed to give a quarter to anyone who sees him taking a company elevator (as opposed to the healthier company stairs) and give a dime to anyone he passes in the stairwell.

That elicited a scoff from Alan Hughes, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. “I’ll give you more than a quarter,” he promised the assembled employees. Hughes, btw, is captaining one of the aforementioned Focus on Exercise teams, and he made it clear that he wants to win. He really wants to win.

A better body and workplace sanity are enough on their own to justify taking a walk at lunch, but wouldn’t it be good to get your bosses to pay you to leave your desk as well? Makes sense to the BCBSNC bosses, it should to yours as well.

Maybe your first Walk@Lunch walk should be down to HR to get this ball moving.

Photo: BCBSNC workers head out for a walk on the mile-long natural surface trail that rims the Chapel Hill campus.