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If you're thinking about offering a stop-smoking clinic to employees, don't make the mistake of scheduling it during the vacation season. Smokers who miss a session or two early in the program are much less likely to kick the habit, says Martha Wisler of Health Enhancement Associates, a Brookline, Mass., business that conducts six-week smoking-cessation workshops for corporate clients. That's because such programs generally depend on mutual reinforcement to get smokers to quit.

For similar reasons, Wisler prefers to work with groups of about 15 people per session. With more than 23 smokers per session, the groups become unwieldy, she says. With fewer than 8, there is not enough mutual support. "The idea is that participants will see other members of the group in the office every day, and they'll keep each other on track."

It may also help to have employees pay for the program up front, with the promise of reimbursement once they successfully complete the program. "That's part of the commitment," says Amy Kinosian, director of programs for the American Lung Association of Wisconsin. "You can reimburse them for half the fee when they finish the clinic, and the other half when they stay off cigarettes for, say, six months."