Wellness is an interesting issue in HR circles. In the early ‘80’s (if not before) corporations discovered that healthy employees were more productive that unhealthy employees. Also, benefits like on-site workout programs helped companies to attract and retain young, healthy workers. From that point wellness has gone up and down in popularity. Those on-site gyms might have been a positive employee benefit, but they were expensive, had surprising high liability costs, and more than once spawned new areas for sexual harassment to fester.
Wellness moved from on-site gyms to discounts at local gyms. Cafeterias sprouted salad bars and healthy food choices. Wellness fairs with cholesterol and bone density testing became popular. Brown-bag lunch-and-learns allowed employees to learn about how walking or stair climbing could reduce their risk of heart disease. Online health assessments followed with new tools to let employees know how out of shape they really were.
While this was going on the accountants were in the back room asking – is this a good use of money? Do these programs pay for themselves? Conceptually it’s easy to see that healthier employees will use fewer medical services and save everyone money. But does that really work?
In the June issue of Human Resources Executive, Lin Grensing-Pophal does an excellent job of questioning the financial viability of wellness programs. Several studies are quoted that say the answer is no – wellness is not a cost-effective Human Resources program. But (there is always a “but” isn’t there?) there seem to be just as many studies that say yes, you can calculate a positive ROI. The Alliance for Wellness ROI is an organization of companies formed to clarify how to calculate ROI believing that it wellness programs are good investments.
So, like so many issues we face, there is no clear answer. As such, implementing a wellness program needs to be more about corporate culture than financial return. Does a wellness initiative support your overall health and welfare benefits package? Does implementing a wellness program encourage you employees to take better care of themselves? Have you implemented an HSA or HRA plan – and if so can you show employees the link between their personal health and their medical premiums?
Once you’ve reached the conclusion that a wellness program makes sense for your organization, you need to fully understand what you’re getting yourself into. Wellness programs, like many other benefits programs are not simple start-and-walk-away programs. Wellness requires constancy and communications. You’ll need to find new ways to communicate with employee and keep the program top-of-mind.
Wellness programs can be powerful motivators for positive behavioral change. They may not, however, be strong financial investments. Before you decide to implement a wellness program understand both the upside and the costs – but don’t let ROI overwhelm the decision. Let your corporate culture be your guide.
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