Wellness programs have been around for a while, but increasingly more evidence is emerging that these programs lead to greater employee happiness and engagement. Wellness programs from a purely practical sense can reduce healthcare costs and increase office productivity. But what may be even more important is that employees who are more active are not only generally happier and healthier with lower stress levels, they’re more engaged in their employer’s mission and goals and they work better as a team.
“Employers continue to depend on health and wellness initiatives to curb health-care costs and foster a successful and productive workforce,” noted WorldatWork and HealthMine. Unlocking the secrets of how to get employees to work as a team might be centralized around wellness programs.
“Employees who are more active are generally happier and healthier.”
Researchers at WorldatWork and Healthmine looked to gain a broader understanding of current trends and “unique perspectives” in employer-offered wellness challenge prizes. Their audience mainly consisted of organizations in the private sector/privately held (36%) and private sector/publicly traded (34%) and that employed roughly 1,000 to 2,500 employees. What they found was exactly what we stated previously: Employers are offering more health-related benefits than ever.
Three reasons organizations offer well-being elements to employees include improving an employee’s health (82%), reducing claims costs and medical premiums (78%) and how the benefits are perceived by workers (77%).
A different survey conducted by RAND of PepsiCo’s wellness program concluded that employers can greatly reduce their overall costs per worker by integrating a comprehensive wellness program into their business model.
Cutting Costs is a Major Benefit
Researchers found that after seven years of running a successful employee wellness program, employers cut $30 off the healthcare costs per member each month. More specifically, the disease management component of wellness programs resulted in a nearly 30% drop in hospital admittance and a $136 reduction per member per month. The benefits are obvious for employers, but are they impacting employees in the same way?
Employee Wellness Programs Benefit Your Workforce
WorldatWork and Healthmine reported that 75% of organizations felt employee satisfaction was the most significant measured outcome of employee wellness programs. Biometric screening (73 percent), employee engagement (72%) and productivity (71%) filled out the top four.
“Twenty-four percent of employees want their employers to offer them free gym memberships.”
Employees would agree. In a survey conducted by TechnologyAdvice of nearly 500 office workers between 25 and 54, 24% wanted their employers to offer them free gym memberships. That was the second most coveted perk behind flex time and remote working (32%). And while free gym memberships are only one possible component of a wellness program, it shows you just how highly ranked this type of incentive is.
Employees take part in wellness programs for various reasons. Some love to live a healthy lifestyle. Whether they’re at work or at home, they enjoy eating healthy and working out. These employees likely gravitate intentionally or not to companies that offer comprehensive employee wellness programs and related perks because it meets their lifestyle requirements. Other employees opt to join the program because it lowers their spending on medical costs. Those who are healthier, noted Bankrate, are less likely to take trips to the doctor and have a greater chance of spending more days at work.
Employers looking to build (or rebuild) their perks and benefits program should start by analyzing their wellness program and healthcare offerings. As these studies indicate, not only do employees covet a robust wellness program because of reduced healthcare costs, they enjoy the outcomes of less stress and greater employee happiness.
