Chamber Insider Blog

Workplace Wellness…Does It Work?

Post written by Lars Bodenheimer, a certified Health & Life Coach and public speaker at Coach4Balance in Leesburg.

Learn more about the Health and Wellness Initiative here.

Workplace health and wellness in the United States is of increasing interest, mostly driven by the goal to counter the continuous rise in corporate healthcare spendings. As a result, employer sponsored workplace wellness programs are being implemented with the objective to control healthcare costs over time, improve employee productivity, and optimize overall business performance by encouraging healthy behaviors.

Workplace wellness programs are supposed to enhance awareness, change behavior, and create environments that support good health practices among employees. They vary considerably across employers and can include biometric screenings for clinical measures of health, health risk assessments (HRAs) to assess lifestyle health habits, and wellness activities that foster a healthy lifestyle by encouraging behaviors (e.g. smoking cessation, stress management, or fitness).

A multi-billion industry has emerged around such wellness programs. They are offered as an employee benefit by almost all large firms, and are supported by the Affordable Care Act, which allows employers to financially reward employees for their participation in these programs, often in form of cash compensation or discounted health insurance premiums.

What is the adoption and success rate?

According to an April 2019 survey on “The Results of the Workplace Health in America” close to 50% of all workplaces in the nation offer some type of health promotion or wellness programs. The study showed an almost threefold increase in the proportion of comparable worksites (companies with 50 or more employees) with comprehensive programs between 2004 and 2017. However, it was also pointed out that this number is still low and particularly smaller worksites have persistent deficits and need tailored approaches. Another study shows a more positive trend, stating that almost 90 percent of companies use some form of corporate wellness programs and the most advanced ones include biometric health screenings, nutritional programs, fitness classes, and educational seminars on topics ranging from smoking cessation to work-life balance.

No matter what the statistics say, a lot of companies are still at the beginning when it comes to understanding how to positively influence employee health and wellness in order to achieve above mentioned goals. In fact, it is an ongoing debate in the corporate and wellness industry whether corporate wellness programs achieve the desired outcomes.

For example, a clinical trial done at BJ’s Wholesale Club over the course of 18 months found that a workplace wellness program had significantly increased rates of some positive self-reported health behaviors, but there were no significant differences in clinical measures of health and health care spending. Similar findings appear in older researches which are consistent with a one-year study with the 3,300 employees of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The results showed that participation in a wellness program did not result in healthier employees or reduced health care costs but it was also indicated that those who benefit the most (for example smokers and employees with high medical costs) declined to participate. The suggestion was to seek an improved understanding of participation decisions to help wellness programs better target these individuals.

Other examples are more encouraging and report changes such as employee improvements in physical activity, healthy food consumption, weight loss, and blood pressure, as well as a decrease in health care costs, absenteeism and a positive ROI for the company. Employees became more physically active, more educated on how to manage diseases like diabetes, showed better eating habits, and smoked less than they did before the program. Other positive factors included an improvement in employee morale and the indication that such wellness initiatives can reduce the prevalence and severity of chronic diseases among employees.

One successful program implementation reported that they provided consultations with wellness coaches and personal trainers, a 24-hour company fitness center, personalized health assessments, and preventive screenings. They further added healthier food options, incentives in form of cash, health newsletters, workshops, dietary counseling, smoking cessation programs, and more fitness facility options.

SAP, a business software company with 96,000 employees, has reported excellent outcomes from its workplace wellness program. The company covers a broad selection of holistic wellness initiatives and activities, including a diabetes management program, health coaching, wellness challenges, health fairs, annual biometric screenings, on-site flu shot clinics, genetic testing and more. Apparently over 50% of the employee population is engaged in the wellness program and taking advantage of its benefits. Claim costs went down and employees continue to get healthier year after year.

SAP, a business software company with 96,000 employees, has reported excellent outcomes from its workplace wellness program. The company covers a broad selection of holistic wellness initiatives and activities, including a diabetes management program, health coaching, wellness challenges, health fairs, annual biometric screenings, on-site flu shot clinics, genetic testing and more. Apparently over 50% of the employee population is engaged in the wellness program and taking advantage of its benefits. Claim costs went down and employees continue to get healthier year after year.

To further integrate workplace wellness programs with their employees’ day-to-day activities and increase participation in programs, companies are also adopting technology from wellness companies (mobile devices, chatbots, etc.) and virtual services to simplify the use of wellness website portals, mobile apps, and health coaching for their workforce.

What are some key factors for companies to consider about workplace wellness?

• Plan & Manage: Set up proper planning and execution as well as leadership support and buy-in from all levels of the company.
• Clear Communication: Find different ways to make it very transparent what the drivers are for the program and that people matter more to the employer than productivity and the bottom line.
• Holistic Wellness: Go beyond physical heath and take into consideration other life dimensions of employees, for example mental/emotional health, money, career, social connection, substance abuse, environment.
• Many-Sizes-Fit-All: Create a mix of activities and niche options which are customizable to individual goals, motivations, and situational needs and preferences. Individual successes can have a widespread impact on employee morale and motivation.
• Small Steps: Assume that many employees already have a busy life. Encouraging small steps instead of major changes will provide more consistent follow-through and increasing self-empowerment through small successes which will add up to big results over time.
• Value Measurement: ROI of wellness programs is often challenging to measure. VOI (Value on Investment) can provide further insight and incorporate areas such as wellness culture, employee education, and health status, and utilize data from employee surveys and other sources. In general, it is critical to establish baseline data for the company and per employee before the program implementation.

Post written by Lars Bodenheimer, a certified Health & Life Coach and public speaker at Coach4Balance in Leesburg.