Are Workplace Wellness Programs Actually Useful?

Regular seminars about how you can become healthier, biometric screenings to assess your vital statistics, everyone’s chair replaced with an exercise ball — sound familiar? If so, you may be getting familiar with your workplace’s wellness program.

Workplace wellness programs are all the rage. According to a survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), more than three quarters of respondents said their workplace included some form of wellness program or related resources. Workplace wellness programs are useful from an employer’s perspective. That same HR survey found that 73% of workplaces reported these programs were “somewhat” or “very effective” at reducing their healthcare costs in the previous year. That means less money spent and fewer sick days taken by staff.

But are these programs really benefiting the employees they’re meant to serve? For the most part, the answer is “no” in the short-term, and inconclusive in the long-term.

First off, despite more than three quarters of workplaces including a wellness program, participation in these programs is appallingly low. A Gallup survey found that only 24% of employees participate in the wellness programs offered by their employers.

Long-term success is also hazy. Despite being an $8 billion industry, no one can quite hammer down how much value workplace wellness programs actually provide. As referenced in this Bloomberg article, a Harvard study found that each dollar spent on workplace wellness offered a $3 value in return. Another study found that value was just $1.50 for every dollar spent. Much of this inconclusivity comes from the fact that personal health is a difficult metric to measure, especially over a short period of time.

When Workplace Health Leads to Workplace Stress

Sometimes the goals of workplace wellness plans backfire, and the introduction of mandatory wellness requirements can cause a lot of stress. Depending on the wellness plan, employees may be required to get regular physical examinations, or submit monthly reports charting their health and wellness progress. While this all innocently falls under the umbrella of making employees more healthy, it also introduces an unwanted burden: added stress and deadlines.

Research conducted by Andre Spicer and Carl Cederström for their book The Wellness Syndrome found that stress induced by workplace wellness programs can have a negative effect on employees. Employees they interviewed reported feeling a sense of failure if they didn’t meet their workplace health targets, and worried their lack of exercise would correlate with them being a less attractive employee. In instances where employees are required to take nicotine and other drug tests, there are concerns that non-smokers will be hired preferentially over those who do. Employee worries have gone so far that experts are looking into whether discriminating against smokers could be considered discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

A further contribution to employee stress is the concern that opting out of a workplace wellness program may strip them of health coverage all together. A case reported recently involved an employee at a plastics maker in Wisconsin who was denied health care insurance after he refused to participate in their workplace wellness programs. The employee took the company to court, only to have federal judges rule that the employer was in the right. Nothing says added workplace stress like entering into — and losing — a lawsuit with your employer.

Creating a Workplace Wellness Program That Works

We know that too much pressure to participate in a workplace wellness program can cause undue stress and actually reverse the benefit of a program meant to improve healthy living. So how can we create programs that work? Here’s a few ideas.

Offer Incentives

There’s ways employers can make workplace wellness more fun and attractive for their team members.

One way is to encourage physical health by providing all staff members with wearable technology. Companies like Fitbit actually have specialized programs tailored to employee wellness and group health. There’s nothing like getting a cool new gadget to motivate people to get moving. Try using gamification principles to up participation — you can create a company-wide scoreboard to see who has the most steps in a day and offer prizes for the top contenders.

Another option is to offer free or discounted gym memberships for your employees. Removing barriers to exercising regularly is a great way to get your employees in the gym and improve their health.

Incentives can also involve reducing an employee’s health premium by X amount each month or providing other financial motivators. Appropriate rewards and incentives can increase an employee’s likelihood of participating in a wellness program by up to 85%, SHRM found.

Give Employees the Time

Employees are busy — don’t make complying with a workplace wellness program just one more thing added to their plate. If your workplace wellness plan includes mandatory medical check-ins, questionnaires, and other time consuming tasks, make sure employees know they can set aside time in their work day to complete them.

Make Wellness Programs Holistic

Workplace wellness reaches far beyond an employee’s physical health. Mental, emotional, and financial health can all take a toll on an employee and their productivity levels. Any workplace wellness program should include not just conventional physical health resources, but also be expanded to include other benefits. Whether that’s monthly budgeting sessions with a financial advisor, access to a 24/7 counselling line, or the ability to take mental health days, the inclusion of these wellness benefits will mean employees are more well rounded and actually able to be their best selves.

Data gathered by Gallup found that employees who benefited from wellness programs that incorporated five elements — purpose, social, financial, community, and physical — were 41% less likely to take sick days and 81% less likely to look for jobs elsewhere.

Ultimately, the answer to “are workplace wellness programs actually useful” is varied and depends greatly on an employer’s approach to helping their team achieve a healthier life.