Wellness programs are a popular benefit among HR departments and employees because the initiatives present numerous positive outcomes. Workers enjoy this perk because it helps them lead healthy lifestyles and can even result in discounts on their group health insurance plans.
HR departments are increasingly adding wellness plans to employee benefits programs to ensure that staff members are minimizing their risks of serious diseases. Further, many of these plans present significant return on investment for the company as a whole. According to Healthcare Finance News, a report from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans shows that "wellness and value-based healthcare programs" yield $3 for every dollar spent on average. CEO Michael Wilson stated that the results indicate how financially beneficial wellness programs and there are positive outcomes beyond ROI.
"Without question, employers are beginning to understand the direct connection that wellness initiatives can have on both employee health and healthcare plan cost savings. While the primary goal is reducing health costs, we're also seeing other advantages from wellness initiatives, such as higher employee morale, increased productivity and reduced disability," Wilson said in a statement.
The waiting game
That's not to say that HR departments can expect their wellness programs result in massive gains. Julie Stich, director of research at IFEBP, explained that it usually takes between three and five years before businesses start to see any positive financial results from their health initiatives. This is typically the case it takes time for employees to actually make changes to their lifestyles and become healthier than are currently.
Additionally, the Society for Human Resource Management reports that a study compiled by RAND Health shows that it may take five years just for the average wellness program to break even. The SHRM is quick to point out that this is based on a random sample and doesn't include the fact that programs that don't fail usually generate ROI well ahead of the five-year mark.
Essentially, both reports show that wellness programs are a waiting game. It may take years for employees to become health and lower their insurance premiums, but that's why these initiatives are designed as part of long-term plans.
HR departments won't truly be able to determine the ROI of their wellness programs until they've implementation is complete and a significant period of time has past. Any department that tries to measure its results in the early stages will likely only find negative results, which aren't indicative of long-term success or failure.