Employees are your organization’s greatest asset and employee well being is critical to your organization’s productivity and continued success. An effective wellness program communicates health promotion and improves the quality of life of employees. 

By promoting healthy habits, wellness programs can also be an effective weapon in the arsenal to control ever escalating health care costs. According to a recent study by the Milken Institute concluded that

“…reorienting our health system toward preventing rather than treating disease could stave off 40 million cases of cancer, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses during the next 15 years. That would shrink the cost of medical care and lost productivity by $1.1 trillion, an amount equal to half of all healthcare spending in the United States in 2005.”

In general terms, a comprehensive wellness program includes diet/weight management, tobacco cessation, fitness and exercise. Beyond that, the “Business Roundtable” which includes CEOs from 160 of America’s largest companies, identified the following trends of an effective wellness strategy:

• Create a culture of wellness within the company. Along with integrating wellness with other corporate initiatives, explore more effective ways to communicate health care consumerism, benefits and wellness; make wellness opportunities available and accessible across the employee population; increase employee participation and ownership; and build management accountability for the health goals of the organization.
  
  
• Focus on the health of each employee. Companies are developing tools and approaches to target health risks, offer customized interventions, and empower employees to manage their own health and wellness.
  
  
• Build the business case for wellness. Business Roundtable’s member companies are tracking costs and return on investment (ROI), working with vendors to measure ROI, and developing other measures of wellness program effectiveness.

Once a wellness program is implemented it’s important to evaluate success – benchmarks can include:

• Examining employee participation
  
• Relying on employee feedback
• Evaluating results as reflected in reduced health care claim costs
• Monitoring the affect on employee sick days/absenteeism

Additional Resources:
The Wellness Councils of America – Resource Center
Healthyroads – Resource Center