Benefits of Implementing a Workplace Wellness Program

For the Employee

A healthy lifestyle impacts every part of your day-to-day work environment. Corporate Wellness Programs translate into fewer injuries, less human error, and a more harmonious office environment. They also let you know that your organization is concerned about your general health and well-being.

A good Corporate Wellness Program will also help reduce stress, which the United Nations has called "the 20th Century Disease." A large majority of office workers complain that their job is stressful - a problem that affects all levels within an organization.

Stress from the workday also affects our personal relationships and activities. Human beings are just not designed to magically morph into someone else as we leave our work environment.

Taking advantage of programs offered not only will help you succeed more during work hours, it will give you more energy and patience for your home and personal life as well.

For the Employer

As reported in an Ipsos-Reid study released March 18, 2004 the main preventable contributors to employee absenteeism are:

• Depression/anxiety/other mental health disorders - 66%
• Stress - 60%
• [Negative] Relationship with supervisor or manager - 44%
• Co-worker conflict in the workplace - 28%
more...

Statistics

For well over a decade, research has been showing the effectiveness of Employee Wellness Programs. For every dollar spent on a Corporate Wellness Program, the returns have been cost savings of between $2.30 and $10.10 in the areas of decreased absenteeism, fewer sick days, reduced WSIB/WCB claims, lowered health and insurance costs, and improvements to employee performance and productivity.

In Canada, only 23.9% of companies reported that they have been evaluating their wellness programs regularly, which makes management unclear on the full scope of benefits being realized.

Statistics do show that a healthy organization increases employee morale, improves the ability to attract and retain key people, all while having more alert and productive employees. Some statistics of note:

• Canada Life Insurance reported a return of $3.43 on their fitness program, and an overall return on investment of $6.85 on each corporate dollar invested on reduced turnover (32.4% lower), productivity gains and decreased medical claims,
• DuPont's Worksite Health Promotion pilot sites saw a saving of 11,726 disability days and a return of U.S. $2.05 for every dollar invested by the end of the second year,
• The Canadian government's corporate wellness programs returned $1.95-$3.75 per employee per dollar spent (as reported by Dr. Roy Shephard),
• Municipal employees in Toronto, missed 3.35 fewer days in the first six months of their "Metro Fit" fitness programs than employees not enrolled in the program,
• British Columbia Hydro employees enrolled in a work-sponsored fitness program had a turnover rate of just 3.5% compared with a company average of 10.3%,
• Johnson & Johnson estimated an average saving of U.S. $224.66 per employee per year for the four years examined after the program introduction, with the bulk of the savings being in the third and fourth years,
• Pacific Bell reported that overall absenteeism decreased after implementing a program,
• Coca Cola report saving $500 every year per employee after implementing a fitness program, with only 60% of their employees participating,
• Coors Brewing Co. reported that for each dollar spent on their Corporate Wellness Program they saw a $5.50 return, and the employees who participated reduced their absentee rate by 18%, and
• Prudential Insurance Company reported that the benefits costs for employees participating in their program were $312, as opposed to $574 for non-participants

As you can see, a properly implemented program affects the bottom line as much as it builds goodwill.

You can find workplace wellness statistics and quotes among other great wellness program tools at our Wellergize.ca site.