X ) HR Oops! Some Companies Are Clueless about Wellness ROI A basic reason employers offer well- the amount employees pay toward Illinois recently tried this with 3,300 ness programs is that they hope their health insurance. employees. It found that employees" these programs will result in health- Even with all these criticisms, health and health insurance spending ier employees, and that healthier companies that at least try to mea- were more related to their condition employees will be more productive sure wellness ROI are doing better at the beginning of the study than to and likelier to stay on the job, In the- than most. A recent survey found their participation in the wellness pro- ory, a company could measure the that 71%% of employers did not know gram tested. These results are likely financial payoff of these advantages, the amount of savings per employee, to raise more questions for employ- compare that with the cost of the and 82% did not know the ROI. ers offering wellness programs. program, and calculate a "wellness It's not that companies don't care return on investment (ROI)." about the value of their benefits. The Questions While that view has a certain problem is more related to uncer- 1. Does it matter whether wellness logic, organizations have struggled tainty about how to measure results. programs contribute to business to find much of a measurable return Many companies count the number success? Why or why not? on their wellness spending. For of people who sign up for programs 2. Suggest one way employers example, a distributor of medical and the number who participate could improve their decision supplies and pharmaceuticals found and complete the programs. What's making about whether to offer that employees who participated in harder to find out are what changes wellness programs. its program were more engaged; it they really made and where (if any- also noted that its engaged employ- where) the impact shows up in the Sources: Paula Santonocito, "New ees tended to have lower medical workplace and the organization's Research Shows Wellness and Well- expenses. However, some of the performance. Organizations haven't Being Programs Are Underused," HR measures were based on employ- even settled on the most important Daily Advisor, June 6, 2018, https:// ees' self-reports, and it is common measures-say, stress levels versus hrdailyadvisor.blr.com; Rebecca Greenfield, for people to paint a rosier-than- obesity versus the number of steps "Wellness Programs Ineffective, Study accurate picture of their weight and Says," Chicago Tribune, January 28, 2018, employees take each day. sec. 2, p. 5: Bruce Shutan, "Wellness ROI other personal information. Critics of Researchers can do what most Comes Under Fire," Employee Benefit efforts to measure wellness ROI also employers cannot: divide the popu- News, February 2016, pp. 21-23; Nick point out that employers frequently lation randomly into test and control Otto, "Connecting the Wellness Dots," fail to fully measure costs such as groups for a more robust measure of Employee Benefit News, October 1, 2015, bonuses, rewards, and discounts on programs' impact. The University of http://www.benefitsnews.com