A lot of articles talk broadly about the overall benefits of corporate wellness programs for businesses, how they can save companies money while leading to higher employee productivity, job satisfaction, and morale. This article will only focus on specific statistics of corporate wellness programs, demonstrating thoroughly – in dollars, cents, and percentages – the great value corporate wellness programs bring to the companies that use them.
First, a comprehensive review of more than 100 peer-reviewed studies of companies with health & wellness programs over the past three decades showed an average annual savings in healthcare costs of $358 per employee. Moreover, companies in these studies saw, on average, $294 in annual savings per employee due to decreased absenteeism. That's an annual savings of over $650 for companies enrolled in corporate wellness programs!
The review also calculated the rate of savings versus the cost of corporate wellness consulting and implementation and found that the return on investment on reducing healthcare costs was $3.27 for every dollar spent by the company and $2.73 for every dollar spent on reducing absenteeism.
Another source also looked at studies of more than 50 comprehensive health & wellness programs and found that every study showed positive health outcomes for employees and an over 96 percent cost-effectiveness rate. Moreover, some wellness programs in the studies showed returns on investment of $5.00 or more for every dollar spent.
Some specific examples demonstrate just how dramatic savings associated with corporate wellness programs can be. For health care cost savings, a company was able to save between $3,000 to $15,000 in reduced health claims by employees enrolled in its wellness program. Other companies meanwhile were able to reduce sick leave rates by nearly 20 percent, with employees enrolled in certain wellness programs absent from work on average a day less than employees not enrolled, with one company seeing 80 percent fewer sick days from employees enrolled in its exercise wellness program than those not enrolled.
While wellness programs have also been demonstrated to improve employee productivity and morale, quantifiable rates in reduced employee turnover demonstrate how effective health & wellness programs can be for employee retention. Indeed, in one study, large companies with established wellness programs saw employee turnover decrease by nearly three times among employees enrolled in the wellness programs, with another company showing a 10-fold decrease in turnover among program-enrolled employees.
Wellness programs are substantial assets for companies and businesses of all size. All the figures in this article – from the savings from healthcare cost reductions, the savings from reduced employee absences, the savings from lower employee turnover rates, and, finally, the proven cost-effectiveness – make wellness programs a smart investment for any company.
