Wellness Program Incentives

A wellness program is a program that deals with health related problems of the employees. One of the critical deliverables of a wellness benefit program is imparting knowledge to team members with respect to their own health and well being. If conducted successfully, a wellness program could help increase the productivity of each employee. With mental health becoming increasingly important, a wellness program needs to delve on it too. Stress has become an increasingly responsible factor behind employees losing focus and these wellness programs can help by incorporating spiritual and motivational extras to rejuvenate the employees.

The results, if put in hardcore statistics, can surprise many. To begin with wellness programs are more effective as a preventive step. Johnson and Johnson found out that their medical bills would have shot up by at least $13 million, up and above the $4.5 million that it currently invests in its wellness programs, if the programs had not been implemented. NASA carried out a similar research which revealed that the productivity of non-exercising workers came down by 50% in the last couple of working hours. Wellness programs can also inculcate in the psyche of the employees, the importance of physical exercise and thus cut down on the decrease in productivity. GE’s research showed that absenteeism resulting from ill health, one of the biggest banes afflicting companies, can be brought down by 45%, while Heirich and Associates found wellness programs reduce the chances of cardiac diseases, one of the more common stress related diseases, by approximately 40%.

One of the major benefits, which cannot be quantified, is that wellness programs help prevent attrition. The employees keep mental cognition of what the company is doing for them and it greatly enhances their commitment towards the organization. Also, employees being the best brand ambassadors for corporate entities, wellness programs help companies to attract new talent, while retaining their existing employees.

Family being the cushion providing comfort to the employees, wellness programs should try to be beneficial to the families of the employed personnel too. Hence, a company should not look at the accrued costs as expendable costs, but as a long-term investment towards increasing the productivity and profitability by taking care of its employees before it is too late.