Low-Cost Wellness Programs Can Have High Business Value

Another way employers may benefit from offering wellness program is with increased employee productivity and benefits satisfaction. The MetLife study found that more than half (57%) of employees who participate in their companies’ health & wellness programs say they are very effective at impacting their productivity, and 71% who participate say they greatly value the benefit offering. This is a key statistic since the MetLife study also found a correlation between benefits satisfaction and job satisfaction. Consider this disparity of percentages — of employees highly satisfied with their benefits, 81% were also satisfied with their jobs, while of employees not satisfied with their benefits, only 23% said they were satisfied with their jobs.

Increasing Employee Participation

A growing number of employees say they are participating in their workplace wellness programs – likely due in part to an environment where they increasingly shoulder a greater proportion of the cost and responsibility for their health. In 2009, 57% of employees with access to a wellness program participated up from 46% just the year before. The reason why most employees participate? The majority (70%) of employees say it is the desire for good health that motivates them–an outcome that is mutually desired by employers.

Key to ensuring the success of any wellness program, however, is the need for effective communications. It is as simple as this: if employees aren’t aware of the benefits programs, they are not likely to be using them as they should. The MetLife study found that among employees with access to wellness programs, those who felt their benefits communications were effective were almost twice as likely to participate as those who didn’t.

It is not necessarily a matter of spending more money on communications, but rather a matter of more effectively leveraging available tools and tactics. Open enrollment season can be an ideal time to introduce a new program or provide more effective communications about existing programs. Employees, because they are making their health benefit decisions during open enrollment, are likely to also be receptive to receiving information on ways to maintain or improve their health – mitigating their own out-of-pocket financial exposure. One source for suggestions regarding effective benefits communications tactics as well as other tips for maximizing the success of open enrollment season is MetLife’s online Open Enrollment Toolbox at www.metlife.com/enrollment.

With employers looking to leverage their benefits programs to achieve multiple business objectives including controlling costs, improving employee retention and increasing employee productivity, providing access to wellness programs – and effectively communicating about them – can be a “win-win” for both your clients and their employees.

Dr. Ronald Leopold is vice president and national medical director of MetLife’s U.S. Business. Dr. Leopold is a board certified occupational medicine physician who holds a master’s in business administration as well as a master’s in public health. He is the author of two books, The Benefits Edge: Honing the Competitive Value of Employee Benefits, a business book on benefits designed to help employee benefits professionals develop benefits programs to give their companies a sustainable edge for the future, and A Year in the Life of One Million American Workers, an almanac of absence data that provides a comprehensive picture of one million American workers and their health conditions, illnesses and absence patterns. He can be reached at [email protected]. A copy of MetLife’s 8^th Annual Employee Benefits Trends Study, referenced in the article, can be obtained at www.metlife.com/trends2010.