While Canadian employers understand the importance of workplace wellness, many are struggling to create comprehensive programs to actually improve employee health—and their bottom lines. That’s the finding of the 2011 Buffett National Wellness Survey, released Oct. 25 at the launch of Sun Life Financial’s 2011 series of Wellness Institute Breakfasts in Toronto.
The good news from the survey is that 72% of respondents indicated they are offering wellness programs and of those, 97% said they believe employee health is directly related to corporate success.
The bad news: the number of employers offering wellness programs has dropped (to 72% this year, compared to 91% in 2009, 90% in 2006 and 83% in 2003) and of those who do offer wellness programs, only 26% of them carry out a comprehensive approach that includes data analysis, evaluation, ROI calculation and follow-up initiatives.
“We’re pleased that the majority of employers surveyed recognize that their employees’ health affects productivity and performance,” said Lori Casselman, assistant vice-president, health and wellness, group benefits, Sun Life Financial. “However, while many organizations offer wellness initiatives, most aren’t creating a strategic plan to improve employee well-being and ensure sustainable outcomes.”
Some of the results—such as the drop in number of employers offering wellness programs—can be attributed to this year’s sample group, which consisted of more small employers (less than 250 employees) than previous surveys. A smaller employer likely has fewer resources to implement a wellness program and properly measure the results. However, in order to improve employee wellness and maximize return on investment, it’s crucial to implement a proactive program, measure the results and respond accordingly.
Of the survey respondents, only 21% said they measure employee health status, while 36% said they evaluate the outcomes of their wellness initiatives. Just 31% said they are attempting to calculate their ROI. Clearly, there’s still work for employers to do in this area.
The survey also reveals some discrepancy in what employers are identifying as the top health risks for employees and which risks they’re actually addressing.
The top five risks employers identified were work-related stress (56%), mental health issues (35%), high blood pressure (35%), smoking (35%) and diabetes (31%).
Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are the most commonly offered wellness initiative, with 72% of employers indicating they offer such a service. While such programs can help to address the top health risks of stress and mental health, the numbers significantly drop when it comes to preventative measures for blood pressure and diabetes. Despite ranking these issues among their top five health concerns, only 30% of employers surveyed said they offer blood pressure screening, 18% said they offer cholesterol screening and 12% said they offer diabetes screening.
“There are lots of opportunities to match up the types of initiatives being offered with the concerns that were indicated,” said Casselman. She suggested employers offer initiatives such as health challenges, workplace fitness events and education programs to prevent and raise awareness of these top risks. Employers may also want to consider offering incentives for workers to participate in wellness programs. Only 10% of respondents said they always offer such incentives.
Employers are clearly struggling to manage and implement successful wellness programs. Barriers such as lack of budget, lack of staffing and an inability to measure and quantify results leaves many employers unable to address the very risks they’ve identified. However, implementing—and measuring—a wellness program is essential if employers are to improve employee participation, increase productivity and decrease health risks.
“There are lots of opportunity for us to improve the measurement of employee health status and the outcomes associated with programming,” concluded Casselman. “Only 36% of organizations are currently evaluating and recording those outcomes.”
She suggested employers examine their plans’ participation rates and determine how factors such as communication and incentives impact employee participation from year to year. From there, employers can determine how those factors—and the wellness program as a whole—affects their ROI.
“We definitely get it. As a nation and as employers, we understand there is that correlation between employee health and business results or corporate success,” said Casselman. “There’s a real opportunity for leaders to walk the talk and lead by example, from the top down to become really engaged and create that culture of support around wellness initiatives.”