What’s driving wellness programs? It depends what country you’re working in.
The annual WORKING WELL: A Global Survey of Health Promotion and Workplace Wellness Strategies, released today by Buck Consultants, revealed that U.S. based companies cite wellness programs as a key strategic component in reducing employer healthcare costs. Improving worker productivity and reducing absenteeism were also among the top strategic drivers.
However on the global level, improving productivity is the most important objective for wellness programs, with improving workforce morale and engagement the second most important objective.
The U.S. results also contrast with those in other regions on the health risks that drive wellness programs. Globally, reducing workplace stress is the targeted health risk that drives wellness programs, particularly in Canada. On the other hand, for the U.S. the lack of physical activity is the top driver, and stress ranks sixth as a health risk targeted by these programs.
It’s here that Michele Bossi, health and welfare practice leader, with Buck Consultants, sees the disconnect. “The U.S. has clearly led the way in wellness because it became a more urgent need for them earlier on. They stand alone as a country with really no public healthcare so the employer burden for healthcare costs is huge,” she says.
“[In the U.S.], the top risk factors are all physically related. In the rest of the world, five of the other seven countries list stress as their top risk factor,” she continues. “But because the U.S. has lead the way in wellness, we have followed the U.S. in the programs that we provide. When I look at the programs from the rest of the world, a lot of them are physically based. I think it’s time for the rest of the world to wake up and look at stress and how to reduce stress in the workplace.”
Here are some other key findings of Buck’s wellness study.
- Globally, 66% of respondents have a formal wellness strategy, a significant increase from 49% in 2007.
- Wellness programs are most prevalent in North America, where 74% of responding employers offer them.
- The fastest-growing components of wellness programs are technology-driven tools. In three years, employers around the world expect a six-fold increase in their use of mobile technology—such as smartphones—to support employee wellness initiatives.
The survey was conducted in association with Pfizer, CIGNA, Wolf Kirsten International Health Consulting, and WorldatWork.