The majority of international employers see a financial return of double what they spend on their wellness programme, according to a global survey with 2,000 HR leaders.
The findings, outlined in the Return on Wellbeing report from Wellhub (formerly Gympass), revealed that 56 percent of employers get more than $2 back for every $1 invested in employee wellbeing.
Nearly a quarter of companies (24 percent) within this group reported a return on investment (ROI) of 150 percent. “That’s a 2.5 return on investment — meaning if you invest $100,000 in workforce wellness, you’ll actually see a return of $250,000,” the report said.
This figure does not include other benefits reported by employers, such as improvements in employee satisfaction and a healthier workplace culture.
Among employers tracking the ROI of their wellbeing programme, 95 percent see positive returns, up from 90 percent recorded in last year’s report.
One ROI reported by nearly one in 10 (89 percent) HR leaders was that their wellbeing programme had actively reduced employee sick days. Within this group, 13 percent said it had reduced the average sickness absence by at least five days per employee.
Survey data showed that the more wellness perks an employer offered, the bigger its ROI. The report said this was particularly true when the number of options in a programme reaches six or more.
For example, employers offering two kinds of wellbeing support reported investment returns between zero and 50 percent. But employers with six programmes reported an ROI of 150 percent or more.
However, less than two fifths (39 percent) of HR leaders said they have a holistic wellness platform that includes six or more types of support.
“These findings align with the top wellness wisdom out there, showing us that wellbeing is a package deal. Drop the ball on any of the big eight — whether it’s physical, emotional, social, financial, intellectual, spiritual, [occupational] or environmental wellbeing — and your overall health takes a hit,” the report said.
Wellness can cover a wide range of benefits from access to an on-site fitness centre, a sleep or meditation app or financial wellbeing support through education sessions or discounts.
Livia Martini, chief people officer at Wellhub, and Bruno Annicq, chief financial officer at Wellhub both advocated building a culture of holistic wellbeing as the key to achieving the best investment returns.
“Wellness is not one thing — sleeping well, eating well, moving well, having good relationships, feeling self-confident, and so much more are all a part of your wellbeing,” they said.
“And these are not discrete categories. Your sleep impacts how well you exercise, and vice versa — how much you move impacts the quality of your sleep. Holistic programmes let employees kickstart a positive cycle where wellness begins to amplify itself.”
The report emphasised that holistic programmes are “more dynamic” because they offer more options that can support more aspects of wellbeing than a one-off benefit.
“If your benefits programme only includes a membership for your local gym, it leaves most of your staffers effectively without a wellbeing benefit,” said Martini and Annicq. “Giving employees the power of choice makes it easier to engage with the benefit.
“This is critical to maximising the ROI of wellness because a programme’s financial returns scale with its participation rates… healthier employees means healthier bottom lines.”
