The cost of a wellness program and the benefits of implementing one

More than 80 percent of employers have some type of wellness program at their facility. The goal of a wellness program is to help employees lose weight, quit smoking, or improve their health in some way. Employers are losing billions of dollars a year in
lost wages, health care costs, and production costs.

What is the cost of implementing a wellness program? It depends upon how extensive you want to be with your wellness program. Most companies find that implementing a wellness program is worth every dollar they invest in fact, some companies have seen a $24 return for every $1 they invest in the wellness program, other see about a $10 return for every $1 invested. This is quite an impressive number for any business.

The benefits of implementing a wellness program are just as impressive. Healthy employees use their health insurance less and they are less likely to take time off work. Obese employees use all of their sick leave plus an additional 3 days each year. Smoking employees use the same amount and they also visit the doctor frequently. Around $12.7 billion dollars is lost on production costs and healthcare costs due to employees that are unhealthy.

In order for a wellness program to be effective, you must get your employees to participate. You need the support and participation of every staff member to have the program work; it wouldn't look too good for your company if you are the only person participating in the program. Even the employees that are in good health need to participate in the wellness program in order for it to be worth your investment.

Some companies have tried implementing mandatory employee participation, others allow for volunteer employee participation in a wellness program. The bad part about mandatory employee participation is you will have some employees that flat out refuse to participate in the wellness program. A railroad company tried to make their workers stretch and do warm-ups before they started work and the employees did not agree with it so they threatened to strike. Since the employees threatened to strike, the company stopped the wellness program and they had to re-think a new wellness program.

The best type of wellness program will encourage employees to live a healthier lifestyle using incentives to motivate them. Employers will give their employees cash and other rewards if they lose weight or quit smoking or if they simply take steps towards improving their health. If the employees continue this pattern of healthy living, you can increase the compensation you give them. It is much easier to get your employees to participate in a wellness program if they know and understand they will be rewarded for it.

Successful wellness programs only happen when your employees feel your support and encouragement. Send emails to your staff members and praise them for their hard work. Some companies even send letters to their staff members to encourage them to keep working hard to lose weight or change their lifestyle to live healthier. Coors is one company that does this. Coors actually mails out nice letters to their staff members to praise them for working hard and for participating in the wellness program. This increases employee morale and in turn it boosts sales for the company.

While the cost may seem like a big investment to start, it will save you billions of dollars a year so it's a wise decision to participate in a wellness program now before you have too many employees increase your healthcare costs. If all else fails, start charging your employees for their lifestyle choices. When they know they have to pay more because they are overweight, they will have a little extra motivation to lose the weight or pay up!