Measuring the overall success of any wellness program can be complicated business. Luckily, these seven key metrics can help get you started:
- Utilization by employees
- Positive feedback from employees
- Reduction of overall health insurance costs
- Overall improvement in employee satisfaction
- Requests for additional programs
- Reduction in sick days and absentees
- Employees’ likelihood to recommend the program
There is not a one-size-fits-all measurement strategy for all organizations, but these provide a good starting point for discussion. So; review your goals, check off what you completed and reflect on just how far you’ve come in the last year.
In nearly every other aspect of business, the C-Suite has an intense focus on the Return on Investment (ROI) of every strategic initiative they put forward. Unfortunately, in many organizations, the wellness program doesn’t have adequate tools to take the same approach with their initiatives.
According to the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP), only 28% of the organizations they surveyed measure the ROI on corporate wellness programs. Equally surprising, the same survey determined that only 6% of CFOs said that their companies assess the ROI of their health benefits at all. Furthermore, according to our Healthiest Employers Award program, 77% of Healthiest Employers can’t measure an ROI on their wellness programs.
At Total Wellness, we’re obsessed with health analytics, and we find this fact unacceptable. We believe that every single organization in America should actively monitor the efficacy of their wellness initiatives, whether that means tracking ROI or tracking their health outcomes.
Proactive wellness programs which use a heavy dose of data in decision-making can become one of the most effective means by which you can lower your healthcare costs. That’s why we wanted to give you the tools that you need to effectively measure the ROI of your wellness initiatives, and dig deeper to better understand the efficacy of your wellness program beyond simple dollars and cents.