What's the ROI of Corporate Wellness Programs?

When people ask me about the ROI of corporate wellness programs, my first question back is always: which program? ROI stands for return on investment, and most of us hear that and immediately think about money. That's fair. But before we can talk about what you get back, we need to talk about what you're actually measuring, and what else is going on in your company while you measure it.

What You Can Actually Get Back

There are real returns, and the list is huge. Some of them are financial, and you can estimate them:

• Time saved

• Fewer days off

• Not having to hire as many people

• People being more productive

And some are harder to put a number on, but you feel them:

• People being more present

• Better leaders

• Better problem solvers

• Fewer personal sensitivities at work

• Loyalty

You often hear that for every dollar you spend, you get $3 back. But is that $3 more in the bank? Maybe not. It's more likely $3 in savings, because people are more productive, take fewer days off, and stay.

When people get hired, they want to hear that they're getting a salary and a whole bunch of extras. That's exciting, especially when you're not a manager and you maybe don't get shares or bonuses. Just knowing the company cares makes a really big difference.

And the investment doesn't have to be huge. A good program can cost less than losing one employee and having to hire someone back. If you're wondering how much to invest in employee wellness, I've written about that too.

Corporate Wellness Programs Cover More Than You Think

The simple word "corporate wellness" covers such a huge span that you can't possibly answer the ROI question in one fell swoop.

Most people think about the body and mental health. Learning how to eat, how to breathe, how to move. Are you overwhelmed? Are you taking care of yourself? Can you deal with change? That's all really important. But there's so much more:

• Social connection. People are remote. Are they still connecting? Are they isolated? Are they emotionally okay?

• Environment. Are people going into an office where only 25% of the team is there, and it just feels empty?

• Purpose. Do people feel like their job has purpose? Are managers showing them how they're a player within the team, and how the team is a player within the company?

Then there's how it's delivered. Corporate wellness is how you take care of yourself before you're unwell, so you keep feeling good for a long time. It's also how you take care of people after they're unwell, like EAP programs and therapy, which need to be there too. It's one-to-one and one-to-many. It's live, recorded, during work hours, outside. Each one of these has a different return on investment.

Asking about the ROI of corporate wellness is a bit like asking what two pieces of fruit a day will do for your body. You can't possibly know. You might be eating two pieces of fruit and four chocolate bars, or two pieces of fruit plus a salad and working out all the time. You need the whole picture.

Why "It Didn't Work" Often Means "Nobody Went"

I hesitate to bring up yoga here, because it's what everybody thinks of when they think of corporate wellness, and it's just not the whole story. I'm using it because it's something everyone understands.

I might read an article that says there's no proof corporate yoga programs help reduce stress and anxiety. Well, there's no proof any corporate program would, unless we know people are attending and it's done properly. There's tons of proof out there that yoga helps with stress and anxiety. It's just not for everyone, and a lot of companies don't roll it out properly.

As a yoga teacher for a long time, I know what it's like to walk into a class that's full and one that isn't. I know what it's like to give a talk at a company that really promoted it, and at one that didn't promote it at all. It comes down to how much is done internally to get people there, and whether leaders are telling people to go and use the program. People don't go when their boss isn't going, because they don't want to look like they're slacking off. And it doesn't have to be yoga. It could be anything.

So when nobody comes, ask why:

• Are leaders going, or do people feel they have to be at their desk?

• Is it at 7 o'clock in the morning when people don't arrive until 9?

• Is it during the lunch hour, when people are supposed to be eating?

• Is the room uninviting, or the level wrong for the group?

• Did anyone even tell them why they'd go?

In my experience, if you have an office of 100 people, maybe 15 to 25 will be interested in any one thing. Then you have to contend with all the reasons people don't come. Things come up last minute. They don't want to change their clothes. Let's face it, we always want to do the thing that's easier. Then a company looks at absences and how many people quit, sees the numbers are the same or higher, and says the program didn't work.

What to Measure, and What Actually Works

First, decide which program you're measuring. Is it one and done, or a robust program with varied options, like 90-day corporate wellness programs? I don't think one yoga class a week, one virtual experience, or getting everybody out for a walk is going to change people's loyalty to a company or how they're doing at work.

Second, look at the company itself. You need a baseline. If you roll out a program and people are bombarded with work, or led in a way that isn't kind and supportive, it doesn't matter what your program is. You could spend $1 million and it wouldn't make a difference. You can't teach people to deal with stress, then load a whole bunch of work on them and think they're going to handle it better. What we're trying to do is keep the work the same and help people manage it better. Learning how to discern, prioritize, delegate, all of it.

Third, be transparent. Articles often say wellness providers don't give feedback on the lift they're having. But in many cases, companies won't let you see the other things that are going on, so it's a moving target. The company and whoever runs the program need to be open with each other.

Then build something that has a real chance of working:

• Make it a diversified program. It should speak to different people and different problems. Some people will never go to a live webinar. Others will never use therapy at work, an open door policy or a mentorship program, because they're worried about privacy and that people will talk about them.

• Run it on company time. Not homework after a long business day, and not another online test that everybody rushes through just to get it done.

• Let employees be involved. Don't make it feel like work, and don't just tell people what to do. It's not only what you roll out, it's how you roll it out.

• Teach more than stress management. How to communicate, how to lead, how to manage emotions. Give people a chance to feel open and share their ideas.

• Keep adjusting. Try it, assess it, come back to it, and keep massaging it until you find what works for your company. Just because something worked for your neighbour doesn't mean it'll work for you.

It's not about bigger or smaller. An amazing virtual talk with an incredible teacher, or a corporate wellness keynote speaker, can cost less than buying everybody lunch when you spread it across the team. Or you can buy everyone digital watches, apps, walking programs and prizes, and still only reach that same 25%. The right program is the one that fits your company, what you can afford, and how much time you can give. That's where workplace wellbeing consulting comes in. If you're looking at corporate wellness program pricing, that's a good place to start.

This is how I approach the corporate wellness programs in Toronto that I build with teams.

If you're trying to figure out what that looks like for your team, I'm happy to talk.