Investing in employee wellness is a smart move, but how do you know if your programs are really making a difference? To see if your wellness benefits are working, you need to look beyond just who signed up. Discover the six key metrics that will help you measure the effectiveness of your wellness programs and demonstrate their value to your organization.
6 Key Metrics for Evaluating Your Wellness Benefits
To evaluate how well your programs are working, consider these six categories.
1. Participation: Are Employees Showing Up?
Participation is the most fundamental metric to track: How many employees sign up for your wellness programs? (While participation rates can vary, research suggests that around 40% of employees typically participate in these programs, showing room for improvement.)
Tracking participation is relatively easy. Wellness vendors often provide enrollment reports, and annual benefits surveys can help identify which programs employees use or ignore. Low participation may mean you need to improve communication or rethink what you’re offering.
2. Engagement: Are Employees Staying Involved?
Signing up for a program is one thing, but ongoing engagement is the real goal. Engagement shows how often and how much employees actually use the wellness benefits. Research shows that when employees actively participate in these programs, they feel much more connected to their workplace. In fact, 48% of employees who actively participate in wellness programs report higher levels of engagement.
3. Health Outcomes: Are Benefits Making a Difference?
The ultimate goal of wellness programs is to help employees get healthier, which can translate into fewer sick days and more productivity. To see if your programs are working, track things like fewer emergency room visits, lower rates of obesity, improved blood pressure, and decreased stress levels.
Working with your benefits providers and insurance companies is key to getting the data you need. For example, data from virtual care programs can show that people are going to the hospital less often. Increased use of mental health resources could indicate better stress management.
4. Employee Satisfaction: Are Employees Happy?
Employee wellness, engagement, and happiness are all closely linked. Are your wellness programs hitting the mark for your employees, or are there things you could be doing better?
Consider using anonymous surveys during benefits reviews or open enrollment to gauge satisfaction levels. Ask some simple questions like:
- Does the company’s wellness program actually help you?
- What wellness programs have been most valuable to you?
Both ratings and open-ended questions can give you valuable feedback, allowing you to make sure your programs are what your employees want and need.
5. Retention: Are Wellness Programs Reducing Turnover?
Happy, healthy employees are more likely to stay with their employer. Companies with strong wellness programs often see a significant decrease in employee turnover, with some studies showing a reduction of up to 11%.
While wellness programs aren’t the only factor influencing turnover, exit interviews and surveys can provide helpful insights. For example, if many employees mention stress or lack of support as reasons for leaving, it might signal a need to improve your mental health resources or work-life balance initiatives.
6. ROI: Are Wellness Benefits Paying Off?
Every wellness initiative is an investment, so it’s important to see if it’s paying off. While you may not see the immediate financial benefits, well-designed programs can save your company money. The reasoning is simple: healthier employees use fewer healthcare resources, which means lower costs for your company.
Track metrics like reduced healthcare claims and sick time to see these savings. This data will highlight the financial benefits of your wellness programs and support ongoing investment.
Don’t Forget Communication: Are Your Employees Informed?
Even the best wellness programs can fall flat if employees don’t know about them. Effective communication is key to boosting participation and engagement. Simple, low-cost strategies like offering incentives, running workplace fitness challenges, or promoting benefits through creative campaigns can make a big difference.
Measure, Refine, Succeed
Measuring wellness success goes beyond tracking participation rates. By analyzing some key metrics, you can uncover what’s working and where there’s room for improvement. With the right data, you can create programs that deliver real results that matter to employees and your bottom line.
Aaptiv: Your Trusted Wellness Platform for Scalable Solutions
Aaptiv’s all-in-one, affordable solution offers seamless administration, tracks employee engagement, and delivers personalized programs tailored to every fitness level. With an extensive selection of over 10,000 on-demand classes spanning 16 fitness and wellness categories, plus access to a network of over 20,000 national and local gyms, employees get exactly what they want and need to improve their health and well-being.
Learn more about Aaptiv employee fitness and wellness solutions.
