Employees consistently place wellness programs at the top of their wish lists, and more and more businesses are responding with enticing incentives. At the same time, however, a sizable number of employees are leaving those incentives on the table.
These are among the key findings from the latest wellness survey conducted by Fidelity Investments in Boston and the National Business Group on Health. The two organizations have teamed up since 2009 to analyze the growth and design of corporate health improvement programs. The big finding? Employers are increasing the wellness-based incentives they offer workers to a record $693 per employee, up from $594 in 2014 and $430 five years ago.
"It's extremely encouraging to see an ever-increasing number of companies embrace corporate wellness programs as a way to promote a healthy workforce," said Brian Marcotte, president and CEO of the NBGH. "As employers continue to look at ways to improve employee health and increase productivity, we expect to see employers continue to expand and evolve their wellness offerings, and find new and innovative ways to encourage employee participation levels and measure the success of their programs."
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Participation is growing among businesses of all sizes:
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79 percent of employers offer health improvement programs.
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Among those with more than 20,000 employees, average per-employee spending is $878.
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The average among businesses with between 5,000 and 20,000 employees is $661.
The three most popular programs this year are biometric screenings (72 percent of employers); health-risk assessments (70 percent) and physical activity programs (54 percent). Popular incentives include cash, gift cards and insurance discounts. However…
Only 47 percent of employees earned their full incentive amount in 2014, while another 26 percent earned a partial amount. This translates into millions of dollars of unclaimed incentives.
"The next challenge for companies is to continue to find ways to increase participation in these programs and encourage employees to earn the full incentive amount available to them, which will contribute to their financial well-being as well as their physical health," said Robert Kennedy, health & welfare practice leader with Fidelity's Benefits Consulting business. "The expanding use of wellness-based incentives demonstrates that employers are committed to health improvement programs and understand how they can contribute to a healthy workforce and reinforce corporate culture."
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Alan Goforth
Alan Goforth is a freelance writer in suburban Kansas City. In addition to freelancing for several publications, he has written a dozen books about sports and other topics.
