Alicia Dobrzeniecki is a Senior IT Vendor Management Professional at Humana where she works with various IT vendors to improve efficiency and promote innovation at the organization. She has a Doctor of Business Administration degree, focused on Technology Entrepreneurship, and completed her doctoral study on the effectiveness of workplace wellness programs. Her passion is in workplace wellness, and she has previously worked with over 20,000 employers as a well-being and engagement consultant. Upon the completion of her doctoral study, she can provide interesting findings on workplace wellness program effectiveness.
Introduction: Ineffective workplace health and well-being (HWB) programs prevent organizations from improving health care and medical cost trends. Decreased productivity can lead to losses of $1,100 per employee each year (Bailey et al., 2018). For workplace HWB programs to be effective and to produce cost-savings, they must produce behavior change for individuals and culture change for organizations.
This commentary examines the relationship between engagement, the kind of workplace HWB initiatives offered, and HWB program effectiveness. Data were collected from 146 organizations who completed the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) Health and Well-being Best Practices Scorecard in Collaboration with Mercer© (HERO Scorecard), Version 4.0 in full. The scores were calculated based on practices related to workplace wellness engagement level, kind of workplace wellness initiatives (including the type and number of initiatives offered), and the effectiveness of workplace wellness programs (as assessed via a full list of questions and practices listed below). The scores for each unique variable were added and statistical analyses were performed using multiple linear regression.
Specific practices included in the workplace wellness engagement level were related to leadership support of health and well-being (6.5 points), whether the organization’s health engagement strategy primarily focuses on increasing employees’ “intrinsic motivation” to improve or maintain their health (5.5 points), and how effective their program’s participation strategies are in encouraging employees to participate in HWB programs (3.5 points). A maximum of 15.5 points could be earned for this variable.
The kind of workplace wellness initiatives offered was calculated from practices related to organizational policies related to employee HWB (8.0 points), an organization’s physical (built) environment (6.5 points), organizational resources that support managing HWB (3.5 points), and whether the organization offers a disease management (DM) program addressing various chronic conditions (3.5 points). A maximum of 21.5 points could be earned for this variable.
Finally, workplace wellness program effectiveness was calculated from practices related to the extent by which an organization’s HWB program is viewed by senior leadership as connected to broader business results (3.0 points), the perceived effectiveness of the organization’s strategic planning process for HWB (2.5 points), support strategies in promoting the HWB of employees (4.5 points), the HWB programs in promoting a healthier workforce (4.0 points), the extent by which the integration between health-related vendors or programs contributes to the success of the HWB program (3.0 points), and the data management and evaluation activities in terms of how they contribute to the success of your organization’s HWB program (6.0 points). A maximum of 23 points could be earned for this variable.
Results: Both workplace wellness engagement and the kind of workplace wellness initiatives offered made a statistically significant contribution to the effectiveness of workplace wellness programs. The model significantly predicted workplace wellness program effectiveness, indicating that higher engagement and multiple types (variety) of workplace wellness initiatives offered led to the workplace wellness program being perceived as more effective. Workplace wellness engagement level (at 54.3%) accounted for a higher contribution to workplace program effectiveness than the kind of workplace wellness initiatives offered, (at 29.8%), which included the number and type of initiatives.
Recommendations and Opportunities for Improvement: These results affirm that the kind of workplace wellness initiatives that work best are those in which employees actively engage. A key recommendation for workplace HWB program managers is to emphasize employee engagement in workplace HWB programs and choose the appropriate initiatives to ensure workplace HWB program effectiveness. One way to ensure engagement is by choosing appropriate initiatives that meet the needs of the population. Employers can better understand their employee needs by administering a needs assessment, employee engagement surveys, or interviewing their employees. Organizations can also analyze the data related to employee health assessments, medical claims, biometric risks, and social determinants of health (if available) to better understand the needs of their employees.
Research has also shown that costs associated with employee HWB can be decreased by creating and implementing individualized workplace HWB initiatives that are more likely to engage employees and produce results (Dobrzeniecki, 2022). The potential for improved health and well-being within the U.S. workforce is evident based (Dobrzeniecki, 2022). If employers focus on engagement and choosing the right kind of initiatives to offer their employees, the health and well-being withing the U.S. workforce could show positive improvements.
References
Bailey, M. M., Coller, R. K., & Pollack Porter, K. M. (2018). A qualitative study of facilitators and barriers to implementing worksite policies that support physical activity. BMC Public Health, 18, Article 1145. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-6045-x
Dobrzeniecki, A. (2022). Relationship between employee engagement, kind of initiatives, and workplace wellness program effectiveness. (Doctoral study). Pending availability in ProQuest Dissertation and Theses database.
Questions included in each factor assessed:
Workplace Wellness Engagement Level
(Max Points for Variable 15.5 points)
- Which of the following describes your leadership’s support of health and well-being?
Check all that apply. (6.50 points)
- Leadership development includes the business relevance of worker health and wellbeing (0.93 points)
- Leaders actively participate in programs (0.93 points)
- Leaders are role models for prioritizing health and work-life balance (for example, they do not send emails while on vacation, they take activity breaks during the workday, etc.) (0.93 points)
- Leaders publicly recognize employees for healthy actions and outcomes (0.93 points)
- Leaders are held accountable for supporting the health and well-being of their employees (0.93 points)
- Leaders hold their front-line managers accountable for supporting the health and well-being of their employees (0.93 points)
- A senior leader has authority to take action to achieve the organization’s goals for employee health and well-being (0.93 points)
- None of the above (0.00 points)
- Does your health engagement strategy intentionally and primarily focus on increasing
employees’ “intrinsic motivation” to improve or maintain their health? By this, we mean that
your program and communication strategies focus on increasing the internal value employees
associate with health, independent of any direct financial rewards. Some examples of
internal value or intangible rewards would be a sense of accomplishment, social involvement,
recognition or a connection to a cause. (5.50 points)
- Yes, using intrinsic motivation as the reward is the primary focus of our engagement strategy (5.50 points)
- No, our program may provide some intrinsic rewards but it’s not a primary focus of our engagement strategy (0.00 points)
- Taken all together, how effective are your program’s participation strategies in encouraging
employees to participate in programs, monitor their biometrics or activity levels, or take
other action to improve their health? (3.50 points)
- Very effective (3.50 points)
- Effective (2.30 points)
- Not very effective (1.20 points)
- Not at all effective (0.00 points)
Kind of Workplace Wellness Initiatives
(Max Points for Variable 21.5 points)
- Does your organization have any of the following policies relating to employee health and wellbeing? Check all that apply. (8.00 points)
- Allow employees to take work time for physical activity (1.00 points)
- Provide opportunities for employees to use work time for stress management and rejuvenation (1.00 points)
- Support healthy eating choices (for example, by requiring healthy options at company sponsored events) (1.00 points)
- Encourage the use of community resources for health and well-being (for example, community gardens, recreational facilities, health education resources) (1.00 points)
- Tobacco-free workplace or campus (2.00 points)
- Policies promoting responsible alcohol use (1.00 points)
- Support work-life balance (for example, with flex time or job share options) (1.00 points)
- None of the above (0.00 points)
- Does your company’s physical (“built”) environment include any of the following? Check all
that apply. (6.50 points)
- Healthy eating choices are available and easy to access (for example, healthy options in cafeteria or vending machines, cafeteria design that encourages healthy choices) (1.63 points)
- Physical activity is explicitly encouraged by features or resources in the work environment (such as a gym, walking trails, standing desks) (1.63 points)
- Stress management and mental recovery breaks are supported (for example, with “quiet” areas or gardens) (1.63 points)
- Safety is a priority within the environment (for example, ergonomic design, lighting, safety rails, etc.) (1.63 points)
- None of the above (0.00 points)
- Does your organization provide any of the following resources to support individuals in
managing their overall health and well-being? Check all that apply. (3.50 points)
- Onsite or near-site medical clinic (0.35 points)
- Employee assistance program (EAP) (0.35 points)
- Childcare and/or elder care assistance (0.35 points)
- Initiatives to support a psychologically healthy workforce (for example, resiliency training) (0.35 points)
- Legal or financial management assistance (0.35 points)
- Information about community health resources (0.35 points)
- Health advocacy program (0.35 points)
- Executive health program (0.35 points)
- Medical decision support program (0.35 points)
- Nurse advice line service (0.35 points)
- None of the above (0.00 points)
- Does your organization offer a disease management (DM) program — whether through the
health plan or a specialty vendor — that addresses any of the following conditions? Check all
that apply. (capped at 3.50 points)
- Arthritis (3.50 points)
- Asthma (3.50 points)
- Autoimmune disorders (multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.) (3.50 points)
- Cancer (3.50 points)
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (3.50 points)
- Congestive heart failure (CHF) (3.50 points)
- Coronary artery disease (CAD) (3.50 points)
- Depression (3.50 points)
- Diabetes (3.50 points)
- Maternity (3.50 points)
- Metabolic syndrome (3.50 points)
- Musculoskeletal/back pain (3.50 points)
- Obesity (3.50 points)
- We don’t offer any DM programs (0.00 points)
Workplace Wellness Program Effectiveness
(Max Points for Variable 23 points)
- To what extent is your health and well-being program viewed by senior leadership as
connected to broader business results, such as increased revenue, profitability, overall
success and sustainability? (3.00 points)
- To a great extent (3.00 points)
- To some extent (1.50 points)
- Not seen as connected (0.00 points)
- Taken all together, how effective is the strategic planning process for health and well-being in
your organization? (2.50 points)
- Very effective (2.50 points)
- Effective (1.67 points)
- Not very effective (0.83 points)
- Not at all effective (0.00 points)
- Taken all together, how effective are your current organizational support strategies in
promoting the health and well-being of employees? (4.50 points)
- Very effective (4.50 points)
- Effective (3.00 points)
- Not very effective (1.50 points)
- Not at all effective (0.00 points)
- Taken all together, how effective are your health and well-being programs in promoting a
healthier workforce? (4.00 points)
- Very effective (4.00 points)
- Effective (2.67 points)
- Not very effective (1.33 points)
- Not at all effective (0.00 points)
- Taken all together, to what extent do you think the integration between your health-related
vendors or programs contributes to the success of the health and well-being program? (3.00 points)
- Program integration contributes very significantly to success (3.00 points)
- Contributes significantly (2.00 points)
- Contributes somewhat (1.00 points)
- Does not contribute (0.00 points)
- Taken all together, how effective are your data management and evaluation activities in terms of how they contribute to the success of your organization’s health and well-being program? (6.00 points)
- Very effective (6.00 points)
- Effective (4.00 points)
- Not very effective (2.00 points)
- Not at all effective (0.00 points)
