While all corporate wellness programs are aimed at improving the health of an organisation’s employees, the underlying goal for the organisation is to get a financial benefit from the program. A recent post from the HR Benefits Alert focused on how long it takes for a wellness program to pay off.

While this is an American perspective, some of the key points were:

• It takes approximately 18 months from the start of the program to see a financial benefit. It is at this point that the improved health of the employee outweighs the cost of implementing the program;
• The long-term cost saving from wellness program is largely driven by how much of the organisation spends on the program. Generally organisations that spend more get a greater return. Basically this means if you are going to implement a program, you are best implementing a comprehensive program;
• A program which cost approximately AUD$100 per year per employee will take about three years and kill significant financial savings are seen.

In summary, this means that if you are looking to implement an effective health and wellness program for your organisation, it is recommended that you implement a comprehensive and thorough program over the long term.