FitSense Australia Wellness Forum

Hi Ben

I agree. Many of the financial benefits of corporate wellness programs to organisations/businesses pay off in the medium-long term rather than the short term. This is because a lot of health improvements take time to make and so the positive impact of those improvements on productivity also takes time. But it stills seems curious that the fact that the return on investment in corporate wellness is not immediate constitutes a disincentive for some to invest in corporate wellness programs. It?s curious from two points of view. Firstly, most businesses or large organisations invest in products, services, programs on a medium-long term basis all the time, knowing that that investment up front will return greater profits in the medium-long term, and so this deferred return notion is not new to them. Secondly, even though many health improvements may take time to make and pay off to an organisation, there are studies which show that there are also short term improvements in how people feel and operate (including at work) once they start getting more healthy and fit. I think it is in both these respects that perhaps corporate organisations and businesses need more information.

In the case of the first point I think many organisations would benefit from more information about the value of investing in corporate wellness short term as well as medium-long term, and about staff being as worthy of investing in as any product, service or program. And in the case of the second point I think it would be good to provide organisations with more information on how small, short term and progressive changes in health and fitness may contribute to greater productivity on a short to longer term progressive or longitudinal basis.

jellybean.

bwisbey Wrote:JellyBean,

This is quite an indepth question and probably heavily dependent on the organisation in question. While there is a lot of research showing the benefits of workplace wellness programs, financial and otherwise, it is still a short term cost to the participating organisation. While financial benefits of wellness programs do exist, they are not immediate and may take 12+ months to become evident.

Additionally, the benefits may not be easily measured. Characteristics such as staff retention, attracting good staff and staff morale are difficult to objectively measure.

In these situations, the organisations is required to pay for the wellness program, while the financial rewards will become evident later down the line. It is an investment in the organisation's future, and while it makes good financial sense, not all organisations are in a position to cope with this short term cost.

There is also no doubt that some more traditional managers do not see the full benefits of proposed wellness programs. Despite the research, some managers definitely consider wellness programs to be a bit 'airy fairy'. A challenge definitely exists here to highlight the full benefits of programs.

I think we have really only touched on the surface of this one.

Ben

JellyBean,

This is quite an indepth question and probably heavily dependent on the organisation in question. While there is a lot of research showing the benefits of workplace wellness programs, financial and otherwise, it is still a short term cost to the participating organisation. While financial benefits of wellness programs do exist, they are not immediate and may take 12+ months to become evident.

Additionally, the benefits may not be easily measured. Characteristics such as staff retention, attracting good staff and staff morale are difficult to objectively measure.

In these situations, the organisations is required to pay for the wellness program, while the financial rewards will become evident later down the line. It is an investment in the organisation's future, and while it makes good financial sense, not all organisations are in a position to cope with this short term cost.

There is also no doubt that some more traditional managers do not see the full benefits of proposed wellness programs. Despite the research, some managers definitely consider wellness programs to be a bit 'airy fairy'. A challenge definitely exists here to highlight the full benefits of programs.

I think we have really only touched on the surface of this one.

Ben

There?s a growing body of financial evidence that shows that investing in corporate wellness programs reduces staff costs, enhances productivity and increases profits. Not only that, this fact has been promoted within business and health promotion circles for quite awhile now. It?s not ?new news?. However, a gap still seems to exist between the facts speaking for themselves and organisations taking the initiative to introduce corporate wellness programs into their workplaces. I wonder if the cost/benefit analysis is not presented or targeted in the right way for particular organisations or if too many of them don?t look far enough ahead in financial terms to grasp and then capitalise on the real financial benefit of corporate wellness programs.