Measuring Impact
Previously, we covered the topic of “Measuring the Success of Your Wellness Program” in terms of ROI and VOI. When it comes down to it, the success of your wellness program can only be determined once you define what “wellbeing” means to your organization. You must also set goals on what you hope to see improvement in, whether that is the health of your employees, healthcare costs, employee engagement, or job satisfaction. To expand on the topic, we’ve listed 5 ways top wellness companies are measuring the success and overall impact of their wellness programs as outlined by Core Health Technologies.
5 Way To Measure Impact
- Pulse Surveys: CoreHealth Technologies explains that pulse surveys are short but frequent. The goal is to measure one aspect of a person’s experience over time. They recommend 5-10 questions that are both closed and open-ended. This allows you to receive qualitative and quantitative insights on what employees are responding to and what they would like to see changed. The most important thing, though, is that you take action on those insights.
- Interviews: While they are more time consuming than surveys, interviews allow for a personal and in depth understanding of how your wellness program is affecting individual employees. You also gain a better understanding of their health goals, which allows you to make any necessary program adjustments.
- Net Promoter Score: Net Promoter Scores are typically used to measure customer satisfaction, however CoreHealth Technologies explains that they can be used to measure employee engagement and health outcomes from wellness programs as well. Simply customize the questions to what you are wanting to measure and have employees rate the answer on a scale of 1 to 10. For example, you could ask how likely employees are to recommend their workplace wellness program to others or how much they believe the wellness program has improved their over health.
- Absenteeism Rate: One of the many benefits of wellness programs is that they lower the rate of absenteeism. The formula for measuring the absenteeism rate is: (Average # of Employees X Missed Work Days) / (Average # of Employees X Total Work Days). CoreHealth Technologies recommends measuring your absenteeism rate now and continue to measure it after implementing or enhancing your wellness program. If you are not seeing the results you are wanting, you can try conducting pulse surveys and interviews to understand why.
- Health Insurance Costs: This one may seem obvious, but it is important to be specific when it comes to measuring the change in your healthcare costs overtime. It is recommended to track everything, including in-patient costs, out-patient costs, use of prescription drugs, and employee frequency of use of healthcare services to truly see if your wellness program is having an impact on the overall health of employees. Keep in mind the results may not be immediate, CoreHealth Technologies cites a U.S. Chamber of Commerce report when they state that wellness programs can lead to an ROI of between $1.50 to $3 per dollar invested over 2 to 9 years.
For more information on wellness programs and measuring results, visit CoreHealth Technologies or our website!
