2013 benefit strategies wellness-initiatives

SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives

December 18, 2013

• This is part one of a series of SHRM survey findings examining employee benefits in the workplace.

• The following topics are included in the six-part series titled State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace:

» Part 1: Wellness initiatives » Part 2: Flexible work arrangements» Part 3: Health care» Part 4: Leveraging benefits to retain employees» Part 5: Leveraging benefits to recruit employees» Part 6: Communicating benefits

2State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2013

Introduction

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• For the purpose of this survey, wellness initiatives are any type of wellness program, resource or service offered to employees. Financial education initiatives are defined as any workplace initiative, program or resource designed to provide employees with information on how to effectively manage their financial resources for a lifetime of financial well-being.

State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2013

Definitions

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• How many organizations offer wellness programs, wellness resources or wellness services to their employees? Almost three-quarters (72%) of organizations offer some type of wellness program, resource or service to their employees. Among these organizations, 56% reported an increase of employee participation in wellness initiatives in 2012 compared with 2011.

• Do organizations conduct analysis on their wellness initiatives? Only one-fifth (20%) of organizations that have wellness initiatives conduct an analysis to determine the return on investment (ROI), whereas slightly more than one-fourth (27%) of them conduct an analysis to determine cost savings achieved by their wellness initiatives.

• How effective are wellness initiatives? Nearly three-quarters (71%) of organizations that offer wellness initiatives indicated they were “very effective” or “somewhat effective” in reducing the costs of health care. Additionally, roughly three-quarters (76%) of organizations offering wellness initiatives rated their initiatives as being “very effective” or “somewhat effective” in improving the physical health of their employees.

• Do organizations offer wellness incentives or rewards? Over one-half (56%) of organizations offered wellness incentives or rewards to their employees. Of these organizations, 82% of them indicated these incentives/rewards were “very effective” or “somewhat effective” in increasing employee participation in their organization’s wellness initiatives.

Key Findings


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• Wellness initiatives could mean a “win-win” for both employees and employers. The majority of organizations that offer wellness initiatives perceive that they are effective in improving employees’ overall physical health (e.g., initiatives encouraging preventive health). Moreover, wellness programs are often extended to the employees’ dependents, which has further implications for creating a healthy and more productive workforce. Financial wellness is also an area that organizations are finding has an impact on reducing employee stress. Fewer than two out of 10 organizations, however, are aligning their employee wellness initiatives with their financial education initiatives. This may be an area that could be explored further by organizations that are already engaging in wellness initiatives of some kind.

• More employees are taking advantage of the wellness programs, wellness resources or wellness services that their employers offer. Over one-half of organizations that offer wellness initiatives noted an increase in employee participation in these initiatives. Furthermore, organizations reported that offering wellness incentives or rewards was effective in getting employees involved in these programs. The challenge remains in quantifying the impact of wellness programs. Organizations indicated that they would be more likely to invest in wellness initiatives if they could measure the impact. Fewer than three out of 10 organizations measure the ROI or the cost savings associated with wellness initiatives, though 71% perceived that wellness initiatives are “somewhat” or “very effective” in reducing the costs of health care.

What do these findings mean for the HR profession?


State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2013 6

No

Yes

30%

70%

28%

72%

2013 (n = 405)2012 (n = 437)

Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

Does your organization currently offer any type of wellness programs, wellness resources or wellness services to your employees?

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Does your organization currently offer any types of wellness programs, wellness resources or wellness services to your employees?

Comparisons by organization staff size

100 to 499 employees (72%)2,500 to 24,999 employees (85%) > 1 to 99 employees (53%)

Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

Comparisons by organization staff size

• Organizations with 100 to 24,999 employees are more likely than organizations with 1 to 99 employees to offer wellness programs, wellness resources or wellness services to their employees.



Decreased

Remained the same

Increased

3%

54%

43%

3%

60%

37%

2013 (n = 290)2012 (n = 302)

How did your organization’s investment in employee wellness initiatives change in this fiscal year compared with last fiscal year?

Note: Only respondents whose organizations provided any type of wellness programs, wellness resources or wellness services were asked this question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.


No

Yes

77%

23%

80%

20%

2013 (n = 214)2012 (n = 226)


Did your organization conduct an analysis to determine the return on investment (ROI) for its wellness initiatives last year?


Not at all effective

Not very effective

Somewhat effective

Very effective

2%

13%

60%

24%

0%

5%

66%

29%

2013 (n = 38)2012 (n = 45)

How effective is your organization at determining the return on investment (ROI) for its wellness initiatives?

Note: Only respondents whose organizations provided any type of wellness programs, wellness resources or wellness service and conducted an analysis to determine the return on investment (ROI) for its wellness initiatives were asked this question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding.


No

Yes

72%

28%

73%

27%

2013 (n = 215)2012 (n = 230)

Did your organization conduct an analysis to determine cost savings for its wellness initiatives last year?




Not very effective

Somewhat effective

Very effective

0%

11%

56%

33%

0%

12%

57%

31%

2013 (n = 51)2012 (n = 45)

How effective is your organization at determining cost savings for its wellness initiatives?

Note: Only respondents whose organizations provided any type of wellness programs, wellness resources or wellness and conducted an analysis to determine cost savings for its wellness initiatives were asked this question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.


Decreased

Remained the same

Increased

6%

40%

54%

4%

40%

56%

2013 (n = 222)2012 (n = 226)

How did employee participation in your organization’s wellness initiatives change last year compared with the year before?




Not very effective

Somewhat effective

Very effective

1%

32%

58%

10%

7%

22%

60%

11%

2013 (n = 151)2012 (n = 145)

How effective are your organization’s wellness initiatives in reducing the costs of health care?

Note: Only respondents whose organizations provided any type of wellness programs, wellness resources or wellness services were asked this question. Respondents who answered “not sure” or “not applicable” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding.



Not very effective

Somewhat effective

Very effective

2%

13%

74%

12%

3%

20%

66%

10%

2013 (n = 229)2012 (n = 188)

How effective are your organization’s wellness initiatives in improving the physical health of your employees?

Note: Only respondents whose organizations provided any type of wellness programs, wellness resources or wellness services were asked this question. Respondents who answered “not sure” or “not applicable” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.


No

Yes

43%

57%

44%

56%

2013 (n = 268)2012 (n = 284)

Did your organization offer some type of wellness incentive or reward last year?




Not very effective

Somewhat effective

Very effective

1%

13%

55%

31%

2%

16%

62%

20%

2013 (n = 140)2012 (n = 140)

How effective were these wellness incentives or rewards in increasing participation in your employee wellness initiatives?

Note: Only respondents whose organizations provided any type of wellness programs, wellness resources or wellness services and offered some type of wellness incentive or reward were asked this question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.


No

Yes

10%

90%

16%

84%

2013 (n = 165)2012 (n = 186)


Would your organization increase its investment in employee wellness initiatives if it could better quantify their impact?


No

Yes

55%

45%

55%

45%

2013 (n = 261)2012 (n = 186)

Are any of your organization’s wellness initiatives extended to dependents?



Non-dependent children

Dependent grandchildren

Foster children

Opposite-sex domestic partners

Same-sex domestic partners

Dependent children

Spouses

17%

27%

36%

48%

58%

69%

99%

23%

38%

52%

58%

61%

75%

98%

2013 (n = 85-115)2012 (n = 112-129)

Please indicate if your organization’s wellness initiatives are extended to any of the following groups:

Note: Only respondents whose organizations provided any type of wellness programs, wellness resources or wellness services and extended wellness initiatives to employees’ dependents were asked this question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.


No

Yes

83%

17%

81%

19%

2013 (n = 340)

Are your organization’s employee wellness initiatives aligned with any financial education initiatives?


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Demographics



1 to 99 employees

100 to 499 employees

500 to 2,499 employees

2,500 to 24,999 employees

25,000 or more employees

33%

32%

17%

12%

6%

Demographics: Organization Staff Size

n = 363


Privately owned for-profit

Nonprofit organization

Publicly owned for-profit

Government sector

Other

51%

24%

12%

11%

2%

Demographics: Organization Sector

n = 377


Percentage

Professional, scientific and technical services 21%Health care and social assistance 17%Manufacturing 15%Government agencies 12%Finance and insurance 10%Educational services 9%Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional and similar organizations 5%Accommodation and food services 4%Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services 4%Construction 4%Mining 4%Transportation and warehousing 4%Arts, entertainment and recreation 3%Information 3%Retail trade 3%Real estate and rental and leasing 2%Repair and maintenance 2%Utilities 2%Whole trade 2%Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 1%Personal and laundry services 1%Other 7%

Demographics: Organization Industry

Note: n = 375. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.


Demographics: Other

U.S.-based operations only 80%

Multinational operations 20%

Single-unit organization: An organization in which the location and the organization are one and the same. 39%

Multi-unit organization: An organization that has more than one location. 61%

Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices. 59%

Each work location determines HR policies and practices. 4%

A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices.

37%

Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization?

For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work location or by both?

Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only, or does it operate multinationally?

n = 381 n = 381

n = 244

Corporate (company-wide) 73%

Business unit/division 16%

Facility/location 11%

n = 244

What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey?


SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives

• Response rate = 11%

• 441 HR professional respondents from a randomly selected sample of SHRM’s membership participated in this survey

• Margin of error +/- 5%

• Survey fielded May 3-22, 2013

Survey Methodology


Additional SHRM Resources

• SHRM Research Findings: Workplace Wellness Initiatives

• Wellness Benefits Resource Page

• Designing and Managing Wellness Programs

• Wellness Initiatives Can Ease the Pain of Rising Benefits Costs

• What Level of Impact Fits Your Wellness Plan?

• Federal Tax Implications of Wellness Incentives and Rewards

http://www.shrm.org/research/surveyfindings/articles/pages/workplace-wellness-initiatives.aspx

http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/Pages/WellnessBenefits.aspx

http://www.shrm.org/templatestools/toolkits/pages/designingandmanagingwellnessprograms.aspx

http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/articles/pages/easethepain.aspx

http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/benefits/articles/pages/wellnessimpact.aspx

http://www.shrm.org/legalissues/federalresources/pages/federal-tax-implications-wellness.aspx

About SHRM Research

• For more survey/poll findings, visit www.shrm.org/surveys

• For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit www.shrm.org/customizedresearch

• Follow us on Twitter @SHRM_Research

Project leaders:Christina Lee, researcher, SHRM Research

Project contributors:Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM ResearchEvren Esen, manager, Survey Research Center, SHRM Research

Copy editor:Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center


http://www.shrm.org/surveys

http://www.shrm.org/customizedresearch

http://twitter.com/SHRM_Research

http://twitter.com/SHRM_Research

About SHRM

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world’s largest association devoted to human resource management. Representing more than 250,000 members in over 140 countries, the Society serves the needs of HR professionals and advances the interests of the HR profession. Founded in 1948, SHRM has more than 575 affiliated chapters within the United States and subsidiary offices in China, India and United Arab Emirates.


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