HR leaders are feeling the pressure to decrease their wellness and benefits costs. This begs the question: how many CFOs and C-suite executives view wellbeing programs as a cost as opposed to a profitable investment?

Organisations often tell us that they struggle to measure the ROI of their wellness programs. When leaders are unconvinced wellness programs will have a lasting impact, it’s not surprising they may hesitate to invest.

What’s in the report?

We share Lockton’s expert observations, along with those of Healthy Business, (opens a new window) where we have helped employers maximise the attraction, retention, and productivity of their workforces through wellbeing programs that deliver ROI.

We also highlight crucial HR metrics and a simple formula to help you start calculating the broader impact wellbeing has which we hope you find useful.

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Click the download button (located on the right for desktop users and at the bottom for mobile users) and fill out the form to access the full report.

Seven key takeaways

Key takeaway one:

Address the root causes, not the symptoms. Strategic and profitable wellbeing intervention can only be addressed by understanding the operational and structural issues facing an organisation.

Key takeaway two:

Rather than implementing yet another wellbeing initiative that fails to deliver ROI, organisations should look at data that highlights the impact of poor employee wellbeing, plus listen to what employees want rather than assume.

Key takeaway three:

Wellbeing programs need to be targeted for each employee’s stage of life. There is no blanket “one-size fits all” solution. Understanding the demographics and absence trends of your workforce allows for strategic intervention. For example, late-career and financial planning services might be appropriate for an aging workforce.

Key takeaway four:

HR and wellbeing conversations are often siloed and struggle to get buy-in for investment. For example, wellbeing programs often bear little resemblance to the way CFOs think. The key is to find measurable indicators that help demonstrate the impact of wellbeing.

Key takeaway five:

Employee wellbeing needs remain constant regardless of the employee’s environment, whether they’re at work or outside of work. The most effective wellbeing programs are proactive. They prevent issues occurring in the workplace, for example 1:1 health coaching or organisation psychology support services.

Key takeaway six:

Compliance isn’t enough when it comes to wellbeing. Wellbeing is the responsibility of all managers, leaders and employees, and should be built into the culture of the organisation.

Key takeaway seven:

There’s a real financial opportunity for organisations when it comes to employee wellbeing given the costs of employee absence and poor wellbeing. Going forward, wellness should be recognised as an investment and not as an expense.

In case you missed it, the report is available for download on the right for desktop users and at the bottom for mobile users.