Corporate wellness program statistics: A look at the numbers

Corporate wellness program statistics will quickly put to rest any concerns about the ROI of well-being programs. There’s no shortage of specific, outcome-oriented results to prove the value. However, over 70% of companies say they still measure the success of their wellness programs by the level of staff participation. 

If you’re only looking at usage, you’re missing the best part. Your employee well-being program isn’t a success because people use it. It’s a success because it improves people’s lives, and in turn increases productivity, retention and other metrics that affect the bottom line.

To pitch the positives of a wellness program to the executive team, you need to focus on what matters to them. That means having solid, specific data to prove that the budget spent will be well worth it. Fortunately, with the right well-being program, those are easy to come by.

Let corporate wellness program statistics show the value

A great wellness program will make employees feel supported at work. There is a direct correlation between an employee feeling supported at work, reporting a higher sense of well-being and delivering a better performance. In our survey with friends at Quantum Workplace, we found that among employees who report a higher sense of well-being:

• 83% strongly agree that they enjoy their work more
• 84% are strongly likely to recommend their workplace to colleagues
• 91% are less likely to leave
• 84% are more loyal to their teams

Retention, recruitment, productivity: These are the metrics that matter at the end of the day. All of these employee well-being statistics show the true value of a higher sense of well-being among employees. From there, all you have to do is share the best numbers to convince your organization to allocate budget to a well-being program. 

Organizations that use Limeade found more engaged employees are also healthier and happier and wanted to stay with their employer longer, delivering stronger business outcomes.

Using statistics on wellness in the workplace to sell to C-suite 

Do employee wellness programs work? If leadership isn’t convinced to implement a wellness program, it won’t happen. That’s why measuring the effect on the bottom line is so critical. If money needs to be spent, it’s best to ensure that the goals of that spend are clear and documented. 

In the past, corporate wellness programs did little in terms of helping organizations document success. At best, they might send out a survey, letting whoever chose to participate decide for themselves if the program was beneficial. You can see in our Evolution of Corporate Wellness Programs e-book that as reporting has improved, so have the programs. 

Now we heave specific and relevant information to speak to C-suite executives, like:

• Retention — Losing a key employee can lower productivity and morale at any organization. It’s estimated that it can cost almost a year’s salary to find and properly train a replacement. Good news: If your employee participates in a Limeade program they are 3x less likely to leave. 
• Company Profitability — Reports from other firms note that employees with higher rates of engagement are more valuable. Highly engagemed employees are 78% more profitable than unengaged employees. 
• Personal productivity — Stress outside of work lowers productivity at work. Almost half of employees report problems outside of work affect their performance. 

These are the kinds of numbers and results you should be demanding from a well-being program, both for the sake of your leadership and your people, who deserve to see real results. 

Employees want effective wellness programs

The data shows that employees want effective well-being programs — and they are looking to get specific things from them. First, the logistical desires: easy onboarding and user experience — basically anything great apps do, your wellness program should do. Once they clear that bar, employees want to see content tailored to their specific needs. 

• Stress relief guidance: Built-in time to decompress, along with an easy-to-use program for mindfulness, like a meditation app, are on the wish list for 71% of employees. 
• Physical fitness guidance and equipment: Half of all employees would like an onsite fitness center. Access to apps to guide and help them along their fitness journey are also valuable, particularly for remote employees. 

“One of the things that we enjoy about Limeade is their strong personalization and the fact that they have machine learning and AI built into the platform to provide an experience that is more like a streaming service in terms of curating personalized content.”

Wellness program manager, The Total Economic Impact^TM of Limeade, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Limeade, 2022

Using a wellness program like Limeade can help you meet your employees’ needs and improve their well-being and productivity in quantifiable ways. Armed with these data points, you can prove that when employees have high well-being and feel supported, your organization will see better business results. 

Interested in learning how Limeade delivers 119% ROI in just 6 months? Check out all of the cost savings and additional business benefits customers experience in Forrester’s Total Economic Impact^TM of Limeade study.