Reframing the workplace wellness debate as part of employer branding

This might be the tipping point for one model of justifying workplace wellness programs. In recent data released as part of a three-year study into the health benefits of workplace wellness offerings, the results have been disappointing.

The researchers, Katherine Baicker, dean of the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, and Zirui Song, an assistant professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, wrote about their findings in The Washington Post:

“After nearly three years, we didn’t see any substantial effects on employment outcomes (such as fewer sick days), health-care spending or objective health measures. We did find some improvements in self-reported health behaviors. For example, the wellness program increased the share of employees who reported actively managing their weight by about 8.7 percentage points and the share of those who said they got regular exercise by about 11 percentage points. But we saw no effects on blood pressure, diabetes or obesity.”