There has been a lot of talk over the past year concerning the overall benefits of corporate wellness programs for businesses, how they can save providers dollars, and how they can lead to higher employee productivity, job satisfaction, and morale. We want to focus on the particular statistics of these programs, demonstrating thoroughly – in dollars, cents, and percentages – the excellent value they bring to the firms that use them.  Using this information, you can see the true return on investment and create a wellness program today.

First, a comprehensive evaluation of  more than 100 peer-reviewed studies of companies with wellness programs over the past three decades showed an average annual savings in health care costs of $358 per employee. Moreover, businesses in these studies saw, on average, $294 in annual savings per employee due to decreased absenteeism. That’s an annual savings of over $650 for companies!

The study also calculated the rate of savings versus the cost of corporate wellness consulting and implementation and found that the return on investment on reducing health care costs was $3.27 for every dollar spent by the company and $2.73 for every dollar spent on reducing absenteeism. Another source also looked at studies of  50 comprehensive programs and found that every study showed positive well being outcomes for employees and over a 96 percent cost-effectiveness rate.

Some particular examples demonstrate just how dramatic savings associated with corporate wellness programs can be. For well being care cost savings, a company was able to save between $3,000 to $15,000 in reduced health claims by employees. Other companies meanwhile were able to reduce sick leave rates by nearly 20 percent, with employees absent from work on average a day less than employees not enrolled, with one company seeing 80 percent fewer sick days from employees enrolled in its exercise program than those not enrolled.

While wellness programs have also been demonstrated to improve employee productivity and morale, quantifiable rates in reduced employee turnover demonstrate how effective these programs can be for employee retention. Indeed, in one study, large companies with established wellness programs saw employee turnover decrease by nearly three times among employees enrolled, with another company showing a 10-fold decrease in turnover among enrolled employees.

Wellness programs are substantial assets for organizations and companies of all size. All the figures in this post – from the savings from health care cost reductions, the savings from reduced employee absences, the savings from lower employee turnover rates, and, finally, the cost-effectiveness – make these programs a smart investment for most companies.