Corporate wellness is a benefit that has been steadily growing over the past several years (as reported recently by ALM Intelligence), though its origins reach back further. Starting out decades ago with an emphasis on physical fitness, employers have often strived to find a balance between programs offered and return on investment to justify their continued cost. While there was some moralistic imperative to continue to offer opportunities for workforces to remain healthy, these initiatives were limited by how much an employer would be willing to sacrifice financially, especially if measuring returns proved difficult to do, which it often did.
Fast-forward to today, where a turbulent economy and rising healthcare costs are creating an atmosphere of imperative among corporate leadership to mitigate the health costs of their workforces, and you will find that wellness is coming to the forefront as a viable alternative. While return on investment is still an important factor for wellness programs, it remains elusive in quantification as it is difficult to ascertain exactly what impacts the programs are having on employees and what impacts are occurring naturally through societal and economic changes that employers have no control over. Enter the concept of "value on investment" (VOI).
