India Employer Forum

Hiring

Measuring The Benefits Of Employee Wellbeing Programs

  • By: India Employer Forum
  • Date: 20 November 2019

Share This:

Over the last few years, organizations in India have started investing more on wellbeing activities at work to ensure that their employees are leading a healthy lifestyle. However, introducing employee wellbeing programs alone is not enough. Organizations need to be able to measure how they benefit from it for which they usually use the traditional method of calculating return on investment (ROI). ROI helps in focusing on the tangible parameters that can be measured like absence and benefits usage.

However, not all aspects of employee wellbeing can be tangible which is why meaningful measures of success must go beyond ROI. Value on investment (VOI), a new method that is becoming popular with HR professionals, is a softer measurement tool that helps in gauging the invaluable benefits of employee wellbeing initiatives on the basis of parameters like employee morale, decreased use of sick leaves, higher engagement, increased productivity and talent retention.

You might also be interested to read: Change In Mindsets Necessary For An Agile Workforce

Measuring VOI involves an in-depth analysis of all the factors that contribute to workplace wellbeing by collecting figures and facts from several sources including employee engagement surveys, onboarding and exit interviews and customer service statistics. The main advantage of the VOI approach is that it helps the organization focus on prevention for the majority of the staff while ROI, covers only the ones who were ill or injured.

Reducing the cost of healthcare and improving the quality of life are often viewed as the most important parameters to assess if an employee wellbeing program can demonstrate value. However, factors like employee turnover, change in policies, concerns over privacy and new insurance carriers can make it difficult to determine the ROI accurately. This is why VOI might be a more effective way to evaluate the success of wellbeing programs for employees. When determining the VOI, HR must evaluate factors like:

  • Improved culture of wellness
  • Increased employee awareness on health, high risk health behaviors and adopting a healthier lifestyle
  • Improved health status of employees
  • Honest feedback from employees through surveys

While VOI is more effective in measuring the long-term impact of workplace wellbeing initiatives, it might not necessarily be the best tool to measure the impact of short-term interventions. Also, VOI method, depends a lot on the behavior of employees which makes it a little more subjective and based on certain assumptions.

You might also be interested to read: What Are Employee Wellness Programs And 8 Things You Must Know About Them

The adoption of VOI has been quite low in Indian organizations and they still prefer the ROI method to measure the outcomes of HR interventions. However, as they mature, Indian organizations might consider using VOI or at least a combination of both to gauge the benefits of their employee wellbeing programs. As organizations are taking employee wellbeing more seriously, VOI will make more sense in the long term as they aim to add value to the employees which in turn adds value to the organization as a whole.

While it is important for organizations to know if the employee wellbeing programs being conducted are cost effective or not, it is even more important to understand if it has been successful in improving the quality and longevity of life for the employees. However, it needs serious commitment from senior management to build a workplace culture that promotes health and happiness of employees by looking at employee wellbeing beyond ROI.

References:

  • Is VOI better than ROI to measure employee well-being programmes? – Kartikay Kashyap – HRKatha, 9 October, 2019
  • Wellbeing: Why measuring VOI is better than ROI – John Greenwood, 9 November, 2018
  • Are You Measuring the Real Impact of Your Employee Wellness Program? – Alan Kohll, 27 February, 2018
  • Shifting from ROI to VOI When Measuring Your Wellness Program’s Success – 07 February, 2019

Related Topics:

Related Articles

IEF Editorial Team

Top 10 Emerging Job Roles in 2025

By Dr. Sarmistha Roychowdhury When I reflect on my experience in the past two decades, I see that the evolution is robust, and the function of the human resources department...

IEF Editorial Team

Job Ghosting or Phantom Postings: The New Job…

The job market has always sent employees screaming for help, and one of the more baffling trends of late is the rise of ghost jobs. These are roles that companies...

IEF Editorial Team

Festive Hiring Surge in E-Commerce: Driving Growth and…

With the festive season upon us, the e-commerce sector is experiencing a remarkable boom, not just in sales but in hiring. The demand for goods, fast deliveries, and seamless customer...

IEF Editorial Team

Emerging Jobs in the Renewable Energy Sector

The renewable energy sector is experiencing a remarkable surge in job opportunities, driven by significant policy changes and budgetary allocations. The Indian government's recent budget announcement has underscored its commitment...

Post an Article

    Subscribe Now



    I've read and accept the Privacy Policy.