The thing about
ROI and corporate wellness is, well, it's tricky. Don't believe me? Ask the experts. They’ll tell you that accurately calculating ROI can be done, but that it is very hard to do it the right way. What’s worse is that attempting to isolate ROI for a specific element of your company’s wellness strategy may prove even more elusive.
There are so many variables in worksite wellness that it takes significant resources and substantial practice to have any confidence in the ROI figures that might be generated from your program. Trying to ferret out specific ROI by wellness program components, like the fitness center, is nearly impossible. Expecting ROI may set up your corporate fitness center for failure.
Try looking at your investment with a different lens.
Measure what you can by capturing all the data you can and then looking at all sides of it to determine what is happening for your organization as you shift the health culture.
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How much money do you save every time someone lowers (or gets off) of their blood pressure, diabetes, or cholesterol-lowering medication? Start your corporate fitness program by assessing how many members are on those medications. In year 3, 5, and 10, figure out how many of those who started the program in year 1 are now off those medications.
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How much money do you spend on employee turnover annually? Poll your workforce to find out how many feel added loyalty to your organization because of the well-equipped and staffed corporate fitness center.
Return doesn't haven't to be all about the money - there's much more to investing in employee health. We believe it's about the people...what do you believe?