1. SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in
the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives
January 10, 2013

2. Introduction
• This is part one of a series of SHRM surveys examining the state of employee benefits in the
workplace.
• The following topics are included in this six-part series:
Part 1: Wellness initiatives
Part 2: Flexible work arrangements
Part 3: Health care
Part 4: Leveraging benefits to retain employees
Part 5: Leveraging benefits to recruit employees
Part 6: Communicating benefits
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 2

3. Definitions
• For the purpose of this survey:
 Wellness initiatives is defined as any type of wellness program, resource or service
offered to employees.
 Financial education initiative is defined as any workplace initiative, program or
resource designed to provide employees with information on how to manage their
financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 3

4. Key Findings
• Do organizations offer wellness programs, wellness resources or wellness services to their
employees? Seven out of 10 (70%) organizations offer some type of wellness
program, resource or service to their employees. Among these organizations, 43%
reported having increased their organization’s investment in employee wellness initiatives
in 2012 compared with 2011.
• Do organizations conduct any analysis on wellness initiatives? Nearly one-fourth (23%) of
organizations that offer wellness initiatives conduct an analysis to determine the return on
investment (ROI), whereas slightly more than one-fourth (28%) of them conduct an
analysis to determine cost savings for their wellness initiatives.
• How effective are wellness initiatives? Over two-thirds (68%) of organizations that offer
wellness initiatives to their employees indicated they were “very effective” or “somewhat
effective” in reducing the costs of health care. Furthermore, the majority (86%) of
organizations offering wellness initiatives rated their initiatives as being “very effective” or
“somewhat effective” in improving the physical health of their employees.
• Are wellness initiatives extended to dependents? Almost one-half (45%) of organizations
that offered wellness initiatives to their employees also extended these initiatives to
employees’ dependents. Nearly all (99%) of these organizations allow spouses to
participate in the wellness initiatives, and 69% of organizations allow dependent children
to participate.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 4

5. Does your organization currently offer any types of wellness
programs, wellness resources or wellness services to your
employees?
Yes 70%
No 30%
Note: n = 437. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 5

6. Does your organization currently offer any types of wellness
programs, wellness resources or wellness services to your
employees?
Comparisons by organization staff size
• Organizations with 2,500 to 24,999 employees are more likely than organizations with 1 to 2,499 employees to offer
wellness programs, wellness resources or wellness services to their employees .
Comparisons by organization staff size
1 to 99 employees (31%)
2,500 to 24,999 employees (62%) > 100 to 499 employees (39%)
500 to 2,499 employees (43%)
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012
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7. In fiscal year 2012, did your organization’s investment in employee
wellness initiatives increase, decrease or remain the same when
compared with the fiscal year 2011?
Increased
43%
in 2012
Decreased
3%
in 2012
Remained
the same in 54%
2012
Note: n = 302. Only respondents whose organizations provided any type of wellness programs, wellness resources or wellness
services were asked this question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 7

8. In 2011, did your organization conduct an analysis to
determine the return on investment (ROI) for its wellness
initiatives?
Yes 23%
No 77%
Note: n = 226. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 8

9. In 2011, did your organization conduct an analysis to determine
the return on investment (ROI) for its wellness initiatives?
Comparisons by organization sector
• Publicly owned for-profit and government organizations are more likely than nonprofit and privately owned for-profit
organizations to conduct an analysis to determine the return on investment (ROI) for their wellness initiatives.
Comparisons by organization sector
Government (33%) Nonprofit (15%)
>
Publicly owned for-profit (37%) Privately owned for-profit (20%)
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012
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10. How effective is your organization at determining the return
on investment (ROI) for its wellness initiatives?
Very
24%
effective
Somewha
60%
t effective
Not very
13%
effective
Not at all
2%
effective
Note: n = 45. Only respondents whose organizations conducted an analysis to determine the return on investment (ROI) for its
wellness initiatives were asked this question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages
do not equal 100% due to rounding. State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 10

11. In 2011, did your organization conduct an analysis to
determine cost savings for its wellness initiatives?
Yes 28%
No 72%
Note: n = 230. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 11

12. In 2011, did your organization conduct an analysis to determine
cost savings for its wellness initiatives?
Comparisons by organization staff size
• Organizations with 2,500 to 24,999 employees are more likely than smaller sized organizations with 1 to 2,499 employees
to conduct an analysis to determine cost savings for their wellness initiatives.
Comparisons by organization sector
1 to 99 employees (23%)
2,500 to 24,999 employees (48%) > 100 to 499 employees (20%)
500 to 2,499 employees (23%)
Comparisons by organization sector
• Government and publicly owned for-profit organizations are more likely than nonprofit and privately owned for-profit
organizations to conduct an analysis to determine cost savings for their wellness initiatives.
Comparisons by organization sector
Publicly owned for-profit (44%) Nonprofit (18%)
>
Government (47%) Privately owned for-profit (24%)
Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012
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13. How effective is your organization at determining cost savings for
its wellness initiatives?
Very
33%
effective
Somewhat
56%
effective
Not very
11%
effective
Not at all
0%
effective
Note: n = 45. Only respondents whose organizations conducted an analysis to determine cost savings for its wellness initiatives were
asked this question. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 13

14. In 2011, did employee participation in your organization’s wellness
initiatives increase, decrease or remain the same when
compared with 2010?
Increased
54%
in 2011
Decreased
6%
in 2011
Remained
the same in 40%
2011
Note: n = 226. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 14

15. Please indicate how effective your organization’s wellness
initiatives are in reducing the costs of health care.
Very
10%
effective
Somewhat
58%
effective
Not very
32%
effective
Not at all
1%
effective
Note: n = 145. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not equal 100% due to
rounding.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 15

16. Please indicate how effective your organization’s wellness
initiatives are in improving the physical health of your
employees.
Very
12%
effective
Somewhat
74%
effective
Not very
13%
effective
Not at all
2%
effective
Note: n = 188. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not equal 100% due to
rounding.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 16

17. In 2011, did your organization offer some type of wellness
incentive or reward?
Yes 57%
No 43%
Note: n = 284. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 17

18. How effective were these wellness incentives or rewards in
increasing participation in your employee wellness
initiatives?
Very
31%
effective
Somewhat
55%
effective
Not very
13%
effective
Not at all
1%
effective
Note: n = 45. Only respondents whose organizations offered some type of wellness incentive or reward were asked this question.
Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 18

19. Would your organization increase its investment in employee
wellness initiatives if it could better quantify their impact?
Yes 90%
No 10%
Note: n = 186. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 19

20. Are any of your organization’s wellness initiatives extended
to dependents?
Yes 45%
No 55%
Note: n = 186. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 20

21. Please indicate if your organization’s wellness initiatives are
extended to any of the following groups:
Spouses
(n = 129) 99%
Dependent children
(n = 125)
69%
Same-sex domestic
partners (n = 118)
58%
Opposite-sex domestic
partners (n = 117)
48%
Foster children
(n = 117)
36%
Dependent
27%
grandchildren (n = 112)
Non-dependent
children (n = 114)
17%
Note: Only respondents whose organization’s wellness initiatives extended to dependents were asked this question. Respondents
who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 21

22. Are your employee wellness initiatives aligned with any
financial education initiatives?
Yes 17%
No 83%
Note: n = 402. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 22

23. Organization Demographics
23

24. Demographics: Organization Staff Size
1 to 99
23%
employees
100 to 499
employees 39%
500 to 2,499 22%
employees
2,500 to
24,999 13%
employees
25,000 or
more 3%
employees
n = 447
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012
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25. Demographics: Organization Sector
Privately
owned for- 51%
profit
Nonprofit
organization 22%
Publicly
owned for- 19%
profit
Government
sector 8%
n = 440
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 25

26. Demographics: Organization Industry
Percentage
Health care and social assistance 19%
Manufacturing 19%
Professional, scientific and technical services 17%
Finance and insurance 11%
Government agencies 9%
Educational services 7%
Retail trade 5%
Accommodation and food services 4%
Construction 4%
Information 4%
Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations 4%
Transportation and warehousing 4%
Whole trade 4%
Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services 3%
Arts, entertainment and recreation 3%
Repair and maintenance 3%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 2%
Mining 2%
Real estate and rental and leasing 2%
Utilities 2%
Personal and laundry services 1%
Note: n = 447. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012
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27. Demographics: Other
Does your organization have U.S.- Is your organization a single-unit organization or
based operations (business units) a multi-unit organization?
only, or does it operate Single-unit organization: An organization in
multinationally? which the location and the organization are 39%
U.S.-based operations only 77% one and the same.
Multi-unit organization: An organization that
Multinational operations 23% 61%
has more than one location.
n = 447 n = 447
For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and
What is the HR department/function for practices determined by the multi-unit
which you responded throughout this headquarters, by each work location or by both?
survey?
Multi-unit headquarters determines HR
62%
Corporate (company- policies and practices.
75%
wide)
Each work location determines HR
5%
Business unit/division 13% policies and practices.
Facility/location 12% A combination of both the work location
and the multi-unit headquarters 34%
n = 286
determines HR policies and practices.
Note: n = 286. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 27

28. SHRM Survey Findings: State of Employee Benefits in
the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives
Survey Methodology
• Response rate = 12%
• 447 HR professional respondents from a randomly selected sample of SHRM’s
membership participated in this survey
• Margin of error +/- 4%
• Survey fielded March 1, 2012 to April 6, 2012
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012
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29. About SHRM Research
• For more survey/poll findings, visit www.shrm.org/surveys
• For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit
www.shrm.org/customizedresearch
• Follow us on Twitter @SHRM_Research
Project leaders:
Shawn Fegley, SPHR, survey research analyst, SHRM Research
Christina Lee, intern, SHRM Research
Project contributors:
Mark Schmit, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM Research
Evren Esen, manager, Survey Research Center, SHRM Research
Copy editor:
Katya Scanlan, SHRM Knowledge Center
State of Employee Benefits in the Workplace—Wellness Initiatives ©SHRM 2012 29