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Aspects of corporate wellness programs: comparisons of customer satisfaction

Alan David Smith (Robert Morris University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA)
Terry Damron (Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee, USA)
Amye Melton (Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee, USA)

Benchmarking: An International Journal

ISSN: 1463-5771

Article publication date: 7 August 2017

1956

Abstract

Purpose

With the passage of the Affordable Health Care Act in the USA, many companies are investing in corporate wellness programs as a way to reduce healthcare costs and increase productivity of their workforces. Increasing healthcare expenditures and the pandemic of obesity and chronic diseases are driving forces to the development and implementation of workplace wellness programs across the globe. Companies expect to experience a return on their investment through lower healthcare costs and increased productivity. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, 109 business professionals were surveyed (primarily almost equally divided between Russian and Americans citizens) to examine their health-promoting and health risk behaviors. Demographics were compared in an effort to identify the key differences in order to pinpoint development opportunities to increase efficiencies among target populations.

Findings

According to the results, nationality was related to certain differences in health-promoting behaviors, participation rates and frequency of wellness programs offered by employers. No differences were found among different age groups. The results indicated that not even a single wellness program design is appropriate for all companies or even one company across all locations.

Research limitations/implications

Although there were no general conclusions have been drawn nor have the influencing factors for the different behaviors of the various target groups been adequately examined in this exploratory study, there were baselines developed for future research.

Originality/value

Few empirical studies exists that measure the perceived value of corporate wellness programs, especially among different cultural settings. In effect, wellness programs need to be developed specifically for the target population, with considerations to perceived value differences.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank most heartedly for the valuable contributions by the reviewers for their input into the final paper. Peer reviewing and editing can be commonly tedious and thankless tasks.

Citation

Smith, A.D., Damron, T. and Melton, A. (2017), "Aspects of corporate wellness programs: comparisons of customer satisfaction", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 24 No. 6, pp. 1523-1551. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-02-2016-0020

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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