Study: Small business owners see bottom-line benefit from employee health and wellness programs

A study of small businesses has found that three out of four offering health and wellness programs to their employees believe the initiatives are good for their bottom line. The study, conducted by the National Small Business Association and Humana Inc., asked more than 1,000 small-business owners about their employees’ health and wellness needs and what barriers they face in supplying them.  An overwhelming 93 percent said they considered their employees’ physical and mental health to be important to their financial results.

However, only one-third expressed confidence in their ability to help employees manage their well-being with initiatives
aimed at encouraging them to make healthier choices such as getting
preventative care, eating right and exercising.

Another key finding was that more than half of the small-business owners reported that they did not have sufficient information to introduce health and wellness programs to their employees.
On the other hand, startups — those companies less than 10 years old — found ways to do so, with 63 percent having already adopted health and wellness programs.

“Wellness solutions likely will be an increasingly important part of the employee value proposition,” said Jerry Ganoni, President of Humana’s Small Business Division. “It will be crucial for the industry to focus on providing small-business owners with the information they need to make the wellness decisions necessary to recruit and retain employees while making an a meaningful impact on their bottom lines.”  (Read more, from The Lane Report)