Wellness Coordinators – What Are The EVPs Of Your Worksite Wellness Program? (My EVPs?)
It is critically important for you to always be monitoring, measuring and evaluating your wellness program’s value proposition. And you do want to know that your program is generating as much value as possible, correct?EVPs are your program’s employer and employee value propositions. Historically, the EVP of worksite wellness programs has been limited to employer value propositions.Exactly what is a value proposition? Simply stated, a value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered. A value proposition is a clear statement that explains how your program solves employee problems or improves their situation (relevancy), delivers specific benefits (quantified value), explains to employees why they should participate in your program and why your program is uniquely qualified to help them (unique differentiation).The traditional wellness program value metric has been a program’s return-on-investment (ROI), especially related to health care cost savings. Obviously, ROI is a financial, monetary type of measure. While a worksite wellness program coordinator can never overlook financial impacts, increasing attention is being paid to other value positions of both a monetary and non-monetary nature.Employer EVPsAn emerging list of possible employer value propositions includes:• Managing/reducing disability claims• Improving employee job satisfaction• Improving employee health risks• Talent attraction/retention• Improve employee morale• Improve employee engagement• Impact business performance metrics and profitabilityWhile it is important to identify additional value propositions, it is also equally important to identify and develop a set of metrics, measurement and evaluation strategies for each of these value propositions.It is also important to keep in mind that these value propositions are just employer value propositions. Since value is a two-way street, for a wellness program to achieve the level of employee engagement we all desire, there needs to be an equal set of value propositions for employees.In a previous article, I addressed employer value propositions. In this article, I will address employee value propositions. The employee value proposition is everything that matters to employees about the employer’s wellness program. It has been my experience that routine discussions of how we achieve employee value have all but been absent in our conversations to date.When considering employee value propositions, you might find it helpful to answer these four questions:• What are the short and long-term impacts and outcomes your program desires and is seeking for your program participants?• What is your program committed to achieving for your program participants?• How long will it take for your program to achieve the desired impacts and outcomes?• How will your program track and measure progress towards your impacts and outcomes?Since many employees have no or few health risks, the value proposition for employees may not necessarily be health related. They may be more specifically related to other quality of life issues.Employee EVPsAn emerging list of possible employee value propositions includes:• Increased energy• Increased vitality• Increased resiliency• Reduced risk of burnout• Improved quality of life• Staying healthy• Getting healthier through health risk reduction• Learning to live better with a chronic condition• Reduced illness burden• Reduced utilization of the healthcare system• Increased consumer health knowledge• Less time feeling sick• Reduced risk of workplace injuries and musculoskeletal disorders• Increased ability to deflect depression and anxiety• Meeting biopsychosocial needsSince value is a two-way street, it is important to understand how employees define value and the compelling value they see in the worksite wellness program.