Corporate Wellness Blog

Attempting to do more with less money? Here are three proven ways to align the dollars and cents of a wellness program in your budget.

Common thread –  the way you prepare – and control – your budget for a wellness program is critical to its success.

1. Top-down health promotion budget

Depending on the size of your business and wellness program, you may have full budget responsibility or might need to work with a C-level who has budgeting professionalise.

Regardless of the arrangement, you’re likely to face one of two distinct challenges –  a top-down budget or a zero-based budget.

A top-down budget is when you’re given a finite dollar amount and told to run the wellness program within the limit. If that’s the case, here are three crucial questions to ask –

• Does this limit include money set aside for worker incentives and future initiatives?

• Should we keep long-tenured health promotion programs that keep going up in price, and

• Does Benefits/HR have to deliver all education about the health promotion program, or is there additional funding to hire staff?

2.  Zero-based wellness budgeting

In zero-based funding, you submit to senior management an itemized list of the wellness programs/features you want and the cost of each. Best practices –

• Rank wellness programs by priority (health-risk assessments ought to be at or near the top)

• Indicate which expenditures are fixed and which are variable, and

• List ways to incorporate existing resources (like an employee assistance program program) for a better return on investment.

3. Estimating health promotion Return On Investment (ROI)

On average, wellness programs generally take at least 18 months to break even. After three years, you should see savings.

If not, it’s time to take a fresh look at the health promotion program design.