• DOI:10.1287/mnsc.2017.2883
• Corpus ID: 31476346

Doing Well by Making Well: The Impact of Corporate Wellness Programs on Employee Productivity

@article{Gubler2018DoingWB,
  title={Doing Well by Making Well: The Impact of Corporate Wellness Programs on Employee Productivity},
  author={Timothy Gubler and Ian Larkin and Lamar Pierce},
  journal={Manag. Sci.},
  year={2018},
  volume={64},
  pages={4967-4987}
}

• Timothy Gubler, Ian Larkin, L. Pierce
• Published 1 November 2018
• Economics
• Manag. Sci.

This paper provides the first evidence linking a panel of individual medical data from a corporate wellness program with objective productivity improvements in industrial workers. Almost 90% of companies use corporate wellness programs designed to improve employee health. Existing research has focused on measuring cost savings from reduced insurance rates and absenteeism. In contrast, our paper explains and empirically tests how wellness programs can improve employee productivity, and thereby firm performance. We argue that productivity improvement can arise from two sources. First, wellness programs can increase job motivation through improved satisfaction for all workers and gratitude or reciprocity from those who discover a previously-undiagnosed illness. Second, wellness programs increase employee capability by spurring them to take actions that improve health, well-being and ultimately productivity. We test these predictions using a wellness program implemented at multiple plants of an industrial laundry company. Using a three-year panel of individual productivity and medical data, we find program participation increased productivity by 5%, compared to non-participants, regardless of pre-existing health levels or post-program health changes, suggesting increased job satisfaction for participants. Moreover, many sick and healthy individuals improved their health, increasing productivity by 11%. Surveys indicate that many employees, regardless of pre-existing health levels, improved their diet and exercise from the program. Overall this study suggests that firms can increase operational productivity through socially responsible firm health policies that improve both workers’ wellness and economic value.