Study Finds Strong Relationship between Employee Wellbeing and Retention

The peer-reviewed journal, Population Health Management, has concluded a two-year study on the wellbeing of employees and found that overall wellbeing is a strong predictor of future retention, productivity, and healthcare costs. The scientific findings also concluded that a strong connection exists between improvements to the wellbeing of a workforce and better health and performance outcomes for employees. The study also demonstrated the usefulness of wellbeing as an indicator of future retention, productivity, and health outcomes.

Major findings gleaned from the study included:

• Employees with higher wellbeing cost employers less in healthcare, are more productive, and are more likely to remain at their employer.

• Employees with health behaviors showed the most dramatic improvement in overall sense of wellbeing

• Employees experiencing increased wellbeing also experienced a decrease in healthcare costs, improved productivity, and demonstrated a higher likelihood of retention.

“This study underscores that when employees’ well-being increases, outcomes also improve for individuals and organizations,” said Lindsay Sears, PhD, lead author of the study and executive director and principle investigator, the Center for Health Research at Healthways. “When well-being decreases, outcomes also tend to get worse. We are seeing that positive changes to the well-being of employees lead to improvements in their quality of life as well as bottom line outcomes for their employers.”