ellbeing matters. Subjective wellbeing—the kind that is measured through survey research—has been linked to a large array of outcomes that are relevant to the economics of both communities and to organizations. In workplaces, for example, wellbeing closely predicts absenteeism, performance, and healthcare utilization as well as turnover and employee engagement. Wellbeing among residents of communities, in turn, is correlated to healthcare utilization, crime rates, high-school graduation rates, teen pregnancy, and life expectancy among many other metrics. Wellbeing has even been linked to shifts in voting patterns for the U.S. Presidency across counties. And improving total population health to better realize these outcomes requires a holistic approach, as noted many years ago by officials of the World Health Organization. Health, they noted, was not merely comprised of its physical components and the absence of infirmary, but rather “a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing.”
All of these factors—both large and small—influence the economics of a community. From how much businesses can count on employees to show up on time for a productive day at work to how much residents spend on healthcare, today and in the future, the U.S. economy is substantially impacted by the wellbeing of its citizenry.
Since 2008, Gallup has measured the wellbeing of nearly three million randomly selected U.S. adults a part of the Gallup National Health and Wellbeing Index. Gallup defines wellbeing through its five essential elements:
- Career wellbeing: You like what you do every day.
- Social wellbeing: You have meaningful friendships in your life.
- Financial wellbeing: You manage your money well.
- Physical wellbeing: You have energy to get things done.
- Community wellbeing: You like where you live.
In the workplace, wellbeing-related programs are increasingly common, and it is everywhere in America’s communities and workplaces. The large majority of big employers now offer at least some programs in the workplace that are meant to enhance it. Unfortunately, however, the overwhelming majority of programs are focused only on physical wellness—from back pain to weight loss to smoking cessation to yoga classes and other forms of stress management. Often, little else is dedicated to the remaining elements of wellbeing. And this leaves a very substantial gap between the outcomes that workplaces are currently yielding from their wellbeing programs and the outcomes that they could be yielding, even in the presence of widespread knowledge among employees of what is at their disposal and even in the presence of great managers that are engaging them.
Gallup research has proven that addressing wellbeing holistically—as compared to just physical wellness alone—results in substantially better economic outcomes. After controlling for age, gender, race/ethnicity, income, education, region, and marital status, those workers who are physically fit but otherwise lacking in high wellbeing in the remaining four elements consistently underperform those who exhibit high wellbeing across all five. Compared to employees who are thriving across all five elements, employees who are thriving in physical wellbeing alone:
- Miss 68% more work due to poor health annually. Those who are physically fit miss 3.2 extra days of work each year due to poor health compared to 1.9 days among those with holistic wellbeing. This adds up to an estimated loss of $443,000 in lost productivity due to absenteeism per 1,000 employees per year.
- Are three times more likely have an accident on the job that results in a worker’s compensation claim. This adds up to about nine extra claims per year per 1,000 employees, or about $450,000 per year per 1,000 assuming an average direct cost of $50,000 per claim.
- Are five times more likely to seek out a new employer in the next year and are more than twice as likely to actually change employers during that time.
- Are less than half as likely to exhibit adaptability to change and are 26% less likely to bounce back fully after hardship.
- Are 19% less likely to have donated to charity in the last year and are 30% less likely to have volunteered in the community.
In short, it’s not just about being physically fit; it’s also about all the other things. And those communities and workplaces that embrace this reality and execute on it will lead the nation in building cultures of wellbeing that economically thrive and prosper.
Regardless of the quality and reach of wellbeing interventions, the role of leaders—in communities or in organizations—is critical in engendering wellbeing among their constituents. Be they politicians, corporate executives, managers, clergy, educators or community activists, a well-informed and active leadership is crucial to a community’s success at building an institutionalized, embedded, and sustained wellbeing culture upon which a thriving economy depends. Included within this culture are certain guiding principles by which these leaders should abide, including a shared and uniform definition of wellbeing, constant and public vigilance in its advocacy, and a clear message that commitment to it will never, ever go away. In this manner, leaders can fulfill an honorable—and critical—responsibility to the people that they lead and to the constituents that they serve.
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The Economics of Wellbeing
Photo by Zac Durant via Unsplash.
October 11, 2022
Wellbeing matters. Subjective wellbeing—the kind that is measured through survey research—has been linked to a large array of outcomes that are relevant to the economics of both communities and to organizations, writes Gallup’s Dan Witters.
W
ellbeing matters. Subjective wellbeing—the kind that is measured through survey research—has been linked to a large array of outcomes that are relevant to the economics of both communities and to organizations. In workplaces, for example, wellbeing closely predicts absenteeism, performance, and healthcare utilization as well as turnover and employee engagement. Wellbeing among residents of communities, in turn, is correlated to healthcare utilization, crime rates, high-school graduation rates, teen pregnancy, and life expectancy among many other metrics. Wellbeing has even been linked to shifts in voting patterns for the U.S. Presidency across counties. And improving total population health to better realize these outcomes requires a holistic approach, as noted many years ago by officials of the World Health Organization. Health, they noted, was not merely comprised of its physical components and the absence of infirmary, but rather “a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing.”
All of these factors—both large and small—influence the economics of a community. From how much businesses can count on employees to show up on time for a productive day at work to how much residents spend on healthcare, today and in the future, the U.S. economy is substantially impacted by the wellbeing of its citizenry.
Since 2008, Gallup has measured the wellbeing of nearly three million randomly selected U.S. adults a part of the Gallup National Health and Wellbeing Index. Gallup defines wellbeing through its five essential elements:
- Career wellbeing: You like what you do every day.
- Social wellbeing: You have meaningful friendships in your life.
- Financial wellbeing: You manage your money well.
- Physical wellbeing: You have energy to get things done.
- Community wellbeing: You like where you live.
In the workplace, wellbeing-related programs are increasingly common, and it is everywhere in America’s communities and workplaces. The large majority of big employers now offer at least some programs in the workplace that are meant to enhance it. Unfortunately, however, the overwhelming majority of programs are focused only on physical wellness—from back pain to weight loss to smoking cessation to yoga classes and other forms of stress management. Often, little else is dedicated to the remaining elements of wellbeing. And this leaves a very substantial gap between the outcomes that workplaces are currently yielding from their wellbeing programs and the outcomes that they could be yielding, even in the presence of widespread knowledge among employees of what is at their disposal and even in the presence of great managers that are engaging them.
Gallup research has proven that addressing wellbeing holistically—as compared to just physical wellness alone—results in substantially better economic outcomes. After controlling for age, gender, race/ethnicity, income, education, region, and marital status, those workers who are physically fit but otherwise lacking in high wellbeing in the remaining four elements consistently underperform those who exhibit high wellbeing across all five. Compared to employees who are thriving across all five elements, employees who are thriving in physical wellbeing alone:
- Miss 68% more work due to poor health annually. Those who are physically fit miss 3.2 extra days of work each year due to poor health compared to 1.9 days among those with holistic wellbeing. This adds up to an estimated loss of $443,000 in lost productivity due to absenteeism per 1,000 employees per year.
- Are three times more likely have an accident on the job that results in a worker’s compensation claim. This adds up to about nine extra claims per year per 1,000 employees, or about $450,000 per year per 1,000 assuming an average direct cost of $50,000 per claim.
- Are five times more likely to seek out a new employer in the next year and are more than twice as likely to actually change employers during that time.
- Are less than half as likely to exhibit adaptability to change and are 26% less likely to bounce back fully after hardship.
- Are 19% less likely to have donated to charity in the last year and are 30% less likely to have volunteered in the community.
In short, it’s not just about being physically fit; it’s also about all the other things. And those communities and workplaces that embrace this reality and execute on it will lead the nation in building cultures of wellbeing that economically thrive and prosper.
Regardless of the quality and reach of wellbeing interventions, the role of leaders—in communities or in organizations—is critical in engendering wellbeing among their constituents. Be they politicians, corporate executives, managers, clergy, educators or community activists, a well-informed and active leadership is crucial to a community’s success at building an institutionalized, embedded, and sustained wellbeing culture upon which a thriving economy depends. Included within this culture are certain guiding principles by which these leaders should abide, including a shared and uniform definition of wellbeing, constant and public vigilance in its advocacy, and a clear message that commitment to it will never, ever go away. In this manner, leaders can fulfill an honorable—and critical—responsibility to the people that they lead and to the constituents that they serve.
