HEALTH

Corporate Wellness ProgramsMake Us Unwell: An Interviewwith André Spicerby Scott Berinato

FROM THE MAY 2015 ISSUE

The research: André Spicer, a

professor at Cass Business School at

City University London, conducted a

cultural and historical analysis of ideas about

wellness in companies (which he published in

a recent book, The Wellness Syndrome,

coauthored by Stockholm University’s Carl

Cederström). He concluded that corporate

wellness programs not only provide low

returns on investment but actually backfire,

making many employees less healthy and

more anxious about their jobs.

The challenge: Are “fun runs” and diet

programs part of the problem, not the

solution? Professor Spicer, defend your

DOUG CHAYKA research.

In our analysis, my coauthor, Carl, and I were struck by the ineffectiveness of wellness

programs. Several studies, notably one by the Rand Corporation, showed that they produce

modest results at best. Take weight loss programs. Only a small percentage of enrollees stick

with them, and even when they do, their average weight loss is about one kilogram.

What I didn’t expect was that many programs seemed to have the opposite of their intended

effect. They were creating guilt and anxiety in employees. One big wellness program we

looked at led previously happy employees in a stable job environment to become anxious

about losing their jobs. It seemed to make them think they needed to be more attractive to

their employer, and if they did something like smoking a cigarette, they felt it affected their

employability.

That sounds insidious.

It goes further. Looking at the moral psychology literature, we found that people are judging

others based on wellness characteristics, like weight. That’s not surprising, but what caught

my attention is how often disgust at someone’s unhealthy behavior morphs into broader

negativity. If people notice you doing something unhealthy, they think it makes you a bad

worker. For instance, people see you eating a big lunch and assume that you’re lazy and

unproductive.

So is it fair to say wellness programs are not just ineffective, they’re counterproductive?

In some cases, yes! With particularly intense wellness initiatives, we found, employees

ploughed a great deal of energy into trying to improve their health. Sometimes this meant

that employees had less time to focus on their core tasks. More frequently, these wellness

initiatives would eat into employees’ personal lives. People would have time for working

and exercising but little time for anything else.

Why do we invest so much money in these programs then?

A couple of reasons. One is simple: They’re aggressively marketed. Corporate wellness is a

huge industry pushing this idea on companies. Another reason is that, collectively, we buy

into the idea of wellness. Some sociologists believe that in an increasingly secular society,

wellness fills a void that religion used to. Companies promote wellness because it fits with a

common ideology that healthy people are productive people.

Are they?

It’s obvious that someone who’s ill may not be as productive, depending on the job and the

type of illness. However, there’s little evidence that superfitness correlates with leadership,

good management, or even productivity. And that’s a major problem with how wellness

programs are developed and marketed. In the past 20 years there has been a shift. The

demands of wellness have become more stringent. A reasonable weight range isn’t as good

as being superfit anymore. We talked to public health policy experts who have

demonstrated that to exemplify the well employee, governments and companies use

extreme images of superfit runners and very thin and muscular people rather than images of

“normal” people. What happens then? Relatively healthy people feel that they’re not

measuring up. They see those images and say, “I can’t imagine reaching that,” and give up.

Meanwhile you have this superfit class, who become the ideal and also judge others who

don’t meet their standards, making those spurious connections between fitness and

capability. Experiments have found that an overweight job applicant is less likely to be

positively assessed than a candidate of an average weight—even if the two applicants have

exactly the same CV.

Those people!

It cuts both ways. The superfit often become obsessed with wellness because they fear

slipping into the other class. They see their fitness as an indicator of professional success.

Are successful businesspeople more fit?

They want you to believe they are. I came across a remarkable trend: In the past two decades

the number of CEOs who mention fitness in their bios has spiked. They seem to think that if

you want to be a leader, you have to show your wellness. There has been a 100% increase in

CEOs running marathons.

Saying they run marathons, you mean.

Maybe! But there’s no doubt they increasingly see it as an important way to present

themselves to the world, and maybe they seek it in their employees, too.

This feels oppressive. I’m doughy, but I think I’m a good worker!

I would agree that there is an oppressive quality to wellness programs right now. It’s kind of

a 1% phenomenon. Moral judgments are being made that aren’t really based on evidence.

And access to wellness is skewed toward the more well, just as access to fresh food is

skewed toward those who need it less and have an abundance of it. We see in the research

that wellness programs offer more opportunity to higher-level employees and often don’t

effectively reach those who would benefit the most, the entry-level people and the

contractors.

Will wearable technology increase the oppressiveness of wellness programs?

It’s strange. People worry about Big Brother and surveillance, yet we’re paying for the

privilege of having our behavior monitored. We shell out hundreds of dollars for tracking

bands, something convicts are forced to wear. If you’re volunteering to do it and it helps

your wellness, that’s probably good. But it gets complicated when companies want to

mandate the use of this technology, because it completely breaks down the barrier between

work and life. Suddenly, whether or not I go for a jog on my own time is something my

company is tracking. That’s a slippery, slippery slope.

What’s a reasonable way forward with corporate wellness?

It’s important for me to say that I’m not writing off wellness interventions completely. Let’s

just ask, What are we trying to achieve here—what is the problem we’re solving?

First, employers need to ask, Do we need all this? In some cases good, simple interventions—

like gym facilities—may be enough. Second, employers should be realistic about what they

hope to achieve from these programs. Often they’re sold as everyone in the firm will quit

smoking. Unrealistic goals like that will backfire. Third, you must establish boundaries.

Using technology to watch people outside work is a problem, and there’s emerging evidence

that the more work bleeds into life, the less productive people become. Finally, look for

small changes that can make a big difference. Too often people go all in on investments like

treadmill desks when they could get the same payoff by giving their employees natural

light, fresh air, and some fresh fruit.

A version of this article appeared in the May 2015 issue (pp.28–29) of Harvard Business Review.

Scott Berinato is a senior editor at Harvard Business Review.

Related Topics: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

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Patel 5 days ago

Thank you, Scott, for an informative article. I thought I would share some additional thoughts to consider.

First, Chinmoy Mishra is exactly right – effective wellness programs are not one-size-fits-all. In my

experience as Director of Wellness Engagement at Hallmark Business Connections, successful wellness

programs DO exist. Our clients actually use wellness programs to keep the employee population healthy,

and to attract and retain top talent. Finally, it can take three to five years to realize major benefits of a

wellness program. Establish realistic expectations among decision makers and measure the impact

accordingly. I invite you to read my blog post listing five reasons wellness programs can fail. Knowing the

pitfalls allows an organization to customize their program so it fits their culture, expectations and budget.

http://bit.ly/1Brr2Rx

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