Wellness programs are working – and they’re doing more than lowering healthcare costs.

They’re increasing employee retention and productivity, as well as reducing absenteeism.

Nearly 48% of workers agreed that having an employer-sponsored wellness program encouraged them to stay in their current job, according to Principal Financial Group’s Well-Being Index, which surveyed 1,159 workers and 528 retirees.

In addition, 43% agreed that wellness benefits encouraged them to work harder and perform better. And 28% said they missed fewer days of work due to their participation in a wellness program.

What’s driving such success?

The key to wellness program success is simple: Employers must dangle the right carrots in front of their workers to get them to participate.

The question is, what do workers want?

To find out, Principal gave survey participants a list of benefits not currently offered by their employers and asked them to pick the top three they’d want in a wellness program.

Here are the top seven benefits employees said they wanted:

1. Fitness facilities (27%)
2. Fitness center discounts (24%)
3. Weight management programs (17%)
4. Access to experts — like nutritionists (15%)
5. Fitness equipment discounts (14%)
6. On-site health screenings (13%)
7. Weight management program discounts (12%)

Tags: absenteeism, benefits, discounts, fitness, health screenings, healthcare costs, Principal Fanancial, productivity, retention, weight management, Well-Being Index, wellness, wellness program