A meta-analysis of the non-monetary effects of employee health management programs.

This study was undertaken to review the literature on employee health management programs (EHMPs). We explored the history and characteristics of systematic organizational efforts to improve workforce health and well-being. We believe that a historical perspective provides some insight into the economic, political, and social factors that have influenced the trend toward organizationally sanctioned health-promotion efforts. Further, we investigated the likely effects of these programs on valued-behavioral organizational outcomes such as employee performance, employee satisfaction, absenteeism, and voluntary turnover. Our findings show that voluntary general-focus programs are unrelated to job performance, and voluntary programs are negatively related to absenteeism, but effects on absenteeism wane when the program is not voluntary. Moreover, EHMPs are minimally related to job satisfaction and slightly related to turnover. These results, examining behavioral outcomes of EHMPs, question the ability of EHMPs to provide desired behavioral changes in employees, changes that organizations seek to maximize such as increased performance. Are EHMPs more than just socially acceptable programs that help individuals with health problems? © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[1]  Walter F. Scanlon.  Alcoholism and drug abuse in the workplace : employee assistance programs , 1986 .

[2]  J. Mathieu,et al.  A review and meta-analysis of the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of organizational commitment , 1990 .

[3]  R. Wolfe,et al.  Employee Health Management Programs: Review, Critique, and Research Agenda , 1987 .

[4]  K. R. Pelletier.  A Review and Analysis of the Health and Cost-Effective Outcome Studies of Comprehensive Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Programs , 1991, American journal of health promotion : AJHP.

[5]  B. Googins,et al.  Measuring the success of occupational alcoholism programs. , 1984, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[6]  K. Warner.  Selling Health Promotion to Corporate America: Uses and Abuses of the Economic Argument , 1987, Health education quarterly.

[7]  Jennifer A. Chatman.  Matching People and Organizations: Selection and Socialization in Public Accounting Firms , 1989 .

[8]  Raymond A. Noe,et al.  Human Resource Management : Gaining a Competitive Advantage , 1994 .

[9]  B. Lubin,et al.  The EAP Literature , 1993 .

[10]  Joseph J. Martocchio,et al.  The Financial Cost of Absence Decisions , 1992 .

[11]  R. Glasgow,et al.  Participation in Worksite Health Promotion: A Critique of the Literature and Recommendations for Future Practice , 1993, Health education quarterly.

[12]  Martin Shain,et al.  Employee-assistance programs: Philosophy, theory, and practice , 1980 .

[13]  P. Roman,et al.  Formal intervention in employee health: comparisons of the nature and structure of employee assistance programs and health promotion programs. , 1988, Social science & medicine.

[14]  Thomas E. Becker.  Foci and Bases of Commitment: Are They Distinctions Worth Making? , 1992 .

[15]  Ian E. Butterworth MCouns.  The Components and Impact of Stigma Associated with EAP Counseling , 2001 .

[16]  John E. Hunter,et al.  Methods of Meta-Analysis: Correcting Error and Bias in Research Findings , 1991 .

[17]  T. Stachnik,et al.  Issues Related to Participation in Worksite Health Promotion: A Preliminary Study , 1992, American journal of health promotion : AJHP.

[18]  J E Fielding,et al.  Health promotion and disease prevention at the worksite. , 1984, Annual review of public health.

[19]  Gregg B. Jackson,et al.  Meta-Analysis: Cumulating Research Findings Across Studies , 1982 .

[20]  Charles E. Lance,et al.  Examining the Causal Order of Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment , 1992 .

[21]  R. Glasgow,et al.  Occupational health promotion programs to reduce cardiovascular risk. , 1988, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[22]  R. Wolfe,et al.  Employee Health Management and Organizational Performance , 1994 .