What kinds of outcomes indicate that an employee wellness program has been a success?

• A. No new hires discovered with expensive preexisting medical conditions requiring extensive medical care
• B. All employees have quit smoking, drinking, and use of illegal drugs, making the workplace healthier.
• C. Prescription drug use has been replaced with holistic and herbal remedies, yoga, meditation, and acupuncture.
• D. Reduced absenteeism, lower medical claim costs, and other positive indicators of improved employee health

Answer: (D)

Measuring the success of an employee wellness program relies on outcomes that reflect real improvements in health and related costs for the organization. The best choice highlights tangible, trackable results: reduced absenteeism, lower medical claim costs, and other positive indicators of improved employee health. These metrics show the program is having a meaningful, measurable impact on both employees and the company.

The other options describe extreme or indirect scenarios that aren’t reliable measures of a wellness program’s success. Expecting universal, perfect changes in behavior, or replacing all prescription drug use with alternative therapies, or linking hiring decisions to health conditions don’t provide consistent, actionable evidence of program effectiveness.