During the last six years or so, I’ve learned a few things about wellness. For example:

• A number of companies that entered the wellness arena early this decade did it with the assumption of rapid financial returns. In other words, they expected immediate savings on health insurance premiums and were often disappointed when that did not take place.
• In one of the first BizVoice roundtable discussions on this topic, we heard from one of the early adopters that some initial preventative screenings detected a heart ailment in one of their employees. He was immediately sent to his doctor and successfully treated. Yes, money was saved in the long term, but most importantly a life was preserved. There have been various versions of similar stories since.

The true value of wellness in the workplace lies somewhere between those two extremes. Establishing a successful wellness culture may not immediately save lives, but in the long term it will result in healthier and more productive employees — and likely produce that elusive benefit to the bottom line.

With all that in mind, the Indiana Chamber looks to bring wellness to more workplaces in 2011 by forming a partnership with the Wellness Council of Indiana. WCI has been around for 20-plus years with highly respected volunteers and wellness resources providing certifications and other programs for businesses. The new alliance will allow the Chamber to expand these programs and make them available to more employers and their employees statewide.

Read more in today’s press release and in the coming weeks and months as further details develop.