Wellable Labs, National Wellness Institute Release 2022 US Wellness Professional Compensation Report
- The Report Identifies Salary and Benefits Trends to Watch and Essential Skills for Growth in the Booming Workplace Wellness Sector.
To provide wellness professionals and the organizations they work for with actionable insights on critical salary and benefits trends, Wellable Labs and the National Wellness Institute (NWI) released the 2022 U.S. Wellness Professional Compensation Report, which surveyed 356 full-time wellness professionals from across the country. Key takeaways include guidelines for employers to best attract top talent and essential skills wellness professionals must have to successfully navigate this rapidly growing and transforming sector.
Compensation Trends
The report outlines salary and compensation data in the workplace wellness field to identify guidelines for future professional growth. The data suggests that compensation differences are linked to geographic location. Specifically, median compensation among respondents varied based on employee location and company headquarters, and compensation was higher along the East and West Coasts than in the Central U.S.
The report also breaks out compensation by seven professions, which had a smaller variance. Median compensation fell within a $24,500 range for all wellness professions. Public health administrators and consultants marked the lower and upper bounds, respectively. The median compensation for the five remaining wellness professions fell between $63,500 and $78,000.
HR Technology News: WorkFusion Redefines the Intelligent Automation Market With Launch of AI-Enabled Digital Workforce
Benefits Trends
The most provided benefits are (i) health insurance, (ii) dental insurance, (iii) paid vacation, (iv) employee assistance programs, and (v) paid sick leave. Employers looking to attract and retain top talent in the field may want to bolster their benefits packages with (i) performance bonuses, (ii) fitness reimbursements or discounts, (iii) student debt assistance, (iv) tuition reimbursement, and (v) extended maternity/paternity leave. Respondents ranked these five benefit offerings as being highly desirable additions to their current benefits packages.
Wellness professionals appear to be looking for cash offerings more than benefits. Most respondents (59%) stated they would be unwilling to trade a portion of their salaries for an increased benefits package.
Wellness Promotion Competencies
The report also outlines the NWI Wellness Promotion Competency Model, a common set of standards for wellness professionals to assess their skills as they prepare for future wellness career opportunities. There are five domains wellness professionals should keep in mind for professional growth.
- Authenticity and self-awareness
- Whole-person and systems approaches
- Inclusive and responsive practices
- Communication and connection
- Legal and ethical principles
HR Technology News: Tech Interview Platform Woven Launches ‘Woven Match’ and Lands $8 Million Investment to Make Hiring Developers Radically Better
Conclusion
“Although workplace wellness programs have been around for over fifty years, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown just how critical it is for a holistic, comprehensive wellness strategy to be included in any well-thought-out business plan,” said Brighid Sullivan, Director of Wellable Labs. “Driven by employee demand for multi-dimensional well-being benefits, workplace wellness has become a $52.8B industry and is expected to continue growing at an annual rate of 7% in the coming years. As the future of work evolves, we expect to see a diverse range of new employment opportunities become available, requiring employers to get ahead of wellness professional compensation trends to appeal to top talent and employees to sharpen their toolbox of skills.”
As the wellness industry continues to grow, new roles are being added and current ones are evolving. Employers and wellness practitioners alike must stay abreast of the latest changes in the compensations and competency standards discussed in this report to stay competitive.
HR Technology News: Advantexe Strengthens Talent Development and Delivery Capabilities With Addition of The Ki Group
[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]