Return on Investment of a Work–Family Intervention : Evidence From the Work, Family, and Health Network

Barbosa, Carolina and Bray, Jeremy W. and Dowd, William N. and Mills, Michael J. and Moen, Phyllis and Wipfli, Brad and Olson, Ryan and Kelly, Erin L. (2015) Return on Investment of a Work–Family Intervention : Evidence From the Work, Family, and Health Network. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 57 (9). 943–951. ISSN 1076-2752

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the return on investment (ROI) of a workplace initiative to reduce work–family conflict in a group-randomized 18-month field experiment in an information technology firm in the United States. Methods: Intervention resources were micro-costed; benefits included medical costs, productivity (presenteeism), and turnover. Regression models were used to estimate the ROI, and cluster-robust bootstrap was used to calculate its confidence interval. Results: For each participant, model-adjusted costs of the intervention were $690 and company savings were $1850 (2011 prices). The ROI was 1.68 (95% confidence interval, −8.85 to 9.47) and was robust in sensitivity analyses. Conclusion: The positive ROI indicates that employers’ investment in an intervention to reduce work–family conflict can enhance their business. Although this was the first study to present a confidence interval for the ROI, results are comparable with the literature.