Productivity and health: best practices for better measures of productivity

Interest in quantifying the relationship between health status and lost productivity has accelerated among employers, researchers, and benefits advisors. Our objective was to engage a dialogue to highlight important productivity measurement issues for consideration in an overall business strategy.

Critical review of selected topical literature.

Four functions of productivity measurement are described: 1) the purposes of a measurement initiative, 2) norms and benchmarking, 3) health and productivity cost estimators, and 4) reporting results. Each function is described in detail; challenges are noted; examples are provided.

This article supports the Integrated Benefits Institute consensus statements on productivity, underscoring the need to develop a conceptual framework of productivity measurement that guides the maturation of instruments and sets forth recommendations for their application consistent with the descriptive, comparative, and evaluative functions that foster health, well-being, and work performance.