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Promoting a Culture of Health

Posted on: March 9th, 2018 by Brian Latkowski

Okay, I’ll admit… promoting a culture of health today within the workforce is not exactly like pressing the “easy button.” But there are solutions, which can be deployed with minimal staff resources and expertise while fitting into those tight budgets employers unfortunately have to continue to manage.

Employers are looking to their trusted advisors for new ways to engage employees because their needs are more diverse than ever.  Yes, we still attempt to tailor benefits offerings based on generational categories like Millennials, GEN X, Boomers and now GEN Z.  However, trying to match the right benefits based on these categories alone is not enough.  Employees change jobs more frequently, work is no longer confined to the office and workers are pushing retirement further down the road. Employees no longer see a clear delineation between work and life… they want more than balance. They want harmony.

Defining a Culture of Health

Historically, employees have looked to their employer for help with their physical needs (e.g., health insurance, wellbeing), but today’s multidimensional employee is also asking for help with their financial, mental and social needs.  According to the 2017 MetLife Annual Trend Study, 74% of employees agree having insurance/benefits provides peace of mind for the unexpected. Additionally, 66% of employers agree that employees are less productive at work when worried about personal finance problems.

Additional Employee Benefits to Consider

  • Telemedicine & advocacy resources
  • Healthcare cost transparency tools
  • Financial wellness, Budget/Debt tools
  • College loan programs
  • Personal protection & financial security (e.g., ID theft, Legal)
  • Caregiver support resources
  • Consumer savings programs (e.g., cell phones, cable TV, retail)
  • Discount medical programs to complement traditional insurance or fill gaps where no insurance exists

Top 5 Easy Button Considerations

Deploying additional benefits above and beyond traditional programs like medical, life, dental, disability and a retirement plan has its challenges for most plan sponsors.  HR departments have limited budgets and are generally at max capacity when it comes to benefits administration.  Follow these 5 “easy button” guidelines to help evolve your clients’ benefits programs to meet the needs of a diverse employee base.

  1. Only settle for best-in-class providers.  The alternative benefits arena is exploding with new players daily.  Partner with tenured companies that deliver ROI.
  2. Worksite pricing versus retail.  Partner with organizations that understand and price their products for the worksite–the savings can be huge!
  3. Multidiscipline companies and/or wholesale aggregators.  Ease the administrative burden by working with companies that can deliver multiple benefits on a single administrative platform.
  4. Flexible funding options.  Although many of these products require no underwriting, make sure you have the ability to offer these benefits employer paid, voluntary payroll deduct, or on a direct pay basis (think part-time employees).
  5. Post enrollment marketing and service support.  Find those partners that help with ongoing promotion of the program to increase awareness and utilization.  These benefits tend to raise a lot of questions at the employee level, so choosing partners that embed customer service in their product will further minimize the administration burden felt by the HR staff.

Ready to start promoting a culture of health? Contact New Benefits today to find out how easy it is to offer unique solutions to encourage not only physical health, but also financial and emotional wellbeing.

Copyright © 2018 by New Benefits, Ltd.  All rights reserved.