Join the employee health benefits revolution

Remote work means millions of workers can now access new roles that have previously been geographically off-limits. Alongside this, employees are increasingly looking for roles that suit their own personal needs and values. Higher wages alone are no longer the only solution in attracting and retaining talent as people look for a better work-life balance and company fit.

Companies are increasingly recognising that they need to provide solutions that bring out the best from their employees and ensure they feel valued.

So what does this mean for employee health benefits?

A recent poll found that a whopping 91% of organisations are planning to introduce new employee health benefits this year.

Of organisations surveyed in an online poll, almost all (91%) agreed that they would be introducing new wellbeing support benefits for staff for the new year. A further 6% of those polled said they were considering doing so, while just 3% said this was not something on their agenda for 2022.

(Source: Employee Benefits, January 2022)

It seems employers are beginning to look beyond the pandemic and that employee health remains a top priority.

In fact, a recent survey confirms that the type of benefits workers would most like to see are those that help them manage their own health and wellbeing. 51% of those polled say they find these type of benefits to be the most attractive. That’s more than further training and career development, and reward and discount schemes.

Drilling further into the data we see that the highest rise in popularity for a health benefit over the last two years was for remote GP services. 13.5% of workers wanted their employer to provide this benefit, an increase of 264.2%. And it's no wonder, with the NHS currently struggling with record waiting times.

The Great Resignation

The rapid changes taking place across the world over the last two years have included the “work from home revolution”. The aftershocks have triggered a new challenge for businesses around employee retention. The “Great Resignation” refers to the high levels of talent migration many businesses are currently experiencing. 

This is in part due to employees who perhaps have enjoyed working from home, who don’t want to return to the office or 9 to 5 that they’ve been used to and are actively choosing a more flexible working pattern offered by other employers. This has triggered a shortage in some companies and increased workloads and pressure for remaining employees. 

“The challenge [now] is there’s a higher percentage of folks resigning, therefore there’s more work to be distributed, and it’s just taking longer to hire people.”

(Source: Vox, Remote work isn’t the problem. Work is. February, 2022)

All this means that employee health benefits are becoming more important if you hope to recruit and retain talent. By promoting an attractive employee health benefits package you can help mitigate the impact of the Great Resignation. As a leader in your organisation, you can make a real difference to your workforce by implementing the right employee wellbeing strategy supported with health benefits that are valued and actually used. 

Now’s a good time for a Health Cash Plan

For employers, it's more important than ever to engage with your employees and demonstrate that they’re valued. More businesses are turning to health cash plans as an alternative solution in driving forward their employee health agenda across their whole workforce.

A healthcare cash plan employee benefit can be an integral part of the solution. Employees claim money back* on health bills such as visits to the dentists, opticians, physio and other key healthcare treatments – even including alternative therapies such as massages.  

Given the current strains on the health service, employees are now more likely to value ease of access to GPs and mental health support. Health Shield Cash Plans can also include additional benefits which include access to a 24/7 GP helpline, and can also receive mental health, financial, and personal support via an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and face-to-face counselling sessions, should they need it.  

So, as you can see employee health cash plans have a lot to offer!  

But more importantly, the money-back benefits and available health services on offer can go a long way to help ease the cost and accessibility barriers many employees face when addressing their own everyday health concerns.

Join the employee benefits revolution...

A health cash plan is an employee health benefit your employees will truly value and use.