HR HEALTH
Changing the face of employee benefits
Persuading the CFO Moving forward, companies will have to think about more creative EB solutions than only buying traditional medical insurance. But while better medical benefits are good news for HR and employees, their procurement continues to get more and more expensive, and organisations must be prepared to increase their EB budget or look at new ways of how they distribute it. Persuading the CFO to do this is no mean feat, and Smith advised, "To help demonstrate the ROI on increasing EB budget to the CFO, it's a good idea for
During our recent Livestream HR on the Money, HR Magazine spoke with Dan Smith, Director, Alliance Group, to get his take on today's employee benefit trends and into tomorrow's HR.
HR to look at how this reduces attrition rates—which will easily offset the investment, by reducing the cost of training up new hires (which is typically seven times over retaining an existing staff member). It's a basic 'pay now, save later' concept." He added, "Also having good-quality medical insurance, means staff members who are sick, should in theory also be able to get back to work much more quickly—with access to the best possible medical treatment. And we really do see this in practice, in staff being able to skip public hospital waitlist by accessing expedient private healthcare."
Moral C&B packages These moral employer considerations are becoming critical in attracting good quality talent. Smith noted, "We are seeing a massive shift by employers towards alternative benefit strategies, which the insurance environment has been
Change not just down to COVID
pushing for a while, including income-based benefits and income replacement
The effects COVID is having on C&B, and working arrangements are
insurance—to help better cover talent, even if they have to be later let go."
not new. For a long time, employees have been asking for increased flexibility, including work-from-home (WFH) arrangements along with more flexible or reduced working hours. Dan Smith, Director, Alliance Group, noted, "As we emerge from COVID, Employee Benefits (EB), is potentially going to look significantly different moving forward. Because of the nature EB these days, when people get laid off they don't just lose their jobs, they may also lose their accommodation, their children may lose their schooling, the family may lose their healthcare and a whole range of other knock-on ramifications. Companies and employees are going to have to view EB through a different lens, and it's no longer about buying something to make the EVP look nice and shiny."
WFH considerations Unlike most offices, not all homes are the same, and it is essential for
Smith added, "Employees are increasingly becoming aware that their
employers to bear in mind the variety of challenges that WFH employees
benefits are generally tied to their employment. So, where employees
could face. Smith cited a couple of examples, "Some people may have young
find themselves unemployed, which is happened to many around the
children at home, making it very difficult for them to home work effectively.
world right now, many of their benefits end immediately. This has
We've also found lots of people live in buildings where the internet connection
multiple impacts on employees, as benefits increasingly do not just
is poor, and therefore the quality of the connections for online meetings is not
comprise medical and life insurance, but also include school bursaries,
very good. So, benefits packages must take account of such factors and help
accommodation and other benefits. It has also placed a moral obligation
facilitate remote working. As such, we are seeing an increasing number of
on employers to look at exactly what benefits mean to employees, and
companies paying for internet connections for their WFH talent."
the impact this would have if they had to be laid off."
Employee wellness in benefits
It's no longer about buying something to make the EVP look nice and shiny.
Employee assistance programmes (EAPs) are becoming an increasingly important part of any C&B package. Smith explained, "In our experience, the one benefit that all employees want is salary. However, also key, from a mental well-being perspective, is having readily available access to good-quality professionals who can help people in these difficult times. This applied not just
Dan Smith
to the employees themselves, but also to their spouses, children, parents and
Director, Alliance Group
even pets. This is critical to get the best out of talent, not just in terms of their contribution to the company, but also because a happy person is far more likely to say thank you to their peers and promote a positive peer-review culture." n
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