COMPETITOR-PROOF YOUR EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PLAN

Three ways your employees benefits plan SHOULD be competitor-proofing your employees

The power of your employee benefits plan isn’t just to protect your employees, it’s to protect your business: from poor employee health leading to low performance, from absenteeism, from presenteeism, and (this one is often over-looked) from competitors.

Here are three ways your employee benefits plan should be competitor-proofing your employees:

1. Show your employees that you’re investing in them

Often employees think of their salary and vacation time as their compensation, but an employee benefits plan is also part of employee compensation – in fact, from both a value and a financial perspective it’s a major component! Without employee benefits, your employees would be fully funding their own health services, reducing their buying power. Use your benefits plan to remind employees of the full value they’re getting from their employer.

Tip: GroupHEALTH’s Benestats total compensation statements for employees integrates the value of benefits into salary costs, showing employees the true value of the compensation you provide to them.

2. Show your employees that you care about them

When employers provide benefits to their employees, they’re providing tangible and valuable proof that they care about their employees, and their families. In an uncertain world, this can have an enormous impact on an employee’s perception of their employer, which in turn drives loyalty, productivity and even referrals. An employee going through a hard time knows that their employer has their back when they have access to the health services they need.

Tip: All GroupHEALTH plans include an employee and family assistance program that gives employees access to resources for physical and mental health. Regular reminders to employees to use this program will drive up perceptions of value.

3. Show your employees that their whole wellness is important

A modern benefits plan goes beyond traditional health benefits by recognizing that wellness includes how employees use their time, finances and mental energy. Traditionally employee benefits are called “health benefits”, but increasingly they should be called “wellness benefits.”

Tip: At GroupHEALTH, we embed critical wellness components in our plans, from financial and fitness services to virtual healthcare which gives employees access to health services from wherever they are. Employers can even add special “wellness accounts” to plans to encourage employees to exercise and relax.

Read: How to power up your employee benefits plan 

Use Your Benefits Plan to Keep Your Top Talent

As a small business, you may find the world of employee benefits intimidating. What you need is a reliable guide! We understand why Canadian businesses of all sizes need a better benefits plan experience, and we make sure they get it. We support thousands of small businesses across Canada, so let us support you. We’ll review your current benefits plan and advise you on the next step to a brighter future – free of charge.