All businesses want to keep their best employees and attract the highest quality candidates when hiring new staff, but a key challenge for many employers is how to achieve these two things.
Having a positive working environment not only makes people more likely to stay with the organisation, but will also be attractive to potential staff, so what’s the secret?
Fostering wellbeing in the workplace
It takes a combination of factors to increase staff happiness, and two that often get overlooked are good employee mental and physical health.
Gone are the days when staff could be regarded as expendable – now, organisations need to invest in their workforce to not only ensure their happiness, but also to maintain their productivity, conform with the law and generally make the organisation a good place to work.
One of the most practical and attractive ways of doing this is to provide benefits that give staff a real reason to both join and stay with the company, by ensuring their short and long-term wellbeing.
Why do employees leave?
A 2016 study carried out by the Corporate Leadership Council, looked at why employees quit their jobs and how employers are able to convince them to stay, and it found that being proactive is the most successful tactic.
Although many employees who hand in their notice are convinced to stay with the company, half of them will go on to leave within the next 12 months anyway.1 The key appears to be offering a package that keeps them happy and reduces their desire to leave altogether, so no counter-offer even needs to be made.
Data compiled by Towers Watson found that 27 per cent of employees class themselves as likely to leave the company within the next two years – a proportion of the workforce labelled ‘high risk’.2
Of these high risk employees, 70 per cent say that finances are the main reason they are eyeing a new role, either due to their current salary or the cost of living.2
For many employers who have a limited budget, the question is often how to provide financial rewards, even if monetary perks are out of the question. For businesses that cannot afford to increase staff salaries or pay bonuses, offering a health care cash plan can be a cost-effective alternative.
Plus it can also demonstrate to employees that you are a caring employer who places great importance on maintaining the health and wellbeing of your workforce.
How health care cash plans can help
An employer paid cash plan can not only prove attractive to current and potential staff but also help to safeguard their health.
For a small monthly amount, organisations can help to cover many common costs associated with everyday health care and provide added peace of mind to their workers, regardless of their age or medical history.
For a fraction of the cost of private medical insurance, firms can give their staff the ability to claim tax-free cash back on both NHS and private health care costs including eye tests, glasses and contact lenses, dental check-ups and treatment, physiotherapy, and much more.
Additionally, cash plans often include an Employee Assistance Programme which offers a range of services designed to help employers meet duty of care obligations by giving staff confidential help, guidance and counselling to help them cope with a variety of life events or issues such as stress.
Not only can a cash plan help maintain the health and wellbeing of your employees, it can also benefit your business – by providing your staff with a cash plan, they will no longer need to delay treatment because of the cost, which could result in faster diagnosis and treatment, meaning they return to work quicker or even don’t need to take time off in the first place.
For more information about Sovereign Health Care and how its range of cash plans can help support the health of your employees and business from as little as £4.03 per employee, per month, visit https://www.sovereignhealthcare.co.uk/business/.
1 CEB http://www.cemla.org/actividades/2016/2016-04-RecursosHumanos/2016-04-RecursosHumanos4.pdf
2 Willis Towers Watson
https://www.towerswatson.com/en/Insights/Newsletters/Americas/Insider/2015/06/seven-things-to-know-about-employee-retention-risks