As we start settling into summer and our thoughts turn to time spent on cottage docks or vacations with family and friends, it’s the perfect opportunity to think about wellness—and for organizations to shine the spotlight not only on the well-being of their employees, but how they plan to adjust or enhance their group benefits programs before the fall to build a wellness culture. Because at that point in the annual business cycle, other tasks take priority and group benefits considerations can often slip through the cracks.
This year, plan to be proactive and position wellness solutions at the forefront of your organization’s group benefits offering, with the emphasis on creating a culture of wellness across your organization. The comprehensive 2022 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey underscored why that focus may be crucial for retaining talent and building a strong overall workplace culture. Among group plan benefit members surveyed, the study found that:
- 76 per cent say their workplace encourages health and wellness—and 91 per cent of respondents that work at an organization they feel has a strong wellness culture reported strong job satisfaction
- 84 per cent of plan members working within a strong wellness culture environment say the quality of their health benefits plan is either excellent or good
- 83 per cent of plan members that feel their mental health and wellness is being supported in the workplace are also satisfied with their jobs
The survey found that organizations are shifting spending in order to address employees’ wellness culture expectations:
- Over the next three years, “75 per cent of plan sponsors anticipate dedicating funds and/or staff resources, outside of the health benefits plan, to support employees in at least one of five areas of wellness”: mental health, social health, physical fitness, financial health, prevention of illness or chronic condition management
- 45 per cent of employees working for organizations with strong mental health support programs say their personal mental health is either excellent or very good, compared to 23 per cent for employees that lack similar supports; 52 per cent of employees in the former category say their overall health is either excellent or very good
- 84 per cent of employees that say their organization provides strong mental health supports say their health benefits plan is either excellent or very good
The Benefits Canada survey is a reminder that, especially in the post-pandemic era, traditional group benefits offerings simply aren’t enough to excite prospective employees. Organizations need to listen and be far more creative when building meaningful, wellness-oriented group benefits programs.
“With unemployment hovering at historic lows and labour mobility impacting various industries, group benefits are playing a significant role in the career decisions being made by top performers,” explains Bridgewell Financial Group Benefits Partner Michael Wortsman.
“From remote mental health counselling and learning tools to targeted wellness solutions that help employees live happier, more fulfilling lives, employers are facing an unprecedented opportunity to use innovative group benefits solutions to drive organization-wide growth.”
Here are three considerations to keep in mind this summer when reviewing your organization’s group benefits offering:
Be strategic—Who do you want to attract and what kind of workplace culture do you want to build? Those questions will help define the kind of group benefits you need to offer. From there, think specifically about how your wellness culture can drive your organization towards realizing key performance indicators on the employee attraction, retention and engagement fronts.
Talk to your people—It’s easy to take a top-down approach when it comes to group benefits. But taking the time to analyze the composition of your team and their overall needs or wellness priorities, then seeking their direct input into the type of group benefits plan they would actually use, is a key component of building a results-driven health and wellness package.
Take the time (and leverage your group benefits resources) to do it right—Effective plans aren’t necessarily built overnight. Beyond working with your team, review your plan with your group benefits provider, review industry benchmarks and gather the necessary data to make informed changes to enhance your plan. Then take action. Your competitors aren’t resting on their laurels when it comes to appealing to top talent with innovative group benefits programs.
The Bridgewell team
For assistance with your group benefits planning needs, contact a member of our team today.
