Leverage quality healthcare to attract and retain top talent

Recruiting and retaining talent remains a major concern for CEOs of companies of all sizes and in all industries. The COVID pandemic has exacerbated what was already seen as a challenge by severing traditional ties between employers and employees. The high percentage of remote workforce makes it even more difficult to create meaningful and lasting connections.

Innovative benefit offerings are more important than ever in creating reasons for employees to stay with their current employer. At the top of the list of key benefits is health care. Why? Two reasons: first, because it eats away at the disposable income of employees; and second because, as the COVID pandemic has taught us, health and well-being are central to what constitutes quality of life.

Related: The 5 levers for controlling the costs of the health plan for 2021

Benefits Brokers and Managers should recognize this challenge as a golden opportunity to help employers create a “bond” with their employees in order to limit turnover and attract better talent to any of the markets. most competitive jobs in recent history. How can a good healthcare offer have a positive impact on recruitment and retention strategies?

• Create a healthier workforce. Healthier employees are not only happier, but are also more productive with less absenteeism and lower health care and insurance costs.
• Maximize disposable income. The increases and bonuses don’t mean much if they are completely eaten away by the continuing escalation in health care costs.
• Reduce employee anxiety. Beyond the physical pandemic, COVID has created more mental health issues in the form of depression, anxiety and isolation. Being able to respond to the mental health pandemic is just as important as overcoming physical challenges.
• Improve morale. As companies focus more on health and wellness, their employees gain morale. Employers embed health into their corporate culture and reap great rewards in the form of increased employee engagement and satisfaction.

But how do you know what the right model of health care looks like? There are certainly enough examples in the market of healthcare models that don’t work. This is why we have skyrocketing costs, but health care outcomes worse than those of many other industrialized countries. The failures of traditional fee-for-service health care delivery models have opened the door to new options, including direct primary care (CPD).

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A wide range of companies have found that offering CPD is effective in retaining employees. What can employers do and offer employees in healthcare to create greater adherence?

• Create an employee listening strategy and be prepared to respond to employee concerns and needs. Listening is an important part of communication. Employees appreciate the feeling that they have a voice in their own health care. HR departments should convene employee advisory groups and ensure their ideas are heard by senior management.
• Create simplicity. Today’s society is filled with information overload. Technology has become more complex, as has basic decision-making. Health care should be simple and easily accessible and understandable.
• Treat the whole person. Health and wellness isn’t just about blood pressure, sugar levels, temperature and heart rate. Mental health is just as important. Support services should be provided to meet all of an employee’s health care needs, as well as those of their family members.
• Meet employees at their comfort level. Although COVID vaccines are now available to almost all American adults, fear continues to prevent people from going to doctor’s offices. Virtual medicine (also known as telemedicine) is more valuable and popular than ever. By giving employees a choice about how they engage with their healthcare provider, they feel more empowered and are more likely to meet critical appointments.
• Educate. Having the best health care program available doesn’t mean anything if employees don’t know about it or understand how it works.
• Provide easy access. If you want employees to proactively manage their own health, you need to make it easy for them. On-site and nearby health centers with flexible hours to accommodate various shifts and routines allow employees to quickly get the care they need without missing a lot of work or being inconvenienced.
• Build relationships and trust. Employees feel better when they see a health care provider they trust. However, it is difficult to establish any kind of relationship during the typical 10-minute visit to the doctor when patients are feeling rushed. In most models of CPD, the average patient visits are longer to allow time for meaningful discussion of health issues that might not have been identified otherwise.
• Make it free. Cost is the number one reason people don’t visit their health care providers as often as they should. The result is postponed or skipped appointments which can lead to small health issues that can turn catastrophic. Paying to provide employees with free access can actually save claims costs.

As employers continue to scramble to find better ways to retain talent, benefit brokers and managers will be called upon to come up with innovative and strategic solutions. If you plan to use healthcare as a carrot for recruiting and retaining, remember that it’s not just about saving money. Rather, it’s about building strong relationships.

Allison Vélez ([email protected]) is director of human resources for Everside Health, one of the largest direct primary care providers in the country, which partners with employers and unions to provide healthcare solutions that minimize costs, improve access quality care and improve employee health outcomes.

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