The best way to visualize the future is to see where we are standing now. Last year was marked with a pandemic’s devastating impact, but it wasn’t the only issue we’ve faced. Environmental disasters and campaigns, the rise of Black Lives Matter, and the societal rupture due to the presidential election led to the overpowering feeling of anxiety and disbalance.
The world has changed dramatically, and we are losing a clear view of it. Simultaneously, last year taught us to change rapidly and adapt to the needs of the time. We will need these skills to manage the working process with employees, whose life has turned upsidedown.
We witness a shift in the value system. Before, employee benefits were seen as a matter of social well-being, signifying the company’s serious attitude towards employees. However, after the last year, benefits started to play a crucial role in the employee-employer relationships — people’s lives became dependant on things like the health insurance and caregiving support provided by the workplace.
That’s why the human capital started to shift towards those companies that can provide sufficient benefits to the team. Moreover, employees are eager to strive for better opportunities and progress more rapidly due to the remote working. Social distancing limited the number of social activities and increased our investment into the things we still have — our jobs.
Here we discuss seven directions in which companies should modify the benefits strategies to keep their teams afloat.
Course 1. COVID-19 vaccination
Among the most critical issues is vaccination. Right now, it’s our best chance to end the pandemic and start the essential process of recovering. Businesses are not alone in taking up this process — the educational facilities also design strategies to cover their staff and students.
At the beginning of this year, public colleges in different states started to vaccinate elderly professors and other faculty members. These establishments create ways of communication with their members, which are worth looking into.
However, there is a much bigger responsibility on employers’ shoulders. Apart from providing vaccines, they also need to lead an informational campaign on the importance of vaccination.
With a split in our society and ubiquitous uncertainty of each move, people would rather wait to see the first vaccination wave results. That’s why access to reliable information is essential to assure people of this process’s rightness.
In any case, we won’t return to pre-pandemic times, but herd immunity will be a great environment to start building again.
Course 2. Remaking a healthcare plan
Even though health insurances rapidly widen their lists of applicable procedures, many new medical measures are still emerging. The previous price rising trend is still in place, and current healthcare plans burden both employees and employers.
According to the Large Employers’ Health Care Strategy and Plan Design Survey, employers increased their investments into the health branch from 36% to 45% in 2020. With the pandemic still ongoing, we need to review the healthcare plans to create sustainable benefits costs.
The possible action is to contact directly with the services providers — medical establishments. It will give a clearer view of healthcare quality and reduce the cost of dealing with mediators.
Course 3. Telehealth — treatment at home
Telehealth implies healthcare through the means of technology like video chats. Quarantine forced businesses, enterprises, and medical facilities to implement remote services. Except the evident benefit of avoiding physical contact, the measure also saves costs and time to allow more people to reach the needed care.
The virus did not eradicate other pressing health threats, which became only more dangerous due to the medical system’s overload. Telehealth is a convenient option which employers should include in their benefits package.
Course 4. Domestic help — benefits in caregiving and home management
As we moved to our homes, we lost other essential services that kept our life organized. A couple of the most pressing — educational facilities and help with home running. With additional 27 hours per week for household chores and childcare in spring 2020, employees worked under tremendous pressure to keep their jobs and families intact.
Simple benefits like discounts in food delivery companies or coverage of laundry services will ease the burden and help people focus more on their working tasks.
Course 5. Caring for mental health
Pandemic is not the only critical issue that we faced during the last year. Social tensions multiplied by the quarantine limitations paint quite a sorrowful picture of the world. Mental health may become its pandemic soon, which must be taken seriously.
It would be wise for employers to include behavioral health treatment into their healthcare plans and consider facilitation services to strengthen their teams. Some companies provide mentors to help people better integrate into the corporate society and create lasting bonds.
Course 6. Employees’ education and reskilling
People became far more worried about their future and started to look for measures to ensure stability. If the company shows support and provides means for improvement, employees will feel safer and sure in their status.
One of the leading trends is financial health when people learn to look after their earning and spendings. FinFit is an app to help with the financial operation and budget planning.
Apart from that, the best proof of future stability is to see where you are heading. Companies should provide ways for their workers to pursue different positions and reach their goals within the company, rather than looking for another job. Gloat is a platform that boosts internal mobility and helps companies optimize their human capital.
Course 7. A software for benefits management
We’ve talked about numerous additional benefits and changes that are crucial for your team’s well-being. However, managing all of them will become a challenging task, which will take extra human resources, time, and money.
The solution is a platform that unites all the services in one and creates a clear picture of the benefits administration process. Tabulera software helps employers take control over insurances and invoices, billings and payments, presenting one instrument to take care of the benefits.
