As much as we would like to keep healthcare costs down and improve our profit margins, we can’t deny that corporate healthcare costs have been rising in the recent years. According to a Willis Tower Watsons survey conducted in 2016, cost of healthcare benefits are expected to increase 9.1% this year, increasing from 8.0% in 2015 and 7.5% in 2014. These costs are expected to rise further when you have unhealthy employees in your workforce.
High MC Rates
“Boss, I’ll be on 3 days MC again because I’m down with flu”
Does this sound familiar? This remains one of the biggest challenges that employers face because this unplanned absence not only lowers the morale of the unlucky co-worker who is suddenly assigned with the unhealthy employees’ work, it also potentially creates a number of unhappy clients.
High Medical Claims
With high MC rates, high medical claims come naturally especially when your unhealthy employees are always seeking out specialists for targeted chronic illnesses like hypertension. One way to prevent this is to introduce a cap to the amount of claims per visit so that the employee feels the pinch and takes some responsibility for his/her own health.
Low Productivity / Presenteeism
Absenteeism is obvious but presenteeism isn’t. Some “all-star” employees may claim to take the least amount of sick leave per year but they could be prone to presenteeism where they are physically at work but not producing at their optimum capacity. Presenteeism potentially costs more than absenteeism because their illnesses might spread to their co-workers.
Solutions
According to another survey by Willis Tower Watsons, the leading workplace issues in Asia Pacific are the lack of physical exercise, stress and obesity. It is important to know the demographics of your employees and find out the common problems they face.
Start off small by introducing incentives like time-off for your employees to participate in health programs. Different programs cater to different groups of people so it is essential to conduct simple surveys to see which activities garner the best responses and participation rates.
With a proper health and wellness strategy, you will be able to concentrate on improving your bottom line by retaining your best talents.
We’re organising a talk on how to build a healthy SME at the Employment & Employability Institute (e2i) on 14th July 2016! Get your tickets here!
Alternatively, drop us an email at info@fhi-online.com to find out how you can implement a corporate wellness strategy for your employees! If you’d prefer speaking to us, give us a ring at 6842 4577, we’ll be more than happy to assist you in your quest to a happier and healthier workplace.