Velcro Benefits
In a recently conversation with an executive in the benefits industry, the topic of “stickiness” was brought up. Benefits advisors and HR executives both need ways to makes clients or employees stick around – Benefits that act like velcro. Easy, adjustable, and appropriately sticky.
Traditional health insurance and 401k’s are not enough anymore. The average employee under the age of 35 considers 20 months the length of time to stay before looking for another job. We can’t just assume this is a phase that young people will grow out of. This group includes executives and college graduates that have been in the professional work-force for 10 years. Total Rewards programs are designed to address the concerns and challenges of a dynamic workforce. Total Rewards are the benefits velcro that no only address the traditional expectations, but also reward loyalty and influence the attitudes and culture of a company’s workforce.
A sense of community and flexibility are 2 of the biggest influencers in employee stickiness. Concierge Healthcare actually demonstrates both. Instead of just the 1-size fits all, you have a benefit that is specifically tailored to each person’s need, can incorporate their family’s needs and demonstrates a care for their well-being.
Concierge Healthcare:
Unlike concierge medicine, which refers to having a physician on retainer, concierge healthcare is a service that arranges for provider appointments, second opinions, health related travel needs, benefits explanation and the maintenance and coordinate of medical records. Think of it like a single point of contact for both mundane like scheduling a physical or getting a refill to the horror of finding an expert for a Glioblastoma.
So why add it to a Total Rewards benefits package?
Reason #1 It makes employees lives easier.
Could someone do all the things that a concierge healthcare representative can do? Sure….
…..But why go through 10 easy steps when you could have someone else take the time, do the research, make the calls and do it for you? When an employee is given an “easy-button” for life’s chores as part of their rewards it goes a long way in showing a care beyond “productivity”
Reason #2 Productivity actually matters
When an employee is going through the “10-steps to change doctors” how much of that has to be done during “normal business hours”? During their own business hours? This means loss of productivity. By giving Concierge Healthcare to an employee, or at the least subsidizing it, a company also invests back in itself. On average 8 hours of work are lost a week between cellphone usage and personal errands – That’s a full day! Now break that down to $ paid for that 1 day a week! Just as many companies have gone to self-insured plans to try to cut the cost of the middle man and control some overhead – what if you could actually invest a little in concierge medicine and reap back what you lose in man-hours gained.
Reason #3 The impacts of stress are real.
People with auto-immune diseases will sometimes call themselves “spoonies”.
This refers to the “The spoon theory” in an essay by Christine Miserandino in 2003. Basically – everyone is allotted only so many spoons in a day, or only so much energy. As you go through your day, daily activites, both normal and unexpected, use up your allotments. When a persons mind is occupied with concerns it uses up those spoons, and any actions that have to be taken by that person also use up their “spoons”. If you have so much going that you need to borrow from tomorrow, that means you start tomorrow with less spoons.
Whether the worry is your own health, someone else’s, illness from lack proactive care, plain ol’ illness or just taking the time to deal with the things that have to be done to maintain one’s health or their families – it uses spoons. Having concierge medicine means, only 1 spoon is used and then someone else can devote their spoons instead.
Reason #4 Sometimes the unexpected and awful things happen.
Cancer, stroke, heart attack, or just the simple severe sinus-infection while you’re out of town.
All of these prompt a “now what?” response.
What do you do? Who do you call? instead of worrying and trying to use your limited resources and time to sort through the myriad of unknowns, a simple phone call to someone you know, who knows you can start to set things right. Good concierge healthcare is designed as both consult service and advocacy.
CONCLUSION:
Total Rewards goes beyond just health insurance. Concierge Healthcare is just that. Something more. Something unique. Something that is “fancy”. Concierge Healthcare creates a bit of stickiness in a unique way in comparison to other benefits included in a Total Rewards package.
