Two of the most significant financial pain points modern employers face are productivity and retention. With the U.S. labor market facing a record churn rate — a total of 4.5 million workers left their jobs in November 2021 alone — it’s crucial that companies take steps to improve workplace culture.
An employee experience strategy that prioritizes affordable and accessible healthcare is valuable in mitigating these challenges. Here’s why those benefits truly matter.
The True Cost of Turnover Is Surprisingly High
Replacing a single employee can cost a company up to nine months of that worker’s salary. If an employee were making $60,000 a year before leaving your company, you could spend upward of $45,000 recruiting, onboarding, and training their replacement. By 2030, U.S. companies are expected to lose a collective $430 billion annually due to employee turnover.
On the flip side, companies with higher retention rates can maximize their profits. Employee benefits like flexible work arrangements, robust retirement options, and healthcare plans that include vision and dental are among the most important for attracting and retaining talent. The latter is especially salient — a survey by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) found that 56% of workers with employer-sponsored health plans count their insurance quality as a key factor in deciding whether to stay with their current employers.
Healthcare Drives the Employee Experience and Your Bottom Line
There’s a direct correlation between employee health and productivity: Employees do their best work when they’re healthy and happy.
Unfortunately, many employees struggle to access and afford medical care for themselves and their families. A recent Gallup poll found that 25% of Americans have delayed medical care due to cost concerns. And when an employee attempts to work through an ailment, their productivity takes a prolonged hit while the total cost of treating the illness climbs.
Meanwhile, worries over medical bills can further complicate the health of your employees. Researchers have linked financial stress to conditions like migraines, heart disease, insomnia, and deteriorating mental health, and employees enduring this strain can end up taking twice as many sick days as their less-burdened peers.
And financial stress related to medical bills is more far-reaching than you might expect. The same survey by AHIP mentioned earlier found that 71% of employees are deeply apprehensive about the rising costs of their healthcare plans. Survey respondents listed access to prescription drug coverage, preventive care, and emergency care among their biggest concerns.
How to Improve Healthcare Access and Affordability for Your Employees
Companies that give extra attention to the employee experience are likely to have a far easier time attracting and retaining top talent. Those efforts need to include steps to improve healthcare access and affordability for your team. By showing your workers that you value their health, you’ll encourage them to share their time and talents with your company.
Including Paytient as part of a robust healthcare plan is the best way to ensure employees can keep themselves and their families healthy. Paytient empowers employees to pay out-of-pocket healthcare expenses at their own pace through payroll deducted, interest-free payments. Employees also can link Paytient to their HSAs or FSAs to help grow those accounts, which ultimately empowers them to keep more cash on hand in case of emergencies, cover any large claims, and even save for retirement.
The key to success now and in the future will be offering benefits that improve the workplace experience and the quality of life for your employees and their families. And when you provide an employee experience that’s truly second to none, you’re going to attract top talent while helping current employees optimize their productivity.
