How are employee benefit propositions addressing the issues employers and employees face today?
There is a fierce war for talent across many industries, and employee benefits is playing an increasingly important role in helping employers recruit and retain key members of staff. There is pressure on employers to increase salaries, with inflation at its highest level for 40 years, but this is not going to be affordable over the longer term. In 2023 we see benefits being a crucial part of overall recruitment strategy,
but to be effective these benefits have to
deliver the support employees need, in a way that is easy to access. For employees this means a benefits package that offers a range of wellbeing support services, and addresses their concerns around mental, physical, social and financial wellbeing.
Are wellbeing services driving engagement on group risk products?
The protection that group risk products offer is vital, and provides essential financial support for employees at times when they are at their most vulnerable. But, thankfully, relatively few people will ever need to claim. This is why many insurance providers offer access to a range of health and wellbeing benefits — such as digital GP services and mental health support. These are designed to provide practical help and support on a daily basis to a far wider range of employees. Our data shows these support services are popular with employees and are well used, which helps increase engagement and demonstrate value to employers.
Are more employers offering health and wellbeing benefits?
Today we are seeing far more interest from smaller businesses wanting to invest in the health and wellbeing of their workforces in order to recruit and retain talent to compete with larger businesses. This is a direct result of the pandemic, with employers recognising the importance of looking after the physical and mental health of their staff. They are also recognising the value of these additional support services, with data showing 77 per cent of UK employees say their productivity was impacted by waiting for a GP appointment. Offering access to a virtual GP, where appointments can be accessed quickly, and often out of work hours, is a clear benefit for both the employer and employee.
How important is digital innovation?
Digital innovation is key to the provision of workplace health and wellbeing solutions. Unum’s relaunched Help@hand now offers a total 360 health and wellbeing solution, all delivered via one easy to use app. More sophisticated technology means there is also more opportunity for integration between
these digital GP services and the NHS. For example the Help@hand GP can, with the patient’s permission, share encrypted notes with the individual’s own GP surgery, via the NHS Spine service. This enables people to plug back into NHS services for wider investigations, if this is needed. These services are helping employees get access to medical advice more quickly, while helping reduce the workload on the NHS. We saw a notable increase in appointments for children’s health during the recent Strep A outbreak.
How can insurers help employers design relevant wellbeing strategies?
Employers demand meaningful data when they’re investing in health and wellbeing services — and insurers like Unum can help them with this. Help@hand now provides a wealth of anonymised usage data, so employers can see what services employees are using, how frequently, and which services are most relevant to different cohorts. As we have developed this technology employers are able to access richer datasets, which will help them develop their own health and wellbeing services. We’re proud of the positive feedback that we’ve had from both employers and intermediaries on this new technology.
What changes have been made to Help@hand?
When we first launched Help@hand it was described as groundbreaking, but this transformation goes much further. We now have a larger range of preventative and lifestyle support services — and they are still in one app. This includes a fully integrated Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), plus personal training, nutritional consultations and savings and discounts on employees’ everyday shopping.We have also revised the user experience, making the services easier to navigate and interact with. We have also enhanced services by lifting the cap on mental health support and provided a solution to offer select services to uninsured employees to help more people. With a renewed focus on prevention, employees can take short assessments giving them valuable insights into their wellbeing. This unlocks personalised lifestyle coaching which we believe will help deliver meaningful and sustainable outcomes for employees.
