The report, which surveyed 250 companies, found 49 per cent of employers will be looking for corporate healthcare benefits which provide much more tangible results.
Just 10.7 per cent of companies plan to increase the range of benefits offered over the next 12 months and 16 per cent are looking to increase the number of employees covered. Nine out of 10 companies believe healthcare benefits are important for attracting and retaining employees, yet despite this, 17 per cent believedtheir scheme to be un-competitive.
The research showed that good PMI provision appears to go hand in hand with business growth, with 70 per cent of organisations with ‘very competitive’ corporate healthcare provision enjoying business growth in the past 12 months, compared to only 40 per cent of those with uncompetitive benefits.
Those organisations with the least competitive corporate healthcare scheme were also more likely to have high employee turnover rates.
Richard Halley, head of B2B sales at HSA, says: “Our report has revealed that most companies are not planning to spend less, and some actually plan to spend more. However, it is apparent that companies are under pressure to scrutinise the healthcare benefits they offer and to invest in those schemes which offer the best value, combined with visible results.”
“As an industry we need to do more to highlight health schemes that are more affordable, and offer benefits that employees will genuinely use and therefore will evidence greater value from.”