As a business owner or leader, one of your top priorities should be providing a healthy and conducive work environment for your employees. A healthy environment refers to the actual workstations or space as well as the proper policies and employee benefits.
Many employers go out of their way to ensure that their work premises meet all the safety and regulatory standards for operation. This is commendable. However, some of them disregard giving their employees adequate health benefits.
Advantages of health benefits
Your employees are the backbone of your company and you should take good care of them. Health benefits lead to a healthy workforce and this has several advantages including:
- Increased productivity.
A healthy individual has more energy and strength to devote to their work. You will note that such employees concentrate more and have a higher output than those who are sickly. Additionally, they are unlikely to endanger their workmates due to ill health or lack of concentration.
- Reduced absenteeism.
Employees who are in ill health often take sick leave to rest at home or go to the doctors. This absence from work affects the company bottom line as tasks are left undone and productivity suffers. Furthermore, the other workers are likely to resent the extra work they have to do for their sick colleagues.
- High morale and engagement.
Providing health benefits makes your employees feel valued and appreciated. This in turn boosts their morale and engagement at work. They will devote their time to achieving company goals and are likely to have more satisfaction in their work.
- Reduced insurance, sick-pay costs and accident compensation.
Your company also stands to gain by offering health benefits to employees by saving money that would have been spent on medical bills, accident compensation or other expenses incurred by sick employees.
Types of health benefits
When providing health benefits, you have to decide on the type of cover to give, how much to pay and whether it will be inclusive of your employees’ dependents. Common health benefits include:
- Eye and dental care. Proper eye and dental care can detect and prevent a wide range of issues. Ensure that your health cover allows employees to visit the best eye care and surgery facilities or dental care clinics possible for their needs.
- Maternity care. A comprehensive maternity care package is invaluable to female employees. You can choose a package that covers most pregnancy and childbirth costs, including caesarean deliveries.
- Surgical, therapeutic or emergency care. This would cover the costs for any surgeries or emergency treatment that your employees may require. Therapeutic care includes recovery costs or costs incurred from managing chronic illnesses.
- Diagnostic care. This includes the costs incurred from blood tests, X-rays, MRIs or other procedures used to find the root cause of an illness. It can be part of the overall outpatient or inpatient health benefits package.
These are just some of the numerous benefits you can include in your employees’ health care package. Investing in your employees’ health can pay off handsomely in terms of productivity and engagement, making it a wise investment on your part.