Health and well-being of employees become a top priority of companies
Employee mental health has become as much as concern for companies as physical health.
Nearly 80% of benefits specialists and HR leaders say they have prioritized the health and well-being of employees in 2020, according to a new survey from Artemis Health. This finding is one of many that reflects the significant changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the health data analytics company said.
The Artemis report found that the number of HR and benefits professionals who identified improving employee health and well-being as a top goal for their company doubled from 2019 to 2020. In addition, the survey showed that employee mental health is as much as concern for companies as physical health.
Related: 6 steps to creating a workplace mental health & well-being strategy
“Employers increasingly recognize the role they play in an employee’s physical and mental well-being. During COVID-19, many benefits leaders are working with Artemis to measure the health impacts of the pandemic, such as stress, delayed care, and increased telemedicine usage,” said Grant Gordon, CEO and co-founder of Artemis Health. “Benefits analytics is a key tool for leaders looking to address gaps in employee benefits, improve employee well-being, and manage ever-increasing costs.”
A renewed focus on the health and well-being of employees
The report surveyed more than 300 employers with large companies (5,000 or more employees) and found that the identification of the health and well-being among employees had nearly doubled since Artemis’ 2019 survey. In the earlier survey, 36% of respondents listed the improvement of employee health and well-being as their top priority; this year that jumped to 61% of respondents.
“In 2019, most respondents were focused on employee productivity, but now health and well-being are their top concern,” the report said. “Many attribute this change directly to the COVID-19 pandemic.” The shift away from productivity as the top focus might have several reasons, but the report’s authors theorized that the overall success of remote work arrangements might be easing executives’ minds about worker productivity.
The study listed other top priorities for benefits for 2021, and they included:
- Improving employee satisfaction and engagement (55%)
- Increasing employee productivity (49%)
- Strengthening benefits cost management/containment (43%)
Employee satisfaction and engagement drive benefits decisions
Another top priority of benefits and HR executives is employee satisfaction and engagement, the report said. Especially key to that area will be data analytics, the survey found—57% of respondents said that they relied on employee satisfaction and engagement data the most when making benefits decisions for their companies. By comparison, 51% listed employee feedback as the top factor; 44%t said internal data analysis.
“Benefits teams clearly prioritize the employee experience when planning and implementing new benefits programs and solutions. They continue to rely on employees to provide input and feedback on what works for them,” the report said. “Even so, the continued importance of health care analytics is clear in this response. The role of data is growing, with 44% of respondents now reporting that internal data analysis is driving their benefits decisions.”
The Artemis analysis also suggested advisors can do more to increase their value to these companies. Only 35% of respondents said they relied on advisors for benefits decision making, a low number–but higher than the 20% finding from 2019.
“While you can clearly see advisor importance is growing compared to 2019, this result still shows a tremendous opportunity for benefits consultants and brokers,” the report said. “They have an incentive to make themselves indispensable to their employer clients with great recommendations, access to benefits data, and help with new program evaluation.”
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