Employees appreciate that the best things come in small packages
In the current economic climate, managers are increasingly looking for new ways to motivate their staff and create a productive and healthy workforce.
Employee engagement has long been regarded as one of the most effective ways to ensure that staff are not only able to perform in their roles, but are happy to go the extra mile when an organisation requires it.
The MacLeod Review, which was published in 2009, added further weight to the argument that it’s the small benefits which can make a real difference to employee wellbeing and attitudes.
According to researchers, who spent nine months surveying members of the business community, organisations across the board can reap rewards by implementing a comprehensive policy of employee engagement.
David MacLeod and Nita Clarke were commissioned by the Department for Business (BIS) to carry out the study. Their findings revealed that offering staff small benefits can improve their wellbeing, and that it also has a knock-on effect in terms of competitiveness and performance within an organisation as a whole.
One respondent commented: “Employee engagement is when the organisation values the employee and the employee values the organisation.”
This demonstrates that the process is very much a two-way street, but it’s the employer who needs to take the initiative and build a trusting relationship.
There’s no single way of achieving this, or a right or wrong answer on how best to go about it. This will largely depend on the individual department or organisation and the needs of its staff.
However, introducing a comprehensive and multi-faceted scheme is often the best approach to achieve the desired effect without costing too much money.
One of the first areas that an organisation should focus on is employee health. According to figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), approximately 29.3 million working days were lost in the UK during 2008/09 due to ill health and injuries sustained in the workplace. The need to reduce this figure is something that employers around the country can relate to.
Offering bespoke health cash plans, such as those offered by one of the leading providers Health Shield, is a simple way to improve the health of a workforce and it can also act as part of an effective programme to help reduce absenteeism.
Tailored plans introduced across an entire workforce – from management to junior level – can result in a drop in absence rates; in one case this fell to 2.6 per cent in 2009, compared with 3.1 per cent in 2008.
Health Shield can create solutions that are both cost effective for the organisation and provide employees with an extensive range of everyday healthcare cover included within a health cash plan.
Organisations can introduce a comprehensive offering, including optical, dentistry and physiotherapy benefits for staff, as well as the option to increase the cover at a minimal extra cost to include family members.
Health Shield cash plans complement existing NHS services and can also allow people to access care quickly when they need to.
Working closely with Health Shield, organisations can develop their own bespoke plan for under £1 per week per employee, or take an off-the-shelf solution form 75p per week per employee.
In addition to helping to reduce the number of people off work due to ill health, many organisations have also discovered that health cash plans can have a positive effect on their staff turnover.
The clear message to organisations is to not only value employees but to actually demonstrate this. In return, they will reap the rewards which come from having a more engaged, productive and happy workforce.
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