Employee Health

Employee Self-Service: Why Employees Care

May 11, 2017 by CorpStrat News Leave a Comment

In the 20th century, there was a clearer delineation between work and life: there was what you did to earn income, and there was everything else. But with the advent of mobile technology — which allows employees to be “on” anytime, anywhere — work is no longer confined to the office.

While this mobility offers great advantages, it also allows work to infiltrate employees’ lives. It’s a challenge for employers, large and small!

Today, life is pushing back! The enjoyment of life is beginning to take back its rightful place in the lives of employees. Today’s employees put increased focus on happiness at work—they change jobs more often, their careers take unexpected twists and turns, and personal satisfaction can be as important as the numbers on their paycheck.

Employers are recognizing these changing priorities, by investing in employee engagement, culture, and team development. Technology is the key.

Using Technology to Put Your Employees First

This employee-first focus is shaping everything from office floor plans to vacation policies and management styles, making the workplace a more dynamic and expressive place.

With so much change in the workplace, employees are looking for more stability, protection, and a safeguard against disruption. If they can find it in their employer, they’ll show their appreciation through loyalty.

Between work and life, employees want harmony—not just balance. With this new blended experience, they expect their employers to keep up with current trends and proactively provide solutions for their changing needs. Specifically, employees are seeking a sense of financial and emotional wellbeing.

Today’s employee experience needs to be more complete.

Here are 5 ways to meet employees where they are:

Offering a breadth of employee benefit options helps to alleviate the anxiety that comes with the integration of work-life and home-life.

When employers deliver digital and tailored HR solutions, they help an increasingly diverse workforce find the assurance and security it’s looking for.

When employees have access to the right information on their terms, it ensures they can get the info they need to meet their lifestyle objectives.

By providing clearer information about workplace policies and procedures, employers can empower employees and minimize areas of exposure.

Lastly, when communication is simplified, employees are able to discover the immense value of their workplace and benefits.

This appreciation results in engagement, loyalty, and commitment to the company.

Companies that embrace technology to help employees bridge the gap between “old school” and full-service digital employee engagement will thrive in a changing business world.

CorpStrat’s 21^st Century HR Solution helps companies change the game and change the ways employees engage.

What Are Employee Assistance Programs?

December 13, 2016 by CorpStrat News Leave a Comment

For many Americans, admitting to having an ongoing health problem or mental illness is a source of embarrassment and discomfort – even if it is the result of a very stressful crisis situation. Many people would rather handle these challenges individually, and never bring them up with their leadership at the office.

The issue that leaders face, then, is that they are managing employees who are being negatively impacted by a solvable problem, and they can’t do anything about it. [Read more…] about What Are Employee Assistance Programs?

How Can Organizations Manage Open Enrollment?

November 22, 2016 by CorpStrat News Leave a Comment

It’s open enrollment season again, and you know what that means: The HR department is frazzled, your managers are hunting down wayward employees in the hallway, admins are bracing for a paperwork blizzard, and nobody can really explain what’s supposed to be going on.

With the proper preparation, open enrollment can leave your employees feeling better served by your HR department, and HR can act strategically to create new benefits opportunities for the employees that need them most. Moving from a traditional paper brochure open enrollment to a technology-centric benefits enrollment period can make all the difference.

Cafeteria Plans: Are You Missing The Benefits of Voluntary Benefits?

November 15, 2016 by CorpStrat News Leave a Comment

The underutilized benefit the IRS doesn’t want you to know about!

With the rising cost of health insurance and increasing out-of-pocket expenses, there are additional expenses being put on both employees and employers due to the ACA. Employers are challenged, chief among these balancing the value of health benefits and optional coverage provided to employees, versus the costs and reporting burdens put on employers and employees.

5 Benefits Millennials Value As Much As Health Insurance

August 11, 2016 by CorpStrat News 4 Comments

Despite plenty of low-cost healthcare options, the majority of U.S. employers are expecting to change their full-time employee health benefit programs within the next three years, according to a Towers Watson study analyzing responses from 444 midsize to large U.S. organizations in January 2015.

Pricing Employee Fitness

August 9, 2016 by CorpStrat News Leave a Comment

You can’t put a price tag on a clean bill of health, but with the total annual cost of health care in the U.S. topping $3 trillion a year (about $8,650 per capita) employers and insurance companies are searching for ways to spend less on it.

A study from the University of Michigan Health Management Research Center does offer some encouraging news: As little as 10 to 20 minutes of daily exercise can help “dramatically” lower the risk of developing serious chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes, even for those with a high risk.

The research project viewed how exercise affected 4,345 employees at a financial services company. About 30% of the employees suffered from what doctors call “metabolic syndrome” which is a cluster of risk factors (including high blood pressure and high cholesterol) that often leads to diabetes and heart disease.

The study also found when high-risk employees put in 150 minutes per week of exercise saw their health care costs drop to the same level as those of healthy employees’. “It was a real surprise,” says Alyssa Schultz, a researcher who worked on the study.

Employees with metabolic syndrome who put in just 30 minutes of exercise five times a week racked up an average of $2,770 in annual medical expenses, compared with $3,855 for at-risk employees who didn’t work out. Data showed that those who exercised also had their’ pharmacy costs cut in half!

The biggest eye-opener from the study however was seeing how helpful it can be to exercise even just a little, as researchers noticed health-care cost savings, even among people who reported just 10 minutes of vigorous movement per day.

Companies intent on cutting their health care bills might want to encourage employees to sit less and move more — and they needn’t do it through an elaborate wellness program. Standing alone burns more calories than sitting, and with enough creativity and encouragement there are several ways to get employees to be more active throughout the day.

“People tend to think that, if they can’t spare half an hour a day to spend on a treadmill at a gym, then they might as well not bother doing anything, but any number of minutes that is more than zero makes a noticeable difference.” – Ms. Schultz.

Moral of the story? That stand-up desk your employee has been bugging you about may actually save you money in the long run.