Travel insurance protects individuals and businesses against loss that occurs while traveling. Travel insurance mitigates losses caused by missed flights, natural disasters, acts of terrorism, personal injury or sickness while abroad, lost or stolen personal items and baggage, and unforeseen personal events that prevent traveling. While some might consider travel insurance unnecessary, for many, it provides peace of mind. With the right level of protection, travel insurance allows individuals to focus on the purpose of their trip, whether for business or personal reasons, without wondering what might happen if they find themselves in an emergency situation.

Offering retirement savings benefits as part of a company’s employer value proposition is essential to attracting, hiring, and retaining top talent. To help employees plan for their financial future, the most common retirement savings plan that employers offer for today’s workforce is a 401k defined contribution plan. A 401k plan allows employees to contribute pre-tax dollars to tax-deferred investments based on IRS annual contribution limits. Many employers offer a company match to employee contributions, with standard practices being a 50-cents-for-every-dollar match or a dollar-for-dollar match up to 6% of the employee’s contribution.

Financial wellness matters to employees. Unfortunately, however, a large portion of the workforce is not financially healthy. From an overload of debt to living paycheck to paycheck, individuals often struggle to maintain financial balance and make ends meet. When employees stress about finances, that stress doesn’t check itself at the office door when the employee arrives at work. Financial stress impacts an employee’s ability to do her job, which can lower productivity and eventually affect the bottom line.

Financial stress can harm mental and physical health. In the American Psychological Association’s 2019 Stress in America survey, 60% of respondents reported money as a significant stressor, which has been recorded at a similar level for the past few years. In a Bank of America Merrill Lynch report, 40% of employees said they spent three or more hours dealing with personal finances weekly, and 56% of employees revealed that they experience financial stress. Money management and financial stress are also cited as top reasons why many married couples file for divorce. These stats partly indicate why so many employees seek out employers that have a well-rounded benefits package with some type of retirement savings plan.  

Employee benefits matter. They affect work productivity, employee retention, morale, health, and your ability to attract and hire candidates. In the 2018 Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) job satisfaction and engagement survey, 92% of employees surveyed indicated that employee benefits were linked to their overall job satisfaction. Almost one-third of the employees noted that their current benefits package was one reason why they would possibly look for another position in the upcoming 12 months.

Indeed, compensation is a key factor when candidates are considering different job offers. Many candidates, however, will take a job with lower pay if it has a comprehensive, high-quality benefits package.

Goal setting is important for employees at any level within an organization, and it is the responsibility of leadership and managers to ensure that they work with employees to set goals on a regular basis. Goals provide the road map of where an employee wants to go in his or her position, which should also align with what are the organization’s expectations of the employee.

Further, goal setting engages employees in their short- and long-term success, as well as the short- and long-term success of the company. Therefore, assuming that the employee is actively achieving goals that align with work expectations, goal setting increases productivity. Goal setting also boosts employee engagement, which ties to employee well-being and morale.

Formal goal setting, such as during the annual performance review process, provides the necessary legal documentation for performance improvement plans and performance-related terminations. Also, referring back to documented goals provides performance markers for managers and employees to discuss, as well as criteria to be met for any bonuses or pay tied to performance.

It’s no secret that benefits are important to employees. An Aflac employee overview survey showed that 60% of workers would accept a job with better benefits, even if the pay was lower. Another study by Fractl showed similar results, with 88% of workers saying that they would consider a lower-paying job over a higher-paying one if the health benefits were better.

In a 2018 Clutch survey, 14% of employees surveyed said that they would like their employer to offer different benefits altogether, and 52% said that they would like their employer to increase the level of a benefit they already had. A Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) job satisfaction and engagement survey reported that 92% of employees believed that employee benefits were important to overall job satisfaction.

Organizations that offer robust benefits programs are more likely to attract and retain top talent. And since benefits are also linked to job satisfaction, it implies that benefits are also linked to increased employee morale, well-being, and productivity.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) does not require small businesses to offer health insurance to employees. Even so, most businesses would like to provide health insurance to their employees. It is a good practice to follow, as group health benefits are a critical part of an employer’s employee value proposition.

Employees across all generations continue to report medical coverage as a top-tier benefit they consider when searching for jobs, researching companies, and determining whether to stay with their current employer. Employees don’t want to stress over medical expenses that could lead to financial hardships.

As baby boomers retire, Gen Z college grads are entering the scene. We are now at a time when four generations make up our workforce — Baby Boomers (born approximately 1946–1964), Gen X (born approximately 1965–1980), Gen Y (born approximately 1981–1996), and Gen Z (born approximately 1997–2012).

For years, healthcare costs have been increasing for employers. The National Business Group on Health shows that, since 2015, healthcare costs have increased by an average of 6% per year for large employers if cost management adjustments aren’t put into place, and by an average of 5% after cost management adjustments are put into place.

Based on the 2020 Large Employers’ Health Care Strategy and Plan Design Survey, which studied 147 large, self-insured global and multi-state employers that provide healthcare coverage to over 15.6 million employees and dependents, the total cost of health care for large employers is predicted to increase to $15,375 per employee in 2020, compared to $14,642 per employee in 2019.

Employers were once focused on the bottom line and cost savings when it came to healthcare and employee wellness. Healthcare costs have continued to increase since 2015 by an average of 6% for large employers who do nothing to curb costs and by an average of 5% for large organizations that do implement cost savings strategies. Healthcare has a significant impact on an organization’s bottom line, so finding ways to reduce costs makes sense. Organizations are realizing, though, that cost savings should not correlate with a degradation of the health benefits offered to employees.

Cost savings isn’t the key factor when it comes to employee wellness. Employees who feel well physically, mentally, and emotionally, are happier and more productive. Per the Internal Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) Workplace Wellness Trends 2019 Survey Report, 82% of employers are motivated to improve overall worker health and well-being, and only 18% hope to minimize healthcare costs. This is a huge shift away from the trends of the past few decades when cost was the driving factor.