Budgets are tight, workforces are getting reduced and some employees are anxious that they may be the next to receive their walking papers. Yet experts in workforce planning and HR say that while it may be easy to cut from health and wellness programs, employers should find other ways to relieve financial pressures.
The organizations in our Employees’ Choice: Canada’s Top 30 Pension and Benefits Plans ranking understand the importance of wellness and have established programs to promote healthier lifestyles among their employees. For example, L’Union Canadienne (No.1) has a wellness committee that promotes health awareness and organizes related initiatives; the Ontario Teachers’ Insurance Plan (OTIP), No. 2 on our list, has an on-site nutrition specialist available one day a week for 30-minute consultations; and GlaxoSmithKline (No. 13) has an on-site fitness facility and offers nutritious meals in its subsidized cafeterias.
In fact, most of the employers on our Top 30 list have programs in place to support workplace wellness, such as employee and family assistance programs (90%), health programs (83%), disability management programs (80%) and health education (77%). A handful of companies are taking extra steps by providing health risk assessments (47%), health coaching (43%), health screening (33%) and disease management programs (23%).
Health initiatives are now playing an increasingly large role in the overall health of a company. Neil Crawford, principal with Hewitt Associates and leader of Hewitt’s employee research practice, adds that organizations that are focused on employee engagement and are improving their environment around employee health and well-being have lower workers’ compensation costs, long-term disability claims and absenteeism. According to the data, low-engagement companies have an average of 12.99 days absent per employee, compared to the overall Canadian average of 8.04 days. “There is a very strong business case for spending money in this area. The returns are pretty significant,” Crawford says.
Although most employers have taken actions to improve the health and wellness of their employees, many are still strides behind in educating people about the programs and incentives available to them. “We are seeing more organizations going beyond the basics. Organizations that are doing better with employee health and well-being and employee engagement have tended to get into the broader and more proactive types of programs around health,” explains Crawford. “I think we have been very focused on making the business case and implementing programs rather than ensuring that the programs, once in place, are being used and are truly effective at achieving improved employee health.”
Financial Fitness
Feeling financially secure in one’s day-to-day life, as well as being prepared for the future, are important factors in staying mentally healthy. While employers can only do so much for their employees in this area, the research shows that more steps should be taken to help workers prepare for retirement.
On average, only 55% of employees said the retirement savings plans offered by their employers will help them to reach their retirement goals. When asked if the organization makes sure that employees get access to support and advice to make informed decisions about their retirement, 52% agreed. The employers on our Top 30 list fared better, with 75% saying their employer plans will help them to reach their retirement goals and 71% saying they have access to support and advice that will help them to make financial decisions.
Providing a pension plan or other retirement savings vehicle isn’t a legal responsibility for employers, but most feel a moral obligation to do so—and many need to do so to stay competitive in their industry. For example, L’Union Canadienne offers a generous defined contribution pension plan to its employees with a company contribution of 1.5% more than what the employee puts in. (For instance, if the employee puts in 5% of pay, the company makes a 6.5% contribution.) “Our intent with pensions and benefits programs is peace of mind for our employees,” says Lucie Vachon, vice-president, HR, with L’Union Canadienne. “When we decide to add something to our plan, we always [ask ourselves] if it will help our employees. I think this is something [employers] need to keep in mind.”
However, employers that can’t offer generous plans will be happy to know that there are other, less costly ways to help employees feel confident about their financial security. Explaining what options people have and what they need to do to achieve their retirement goals is another type of support that employees on the road to retirement will appreciate.
“We don’t see a strong relationship between particular benefits coverage or particular types of retirement plans and engagement because employees look at it as a whole package—the design of the plan, how well it’s communicated and how well it’s delivered,” explains Crawford. “Some organizations can have modest plans but do a great job of delivering them.”
How the List was Selected For the third consecutive year, we turned to our research partner, Hewitt Associates, to track down the Canadian organizations found in our Top 30 Pension and Benefits Plans report. The list is based on data that Hewitt has gathered over the past year from 115,000 employees at more than 200 organizations through the Best Employers in Canada study and individual organizational studies. The employers listed here may not always have the most innovative programs, but they are the organizations with |
Spread the Word
Although consultants and other industry experts are constantly repeating that the communication and delivery of a program is critical, the data show that this message has yet to resonate with many plan sponsors.