While it may be tempting for employers to cut health benefit spending in these uncertain economic times, companies must balance current pressures with the short- and longer-term need for organizational performance and employee productivity if they are to weather the storm. These findings and others are drawn from the 12th edition of The sanofi-aventis Healthcare Survey. The national survey of 2,090 health benefit plan members is the most comprehensive research to examine the attitudes and preferences of Canadians as they relate to their employer-sponsored health benefit plan. The survey also explores employee perceptions regarding the role of the public healthcare system and the workplace.
Below are key regional findings:

• Nearly half of respondents would choose health benefit plan over cash
  When asked to choose between their health benefit plan and $20,000, nearly half would choose their health benefit plan (45% vs 47% choosing money). Regionally, respondents in British Columbia are the most likely to choose their health benefit plan (58%) over an extra $20,000 cash per year (35%). Next door in Alberta the views are almost a mirror image, with 56% of respondents indicating they would choose $20,000 over their health benefits (36%).
  Respondents in Ontario are evenly divided (46% opt for the plan vs 46% who would choose the cash).
• Almost 1 in 3 respondents have access to a health and wellness program through work
  The 2009 results reveal that 31% of respondents have access to health promotion programs at work that address issues such as nutrition, exercise, stress management and weight. Wellness programs are more popular in Atlantic Canada (37%), Ontario (34%), and British Columbia (33%) and less so in Quebec (28%), Alberta (24%) and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (24%).
• Participation in health and wellness programs on the decline
  This year, only 35% (vs 40% in 2008) who have access to such programs say they use them, either definitely (11%), or “kind of” (24%). Program use is highest in British Columbia, with 50% participating (vs 41% in 2008). Program participation is lowest among plan members in Alberta (21%) (vs 37% in 2008) and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (22%) (vs 48% in 2008).
• Personal finances top issue for respondents with high stress, especially those in Alberta and Ontario
  For those who rate their stress as high (8-10 on a 10-point scale), personal finances or meeting personal financial responsibilities are the top issue, with 31% of respondents. Residents of Alberta (33%) and Ontario (32%) are more likely to report very high stress over their personal finances than those in other regions of the country. Ontarians are also feeling the highest level of job insecurity (20% vs 15% overall).

  

Employee loyalty falling
Canadian employees are becoming less loyal to their employers and how organizations handle the economic downturn can make it worse, according to a new study by Ipsos Reid.

Build a Better Workplace, based on an on-line poll of 1,128 workers, found 22% of Canadian employees are expressing decreased loyalty to their employer. The sentiment extends beyond the rank and file, with one-quarter of executives and managers saying their loyalty is decreasing.

How organizations have responded to the economic downturn is affecting employee loyalty. In organizations where layoffs occurred, 36% of employees feel less loyal. In organizations where salaries were frozen, that figure is 31%.

Across the country, the figures are consistent, with the exception of Quebec, where only 10% of the workforce shares this attitude.

“Because these results are quite consistent across sectors, they strongly suggest that employers ought to be considering what they should be doing now in order to hold on to their key performers when economic conditions improve,” said J.B. Aloy, author of the Ipsos Reid study.

“Loyalty to one’s employer is very dependent on recognition. Staff who feel their involvement is not acknowledged are more likely to become disloyal.”

Some comments in the survey indicate that the organization’s leadership can’t just simply expect loyalty, it must be earned.

“Anything I do that is ‘above and beyond the call’ is accepted, but never reciprocated by management or the employer,” said one respondent.

Canadians work too hard

Many Canadians admit that a work-life balance is elusive, according to a Harris/Decima survey of 1,096 employed Canadians , which finds that 34% of respondents said that work dominates their life and 31% said they are expected to work longer hours for the same pay as a result of the recession.

“We believe our survey results show the incredible pressure people are feeling in this challenging economy,” says Don Thibert, director of academic affairs, Everest College of Business, Technology and Health Care, which commissioned the poll.

In a similar survey conducted last year, only 12% of respondents indicated that work dominates their life.
The survey revealed that 54% of those surveyed are spending at least nine hours a day working and commuting and 15% of respondents spend 11 hours a day. Almost 25% of Canadians are working more than one job to make ends meet.

Despite the desire for balance, Canadians generally remain true to their employers. Only 11% of respondents say they fake illness when they feel they need “me time” away from work, while 31% use the popular excuse “not feeling well” to escape work.

Thibert says that the level of education is partly responsible for the imbalance in work-life and recommends training to achieve upward mobility will help create better work-life balance.

“Those who have only a high school education or less are more likely to have worked more than one job in the past year than those with post-secondary education. They have to work long hours to achieve even Canada’s median annual income,” says Thibert.

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© Copyright 2009 Rogers Publishing Ltd. This article first appeared in the October 2009 edition of WORKING WELL magazine.