by Sena Meilleur “Risk management” is a term that gets used a lot in insurance. Companies face all kinds of risk and they need to insure against it: risk of property loss to a natural disaster or fire; risk of legal action from a customer; risk of a cyber-attack or an employee being injured at work.
Ironically, the risk that many did not see coming was that of a pandemic-related shutdown, which in the vast majority of cases was not covered by insurance. This risk has come front and center for many companies who filed a business interruption claim during the past year, only to have it denied.
In the employee benefits arena, we don’t talk as much about risk, but that doesn’t mean risks don’t exist. They certainly do – they are just harder to insure against.
I’m talking about the risk of loss due to employee turnover, employee absenteeism and low productivity; the risk associated with having disengaged employees. HRDive.com revealed recently that disengaged employees cost their company about 34% of their salary – in wasted time, low productivity, and active sabotage of the organization’s success. You can’t buy insurance against that kind of loss.
So what can you do? The first step is to recognize the risk that exists. The pandemic is causing a disengagement crisis of global proportions. Gallup reports that 85% of employees are not actively engaged, and according to O.C. Tanner, 79% of employees are suffering from burnout.
If you think these numbers aren’t costing your company money, think again. Companies with engaged employees have better results in productivity, customer satisfaction, and profitability.
The second step is to get serious about building a workforce strategy. Having engaged employees does not just happen by accident. It takes an intentional focus on the employee experience, both in and out of the workplace.
The biggest reason for employee disengagement is stress. It’s not that people are bad or lazy; people are stressed.
Their minds are elsewhere while they scramble to find childcare or deal with a sick family member, while in the back of their minds they know they aren’t saving enough for retirement or for their kids’ college education.
With all that stress on their minds, it’s no wonder they aren’t showing up 100% at work. So how can we help our employees with this crippling stress load?
The good news is, there are lots of ways. Facing the risk head on, we see that building a cohesive workforce strategy is not just a good idea, it’s mandatory for the employer of the future.
What kind of experience do our employees have when they work for us?
How can we help them learn basic financial skills so they can begin to save for retirement and the other things that matter to them?
What can we do to help with child and family care, health care, and the other things that keep them up at night?
Meeting employees where they are, showing we truly care about them, will build a loyal, appreciative, and engaged workforce to take our companies forward into the brave new world of the future. Begin drafting or re-drafting your workforce strategy today. This can’t wait!
Sena Meilleur is a Registered Employee Benefits Consultant at OneDigital, a business strategy firm in South Burlington.