3 Ways to Use Your Health Care Benefits as a Hiring and Retention Tool

Focusing on what employees value most in a health care plan will help you attract and keep top talent

job interview

Now, more than ever, the value of company-sponsored health care benefits is a critical consideration for prospective hires and employees who may be contemplating a move. Nearly three in five (57%) consumers report health benefits and perks as a reason to stay in or accept a job.1  What’s more, 40% of people rank health and dental insurance as the most important benefit offered by their company.2

Health care benefits drive 3 in 5 employees to stay1

Translation? Employers can and should leverage their health care benefits to attract and retain employees.

The benefits employees care most about

So what matters most to employees when it comes to their health care benefits? Cost, for sure — but that’s not all. A recent study from Deloitte found that consumers prioritize 3 things when it comes to their health plans.

1. A personal relationship with their physician

The ability to maintain a long-term relationship with one’s doctor was the most important priority for consumers in the study.3 What does this mean for employers? Focus on the depth and breadth of your health plan’s network. Health plans that are constantly expanding their network, or will do so at an employer’s request, are a double-bonus.

2. Transparency of coverage

Employees want to understand what’s really covered and how much it costs.4 If your health plan offers a robust tool to assess the cost of care, like a Treatment Cost Estimator, make that a key part of your communication with employees and prospective hires.

3. Easy access to care

Convenience-driven access to care ranked third in importance.5 For employers, this translates to a focus on your health plan’s flexibility, access to telehealth, ease of referrals, health and fitness discounts, and tools to find providers and facilities that accept their plan.

3 simple ways to use your health care plan as a hiring and retention tool

1. Tell them about it

But don’t just blast employees with emails — create a year-long communications plan that targets your employees through the channel they are most likely to use. This could be text messages or it could be good old-fashioned posters. An unexpected but smart example to consider: one company posted communications where their employees clocked in every day.6

2. Tell them why it matters to them

When you’re promoting your health plan, keep communications short, and highly-tailored. Focus on the benefits to your employees or prospective hires. For example, if your health plan’s provider network means employees can keep their doctors, your communications might highlight the value of a long-standing doctor-patient relationship, and what it means in terms of time and peace of mind for your employees.

3. Focus on the benefits that matter most

Use the three things people value most in a health plan to create a staggered communications plan, perhaps once per month, so you can consistently and succinctly reinforce the plan’s value. Similarly, distribute those same three benefits to recruiters as key talking points with prospective hires.

40% of people rank health and dental insurance as the most important benefit offered by their company2 

With the majority of people citing health care as a key consideration in accepting a job offer, promoting the value of your company’s benefits just makes sense. Go beyond “We have a great plan” and focus on what people value most, and you’ll have a better shot at keeping the employees you want to keep, and attracting the talent you need to grow your business.

Learn more about the everyday ways Tufts Health Plan makes it easy for our members to be healthy and save money. Here are 6 extraordinary Tufts Health Plan benefits you might have missed.

  1. Glassdoor’s 5 Job Trends to Watch in 2016, Glassdoor, January 12, 2016
  2. Glassdoor’s 5 Job Trends to Watch in 2016, Glassdoor, January 12, 2016
  3. What Matters Most to the Health Care Consumer?, AHIP, October 16, 2017
  4. What Matters Most to the Health Care Consumer?, AHIP, October 16, 2017
  5. What Matters Most to the Health Care Consumer?, AHIP, October 16, 2017
  6. The key to blue-collar retention: Engage employees at critical points, HRDrive, April 24, 2017