February 25, 2021
The pandemic has led to an increase in concern over family well-being. Small and medium-sized enterprises, as key players in the care of their staff, have the opportunity to contribute to the comprehensive health care of their workforce by offering them health insurance that covers their family members also.
COVID-19 is putting the emotional health of employees at all levels to the test, particularly where family wellness is concerned. Strengthening emotional ties, managing household finances, optimising family time and protecting the health of their loved ones are just some of the concerns they have to deal with and which can also affect their productivity and motivation at the workplace.
Because of this and bearing in mind the central role of companies as key players in the care of their employees’ well-being, it is fundamental that there is an understanding from the work environment that caring for the overall health of staff also means looking out for the well-being of their families. This is a particularly important premise in the case of SMEs since now more than even they must try to maintain the well-being and, ultimately, the performance of their teams in order to be able to overcome in an effective manner any corporate challenge to come.
To achieve this objective, offering workers the possibility of accessing comprehensive health insurance that can also include their direct family members has become one of the best bets. And opting for this benefit brings numerous intrinsic advantages both for the organisation and for the employee.
The benefits for workers are:
- Greater security and peace of mind. Offering health cover to employees and their family members guarantees rapid, convenient, personal and effective support. This will make them feel more content, at ease and motivated.
- 24-hour medical care thanks to telemedicine. Like Cigna, many health insurance companies offer free telemedicine services such as: video visits with physicians, monitoring of chronic pathologies, health content, wellness coaching and monitoring of biomedical data. Thanks to all these innovative solutions, it is possible to access medical care and healthcare resources at any time without leaving home. This is a very important added value for families, bearing in mind the current situation.
- Wide variety of additional services and covers focused on family care. Health insurance offers a wide range of covers focused on family health care. For example: primary care, outpatient or hospital emergencies, paediatrics, maternity services, support during pregnancy, surgical procedures, single-room hospital accommodation, preventive medicine, consultations with specialists and innovative medical tests or treatment, etc. In addition, it offers other extra benefits such as: psychological counselling, a second medical opinion, basic dental cover and practical resources for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, etc.
- Greater reconciliation. Flexibility in terms of dates, hours and freedom to choose healthcare centres provided by a health policy makes it possible to adapt to any requirement and, therefore, will help workers organise their medical appointments and those of their spouse or children according to their work commitments.
For small or medium-sized enterprises, the main advantages are:
- More efficient and productive employees. The employees are the main driver of an SME. Therefore, in order that it carries out its business in the most effective and efficient way possible, its labour force must be happy and healthy. Contributing to safeguarding the well-being of its employees and their family members will lead to an improvement in their overall health and contribute to them demonstrating greater motivation and, ultimately, increased productivity.
- Help in retaining and attracting talent. If workers are happy with the benefits package they receive, this will reduce the possibility of them leaving the company and will strengthen their links with it. In addition, these types of services will also give a boost to the company's image as an employer committed to the well-being of the members of its organisation and their families, helping to attract the best talent, which is key for an SME in the process of expansion.
- Reduction of absenteeism due to illness of family members. Absences, days off, lateness or leave are just some of the consequences of an employee or one of their family members being ill. So, giving them the opportunity to access early care will help prevent and shorten the duration of different pathologies, eliminate unnecessary waiting times and, therefore, reduce the number of leave requests for these reasons and days off because of illness.
What other actions can be implemented to look after the family health of the employees of your SME?
Apart from guaranteeing the physical and psychological well-being of the employees and their relatives with health insurance, it is also possible to contribute to the family health of workers with other actions. These include:
- Flexible working policies. Some of these are: a reduction in daily working hours for personal reasons, freedom to choose working hours, condensed working day, condensed or compressed working week (accumulating working hours and receiving a free day or free afternoons in return), leave of absence to care for dependants, increase in maternity/paternity leave or breastfeeding time, flexibility in taking holiday and day off on birthday, etc.
- Employee support services. A number of benefits exist focused on looking after staff family well-being: subsidised services, special discounts or cheques for childcare, transport or purchases, restaurant vouchers, services for the care of dependants (also subsidised services or providing support with reservations in centres), providing information on the availability of all these services close to the company, professional advice or support with legal, financial or medical issues, life and accident insurance, pension schemes and training at special prices, etc.
- Special activities for employees’ families. Cultural, sports and leisure events and get-togethers began to mushroom years ago as an excellent strategy for cementing ties between family members, workers and company. Although currently health restrictions prohibit gatherings in person, there are numerous ways of organising a virtual Family Day. For example: creating an ad hoc webcast that includes a remote magic show, digital yoga sessions or online craft classes with children.
- Resources for managing work time effectively and switching off. The problem of switching off has been one of the main consequences of remote working. This fact impacts directly on the family health of the workforce if employees are unable to dedicate as much time as they would like to relatives or by increasing stress levels. Therefore, organisations must offer the necessary tools so that employees organise their working hours appropriately, take proper breaks, do not suffer from overwork and can focus sufficiently when they are working.
- Continuous contact with employees to find out how they are and what they need. It is important to maintain individual contact with workers and to ask them regularly how they are, to be interested in their family life and to encourage them to spend time with their loved ones. This will help you determine what they need and offer them the facilities they lack according to their particular situation. An action as simple as this will show them that the company places considerable importance on their personal life and considers it a space that needs to be respected.
The aim of implementing all these actions is to integrate family values within the corporate culture, treating employees as persons who not only perform the role of worker but also that of husband or wife, father or mother.
Companies such as Cigna provide you with the opportunity to become an SME that is concerned for the overall health of your employees. Its experience in the corporate world as the health partner of large corporations and SMEs globally allows it to offer solutions tailored to the particular challenges of each organisation. In addition to providing workers and their families with a wide range of flexible health covers, access to a prestigious network of approved healthcare providers, psychological counselling or telemedicine tools with multiple uses, it also provides advice, assistance, support and monitoring for the establishment of wellness programmes in small and medium-sized enterprises, focused, in this case, on family health.
Click this link to request a quote and find out everything that Cigna can do for you and for the success of your business.