You may understand the basic principles of posting an attractive job opening at your small business to find the people with the right mindset for who will blend in seamlessly into your business family. What you really need to consider is how to ensure candidates with the right qualifications and experience choose you and your business, accepting the role you offer.
Benefits Canada reports that a majority (80 per cent) of Canadian employees say they consider a small- and medium-sized employer’s health benefits before accepting a new role. And to keep your team? The report advised 73 per cent of SME workers with a benefits plan say they’d stay with their current employer even if they were offered more money elsewhere.
Health benefits are a critical component of SME employee hiring and retention
The survey polled SMEs employees and businesses from across Canada and found
- 91 per cent of employees said they valued their benefits plan’s impact on their overall health and well-being
- 89 per cent said their benefits plan was important to their financial health and security
- over 76 per cent of employees without health benefits would leave their job for one offering a more attractive benefit plan
- about half of the employees surveyed said they would choose health benefits over a raise – even if that raise amounted to thousands of dollars each month
Employees cited peace of mind (37 per cent) as the No. 1 reason why they appreciate health benefits.
Remain competitive as an employer by offering health insurance benefits
Beyond recruiting, health insurance benefits provide a return on investment by helping you retain your team and helping your team to be productive. Too many SMEs cite cost as a barrier to offering health benefits, without understanding how to offer employees options to contain those costs. As a full replacement or supplement to a group plan, individual health and dental insurance plans help provide coverage that can be retained by each member of your team for their entire life:
- a variety of individual health insurance plans are available to full-time, part-time or contract workers regardless of any current health conditions they may have
- the plan can coordinate with your basic health group plan to make it more attractive to your selected recruits or key personnel, providing options for everyday health needs and coverage for medical emergencies with a wide variety of services, such as massage and acupuncture, so they can afford treatment that helps them feel their best
- employees can add or increase prescription drug or dental benefits to complete their coverage.
Individual health insurance can be core healthcare protection or be used to enhance your group health plan with the features your employee wants most. It works to help ensure employees will not hesitate to take care of their health and be able to stay productive. With family coverage your team will be less distracted about the out-of-pocket burden if their spouse or children get sick or are injured too.
As a financially attractive compensation feature, health and dental insurance helps your team members – new or existing – save on healthcare costs not covered by their provincial government plan, including expenses like prescription drugs, dental care, hearing aids, vision care and massage therapy and much more. And it helps to keep them healthy and productive when they are more able to address their health concerns with less worry about the cost.
Simplify health plan selection and reduce your costs, but attract the talent you need
To simplify the selection and reduce the cost of a traditional group benefits package, you can consider GMS Group Advantage, a health and dental plan specifically designed and attractively priced for small businesses with at least 3 employees. Group Advantage plans are designed with premium stability in mind, which means you won’t see a big premium hike when your plan renews. You can choose from Silver, Gold, and Platinum health plans to cover health, vision and prescription drugs and add on dental care for services ranging from routine and basic, to major procedures and orthodontic services. Every plan includes the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP). Your employees can go online for interactive tools, health and wellness assessments, child and elder care locators and personalized content and education. For even more support, employees and their family members are offered confidential counselling when they face difficulties and lifestyle coaching to help them with day-to-day challenges.
Want other small group health plan options? Want to consider individual health plans? Talk to us at SBIS. We have access to almost 50 different plans from many major insurance companies like Manulife, Greenshield Canada and GMS – so we can give you and your team members the best chance to find a plan that suits their needs and budget. And with many guaranteed acceptance options and no medical questions, enrolling is seamless and hassle-free.
Learn more about small business health insurance information and our offerings here or contact SBIS for your free, no-obligation quote or information package now!
