by Ashley Lopez
In and outside of healthcare, diversity in the workplace is essential for employee satisfaction, innovation, and engagement. We all know what happy employees bring—more bottom line results! Time and time again it has been proven that diversity is essential for the longevity of a company. However, that is only the start. Once you have the talent, your mission should pivot to retention. Retaining your employees requires that you incorporate inclusivity. Employees should feel comfortable being their whole selves without the need to hide any part of their identity.
Healthcare can be a powerful vessel to increase inclusivity. Employees feel understood and valued seeing their employer prioritize their health concerns. Covid left many people immensely aware that good coverage—meaning affordable and accessible coverage—is a necessity. There is a greater focus on healthcare at both the public and personal levels, so knowing which benefits are best to include has never been more vital.
Three Must Have Benefits to Increase DEI:
- Mental Health
Mental health is very popular with younger generations, particularly Gen Z. More people are participating in open dialogues around mental health and sharing their stories of grief, depression, and anxiety. Social media platforms can function as forums, where people are not afraid to be vulnerable in sharing their own experience or offering advice for others experiencing the same. As people are becoming comfortable addressing mental health in a deeper way, it is important that your healthcare plan mirrors this change.
Covid also impacted the perception of mental health. The pandemic forced us to keep social distance from friends and family; the effects of this isolation had a widespread impact, as we saw record rates of anxiety and depression. As you can see, mental health awareness is increasing in all age demographics. It’s also the reason why telehealth providers like First Stop Health are making it an important component of their engagement with employees.
- Fertility Treatments
Fertility treatments are important to a significant portion of the workforce population, yet limited coverage has been a huge obstacle to many. Considering that 1 in 8 people are infertile, this is astounding news. Arc Fertility, a patient-focused organization that provides reproductive care, is revolutionizing the accessibility and affordability of fertility treatments. Their CEO, David Adamson, explains that by “providing fertility benefits, it helps to support an employer’s commitment to workforce diversity and inclusion: it’s a valuable tool on talent recruitment and retention.”
Arc Fertility provides evidence-based medicine for optimal outcomes. Utilizing evidence-based medicine increases the chances for someone to have a baby and decreases 10%-50% of cost by eliminating unnecessary procedures. Dedicated to affordability, Arc Fertility has over 73,000 customized treatment packages to help reduce cost for both the employers and employees.
Employers should include fertility treatments to provide a stronger sense of inclusivity . Your employees will be grateful for your help in such a milestone in their lives. Arc Fertility has documented that employees with their healthcare plans were 2.5 times less likely to miss time from work due to infertility and 2 times more likely to believe their employer was family friendly.
- Injury Prevention
Want an all-encompassing medicine? Look no further than at injury prevention workouts. Injury prevention is gaining a lot of traction for its ability to minimize health costs overall and increase employee’s well-being. It is a perfect way to address a large scope of illnesses and foster teamwork in the office!
In an office setting, most find it hard, if not impossible, to be active throughout the day. Physical activity, however, is the most important prescription for preventive treatment. How can you offer your employees a way to let some steam off? Give them the opportunity to exercise.
It’s likely that after a long day of work, the least of your worries is if you have done enough stretching or strengthening. But however frivolous it may sound, simple physical activities have proven to be crucial for increasing well-being and preventing serious illnesses. WorkRight “strives to be the industry leader by integrating an innovative model of workplace wellness on the job site for our corporate partners and advocacy for leadership training and mentoring for our injury prevention specialists.” They have multiple avenues to increase mobility that will make “employees healthy & on the job, reducing absenteeism, and workflow interruption.”
With small little exercises, you can build a community for your employees to engage with one another and destress. This will increase inclusivity as a community will be formed around the daily routines of small exercise groups!
Moving Forward
Still feeling unsure where to begin? Remember, your healthcare plan should be a mirror, reflecting your workforce. So, what better place to start than with the needs of your employees? Chances are, their needs will include mental health, family-focused coverage, and injury prevention, so keep these three benefits in mind as you evaluate and restructure your healthcare plan.
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