Becoming an Employer of Choice for a Healthier Bottom Line

Wiegers Financial & Benefits is a prominent leader among Saskatchewan’s private financial planning and employee benefits consulting firms. Our Financial Planning Division is dedicated to offering business owners, individuals, and families top-notch investment and insurance planning services, ensuring they successfully navigate the path toward their long-term financial aspirations. Additionally, we have a specialized Group Benefits and Retirement Division to cater to our client’s diverse needs. In our latest article, we share how you can become an employer of choice.

What does it mean for your business to have a healthier bottom line?

This typically means your business is doing well and you are making money. But how do you get there? Having happy, healthy employees is a big part of this. Offering a benefits plan that includes wellness programs can have positive impacts on employee morale and productivity.

Catch phrases like “the great resignation” sum up the struggle to attract and retain talent, with small businesses being impacted as much – if not more so – than mid and large size businesses. Group benefits and other perks have been a staple for employee retention but it seems that this standard offering is not having the same impact as in the past.

Employees are looking for enhanced benefits with flexibility and help with their financial wellness. So how do you go about attracting and retaining employees while still trying to maintain or reduce costs? Designing your benefits plan to force economically smarter options is a start but mental health investment also offers help to employees suffering side effects of the ‘shadow’ pandemic spurred by two years of uncertainty and anxiety. While mental health has always impacted short-term disability claims, it is now the number one cause of long-term claims. With an aging workforce and the number of younger employees increasing, it is concerning that long-term mental health claims among 18 to 35 year old individuals is up 49% since 2019.

Insurers are aware of this shift and the causes, and many are offering virtual mental health programs that are either embedded or come at an extra cost. The focus needs to be on early intervention to reduce the number of employees going on disability or incurring more cost to the plan trying medications and other costly treatment. Services such as Ergoworks provided by Bridges Health can be a instumental tool in reducing the amount of employees and how long they are on disability. 

Group benefits are one of the most effective tools for helping to care for your valued employees, now and in the future. Want to know more? In this VLOG, Benefits Advisor Matthew Hill and Group Retirement Associate Danielle Roberge explain.