Engages and Involves Employees

Benefit: You won’t be left standing alone to explain why costs are increasing and/or why benefits are changing.

More and more experts agree that a major component in the battle to control health care costs is to partner with your workforce.  Many consumer-driven alternatives as well as (good) health promotion programs are doomed from the start if you don’t consider the needs and interests of your employees.  However, the importance that your employees place on their company-sponsored health care coverage doesn’t easily translate into their active participation in any of your cost-cutting – or even more challenging – behavior-changing initiatives.  So, what do you do?

At Paradigm Benefits Group, we take a unique approach with your employees.  We value and appreciate them – hopefully the way you do.  Because we’ve been there and we truly believe that the number one factor in job satisfaction is to feel needed and appreciated.  And one of the best ways of accomplishing that is by asking your employees what they think and then help them understand the implications that you, as the employer, face in providing affordable yet comprehensive coverage.  And very often, when you involve an objective third-party that has the unique ability to “bond” with your employees, you will be amazed to see the majority of your employees exhibit a genuine willingness to be a part of your initiatives.

At Paradigm, we urge all of our clients to form an Insurance Advisory Committee – a select group of employees from all levels of the organization – to open up dialogue, solicit feedback and create buy-in.  The concept (Judy leads the discussions) has proven to be extremely beneficial.  Recently a client held a series of meetings with their advisory groups in order to convey upcoming changes to their health plan that would be necessary in order to mitigate future cost increases.  Here is what they had to say about Judy’s role in those meetings:

“She has the ability to make people feel that she’s almost talking one-on-one…that anyone at any time would not feel embarrassed or reticent to raise their hand and say, ‘Judy, could you further explain that or could you go into more detail?’  She’s just a pleasure to be with.  For the hour or so that we were in the meetings with both the regular insurance advisory committee and the retirees – the retirees just loved her, as well as the regular Board – while Judy was speaking,  you could hear a pin drop.  She has them engaged.  She captures them…it’s a pleasure to sit and listen to her.”

Paula Gendreau, Business Manager, Greater New Bedford Regional Voc-Tech

Remember, employee buy-in is key!  One final observation shared by the above client – “She pretty much has everybody eating out of her hand.”