How to Showcase Employee Health Benefits and Recruit Top Talent - Glassdoor for Employers

How to Showcase Employee Health Benefits and Recruit Top Talent

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it clear that achieving and maintaining one's health is critical. Health is top of mind for employees across the globe, and that includes the top talent you want to recruit for your company. High-quality talent can afford to be selective, so focusing on employee health and well-being helps you stand out.

Between February and May, the pandemic left 5.4 million American workers without health insurance. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act allows workers to continue on their group health plans for a limited time, but it's often more expensive. Talented individuals who now lack health insurance or who have been furloughed or laid off as a result of the coronavirus are looking for companies that prioritize the care of their employees.

That's why healthcare is still the benefit that employees value most. There's also a growing demand for mental, behavioral, and emotional health support. With this expanded definition of healthcare and all the digital options available, it's time to reconsider your company's healthcare offerings and make sure they're attractive enough for recruiting top talent. Plus, it might offer added benefits to your company down the road, including brand-building and savings.

How to Feature Holistic Wellness in Your Recruitment Strategy

It's not enough to offer basic healthcare coverage anymore. Now, top talent expects you to provide individualized plans and opportunities, such as nutritional health counseling, tailored to their specific health needs. They also expect virtual visits, which, as an added benefit to you, improve your team's time management and productivity.

So how can you make sure that you're showcasing these benefits to job seekers? Start by auditing your healthcare services to see whether they match the caliber of talent you seek. Then, craft your messaging to highlight the benefits to the job seeker. Here are some specific steps for incorporating employee well-being into your recruitment strategy:

1. Highlight personal stories, not perks.

Yoga rooms, nutritional snack fridges, and ping-pong tables are great job perks, but they won't make or break a candidate's decision to join your company. Rather than listing off the features of your wellness program, share stories about how your employee health benefits have impacted your workers' lives. For instance, you could showcase employee stories on your website or social media pages. Incorporate quotes and videos of speakers attesting to how your company has supported them in their goals and how that has impacted their lives. To build credibility and authenticity, make sure to use in your creatives employees who are currently hired.

2. Acknowledge that work is stressful.

It might seem taboo to admit that the candidate's job won't be easy, but that transparency actually goes a lot further than a fake smile and empty words. The right talent will appreciate how you acknowledge the stress, and you'll be able to initiate a conversation regarding your ability to support employee health and well-being. By doing this, you show candidates that your company truly values the holistic health of its employees.

3. Review health-related workplace policies.

Actions speak louder than words. When interviewing candidates, share the policies and procedures you have in place to ensure that employees are optimizing their mental, emotional, and physical wellness. Do you promote mindfulness? What's your maternity leave policy? Do you subsidize fitness center memberships? All of these are important points to share with job seekers, and these discussions demonstrate that you are willing to put your money where your mouth is. Make sure to tailor your pitch to your candidates' specific health goals and preferences if they have mentioned them to you. For example, a recent college grad is probably more interested in your subsidized fitness center membership than your voluntary life insurance.

4. Create a total compensation offer.

As you know, salary isn't the only form of compensation. When you make a job offer, be sure to list the value of your employee health benefits: nutritional health counseling, dental insurance, vision insurance, healthcare spending or reimbursement accounts, sick days, etc. Seeing the numerical value of all of these features helps candidates realize the quantifiable and qualitative value of a holistic wellness program. You can deliver the total compensation offer digitally or in print, depending on your candidate's communication preferences and how discreet you want to be.

Recruiting top talent requires top-tier wellness benefits. Make sure your employee health benefits are adequate and then present them to candidates in a way that speaks to their personal health goals. If you showcase the way real employees have leveraged your wellness package, job seekers will trust your company's commitment to keeping employees mentally, physically, and emotionally well.

Dr. Mary Jo Gorman is the CEO of Healthy Bytes, a company that improves lives through nutritional counseling by connecting expert dietitians to employers, providers, and clients. She's an innovative, experienced healthcare services executive with a strong track record of success in growing companies. Her extensive knowledge of healthcare provider networks, practices, and the user and buyer enables strategies that develop new markets and models.