Covid-19 is accelerating changes in the employee benefits landscape

Momentum Corporate CEO says it’s high time for reinvention in the EB space

Business leaders are asking themselves how their organisations need to change to be successful and sustainable despite unrelenting change, accelerated by Covid-19, and ongoing economic challenges.

Dumo Mbethe, CEO of Momentum Corporate says, “Our business is all about how we empower employees to become more successful, and how we translate this into organisational success.”

The latest Momentum/Unisa Financial Vulnerability Index highlights South Africans’ rising financial vulnerability. All index indicators – income, expenditure, savings and debt relief – worsened in the second quarter of 2021, driven by pressures of rising fuel and food prices, limited employment opportunities, and no or below-inflation salary increases.

While businesses battle the overt challenges of the pandemic, the more covert crisis looming is the impact of distracted, disengaged employees battling pandemic fatigue and rising financial pressures.

“Current stressors are impacting employee psyche, creating unprecedented levels of distraction and are overwhelming employees as they grapple with fear of infection, rising financial vulnerability and new work models. Burnout is a very real risk, and many employees are battling to remain engaged and productive. This clearly impacts on business performance,” says Mbethe.

A key insight emerging from Momentum Corporate’s research is the increasing importance of employee resilience and engagement in the new world of work.

Employee engagement is a well-researched concept that refers to an employee’s levels of commitment, willingness and desire to exert discretionary effort in pursuit of organisational goals. It enables individuals to do their best work on a sustainable basis.

Resilience refers to the ability to thrive and be highly resourceful, in a world of constant change and in the face of extreme daily pressure and fierce competition. A resilient mindset helps employees to remain focused and present, despite the inevitable stressors and distractions.

“Resilient employees tend to be more capable of dealing with change and are at lower risk of burnout, resulting in better physical and mental wellbeing. This drives employee engagement, reduces absenteeism and fuels productivity. A critical mass of resilient and engaged employees translates into a more resilient organisation, which is better positioned to overcome future challenges and remain successful on a sustainable basis,” says Mbethe.

There are various ways business leaders can strengthen employees’ personal resilience, and by default organisational resilience.

Mbethe says, “Building an enabling culture in which employees understand and identify with the organisation’s purpose and feel empowered to manage all aspects of their personal health and wellbeing – mental, physical, emotional and financial – is a key part of employee resilience.”

Leaders need to model the behaviour they want to see in their employees and inspire them to follow by example. It’s also important to take deliberate measures to build wellbeing and resilience.

“There are some simple rituals businesses can establish to build employee resilience and an enabling culture. An example is starting online meetings with a brief opportunity for employees to check in at a human level and to share their challenges and how they are overcoming them – essentially their personal resilience stories.

“Our research also highlights the need for a far more holistic approach to the employee value proposition (EVP), and the employee benefits (EB) offering, a key component of the EVP. Nowadays the EB mix needs to consider the overall wellbeing and changing needs of employees and their families over the employees’ working lifetime.

“This is why Momentum Corporate now offers far more than just the traditional retirement and group insurance benefits that for years have been the core of employee benefits propositions. For example, we now offer an employee assistance programme at no additional cost to our clients, along with a range of value-added benefits that our research tells us are valued by employees,” says Mbethe.

POTENTIAL CHALLENGES: CHANGING WORK MODELS

Momentum Corporate’s research shows that there appears to be a potential disconnect between leaders and employees on the matter of work models.

Around half of the organisations surveyed are planning for their employees to return to their worksites, while 44% plan to adopt a hybrid model. However, employees have a far greater appetite for work-from-home models. Afriforte research shows that 50% of employees surveyed would like to continue working from home after the pandemic, while 41% are keen on a hybrid work model. Only 4% would like to return to the worksite.

According to Mbethe, there are risks for employers who dogmatically ignore the changing dynamics of the workplace and employees’ changing psyche and needs. He says that the days are over where employers follow a top-down approach in which leaders base the EVP and EB mix on what they believe is best for employees. “If we want our employees to become strategic enablers of our organisation’s success, we need to follow a twoway inclusive approach and work collaboratively with employees to create a culture and an EVP/EB mix that aligns to their lived life experience,” says Mbethe.

Hybrid and work-from-home models open up new employment opportunities for skilled, qualified knowledgeable workers and leaders. Employers may lose this talent if these employees perceive a competitor to be more aligned to their personal purpose and offering a more appealing EVP/EB mix.

POTENTIAL CHALLENGES: COVID-19 CONSEQUENCES

While businesses are still recovering from the impact of Covid-19, a new wave of healthcare challenges is on the way. Some of these are the result of changes in health behaviour during Covid-19, while others relate to the mental health and musculoskeletal challenges of remote work; and then there is long Covid-19, which is still largely not understood.

Health behavioural changes since the start of the pandemic are also expected to drive a rise in critical illnesses. Fearful of contracting the virus, many people have avoided healthcare visits and preventative screening tests during the various lockdown stages and waves of infection. As a result, they have not received the care they need and the diagnosis and treatment of chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease and cancer has been delayed.

Mbethe says businesses should consider including critical illness benefits in their EB mix. Momentum Corporate’s claims analysis shows an increasing trend in cancer-related claims over the past years, and recently it accounts for 60% of all critical illness claims. There are various critical illness product options available to meet the needs of employees at an affordable price.

Mbethe concludes, “Navigating the new world of work presents many challenges. But adaptive leadership, innovative thinking and a think-human-first approach will enable each organisation to map a successful and sustainable path forward.”