Employee mental well-being is now considered an indispensable component of the corporate benefits package. As far as organizations throughout Canada experience growing stress, burnout and mental well-being problems among workers, mental well-being at the workplace has become the subject of growing attention from employers.
Norbram Group Insurance Benefits is witnessing how local employers in Acton, Halton Hills, the GTA area, as well as its surroundings realize that taking care of workers’ mental well-being not only does a lot for the latter, but it also pays off from a purely financial standpoint.
Mental Well-Being at the Workplace: What Does it Mean?
According to recent studies, more than half of Canadians who are employed suffer from mental well-being problems. Their effects are apparent in:
Workers’ performance
Employees’ absenteeism and presenteeism
The number of short-term and long-term disability cases
Overall morale of the workforce
Mental well-being at the workplace becomes the issue not only for individuals but also for organizations as a whole.
Return on Investment for Mental Health Care Coverage
It is clear that the best return on investment for mental health benefits lies in the savings employers gain from mental health coverage and care.
For every dollar spent on mental health programs, companies receive around $1.50 back, which is only savings on claims, without counting other benefits such as increased productivity and improved absenteeism rates.
Thus, the approach to group health insurance is changing, and now employers see mental health coverage as a necessary investment.
Why Coverage Is Not Enough
Over the past few years, many organizations started expanding their insurance plans, covering more health care needs of employees. Nevertheless, just adding something to the list of options is not enough to improve the situation.
The main key is timely access to needed mental health services.
The faster the employees get in touch with a mental health provider, the more successful the treatment becomes, because patients are likely to:
- Begin therapy faster
- Adhere to treatment
- Get a good outcome
In addition, the continuity of care plays an important role too. People who find an appropriate specialist on the first try and visit the same person all the time experience greater satisfaction from visits and achieve better results.
The Real Impact of Mental Health in the Workplace
Mental health services and their coverage were considered two separate issues historically. However, now there is an emerging trend of integration of mental health into group insurance programs. It is characterized by:
- Quicker access to services
- Higher match between employees’ needs and services provided
- Increased consistency of care
- Improved outcomes for people’s health
It is beneficial for businesses because it results in improved benefits packages for their staff members that will be useful to the latter.
What Does It Mean for Your Business?
As a business owner, there is an opportunity to reconsider the way how you address mental health issues in your organization and improve its benefits program by doing this.
Introducing mental health insurance coverage is helpful because of the following reasons:
Decreasing insurance claims in the long run
Improving retention of employees
Having healthier and more productive staff members
Enhancing the company culture
In competitive markets, such as Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Halton Hills, and Acton, this solution may become a distinctive feature for your business.
How Norbram Can Help
At Norbram Group Insurance Benefits, we partner with companies in creating group insurance programs that meet the modern-day demands of the workplace environment. Today, mental health care is not a supplementary aspect but a fundamental component of any sound and viable benefits program.
Norbram Group Insurance Benefits assists organizations by:
- Examining existing benefits programs
- Assessing deficiencies in mental health care programs
- Implementing corrective measures that enhance accessibility and efficiency
- Maintaining competitiveness of programs
Mental health in the workplace is not going away. If anything, it will continue to grow in importance over the coming years.
The good news is that employers who take a proactive approach are seeing real results, both in employee well-being and in their bottom line.
If you are ready to strengthen your group benefits plan and better support your team, Norbram Group Insurance Benefits is here to help.
Let’s build a benefits plan that works for your people and your business.
