Buying insurance for the business, big or small (group coverage) has different rules and procedures than buying just for yourself or your family (individual coverage).

In the comprehensive guide corporate insurance guide for 2021 for corporate health insurance below, we have outlined group/corporate coverage basics.

What Is Group Coverage?

Group medical coverage refers to a single policy issued to a group (typically a business with employees, although there are other kinds of groups that can get coverage) that covers all eligible employees and their immediate dependents.

Individual medical/health coverage, on the other hand, is a single policy issued to a single person or family.

The rules are quite different for group coverage versus individual coverage, in large part because the insurance provider’s risk is calculated differently. With individual coverage, the insurance providers historically based their premium rates (or denies coverage) on the detailed medical history of the person or family.

With groups such as small businesses, the insurance provider determines a premium price based on risk dynamics balanced over the entire group being insured, using general information on members of the group, such as age or gender. Insurance providers are required by law to offer coverage to small groups and cannot deny the said requirement of any organization.

Is corporate health Insurance Required?

While there is no law requiring small business owners to provide health insurance but small business owners should be aware of when deciding whether to purchase insurance for their employees. If a small business owner does choose to offer coverage, some regulations are needed to be followed the most important of which we explain in this article.

Though large companies and corporations may face consequences if they do not offer coverage if small businesses with fewer than 50 full-time-equivalent employees will not be penalized if they do not provide coverage. If you have at least 50 full-time-equivalent employees but none receive an individual premium tax credit or cost-sharing reductions (both based on income), there’s no penalty whether or not you offer health insurance.

What makes your Business Eligible for Group Coverage?

Small employers can procure group coverage should they choose to purchase it, regardless of the employees’ health status. A “small employer” is defined as a business with 2 to 50 full-time workers. Owners are also generally counted as employees, so sole proprietorships with one employee usually fall into this group, as do partnerships without any employees (by definition partnerships have two or more partners). It is also defined as the self-employed as “groups of one” and require insurance provider to guarantee to issue them coverage in the small group insurance.

Who Is Eligible for Coverage?

The general rule is that if an employer offers group health coverage to any full-time employees, the company must offer coverage to all full-time employees. The company has the option to offer coverage to part-time employees (which can be defined as those working fewer than 30 hours per week). If the company offers coverage to any part-time employees, all of them must be offered health insurance coverage. These guidelines apply regardless of the medical condition of the employees. In other words, any suitable employee can’t be denied coverage based on previous medical complications, known as “preexisting condition”.

In addition, any dependents of entitled employees are generally entitled to the health insurance coverage under a group plan procured by the organization. Dependents include spouses, children, and in some cases if the organization allows parents of the employees. Dependents cannot enrol for coverage unless the employee has been enrolled in the health insurance plan.

What Do Employers Have to Pay?

Some companies who choose to offer health insurance coverage choose to pay the full premium, while others require staff to pay a portion. When considering what portion of the premium to pay, employers should be aware businesses can avail tax credits to help balance the cost of health insurance.

Corporate Health Insurance

A corporate health insurance plan is a type of coverage that covers groups in professional organizations from various risks and uncertainties such as employees’ health, accidents, financial losses, and more. Group health insurance is synonymous with corporate health insurance. Corporate medical insurance is becoming prevalent and customary in Pakistan as more and more companies are providing health benefit covers for the well-being of their employees and workers.

What Are The Benefits Of Corporate Health Insurance Policies?

Added Health Coverage
Incorporate medical insurance plans, employees can choose to opt for additional family health or individual health insurance plans. This provides them with added insurance cover if the employer provides the desired option to enhance the coverage umbrella.

Pre-Existing Disease Cover
Some organizations may provide their staff with health insurance coverage for a pre-existing medical condition. These covers and benefits are available for the employees from the very first day and some companies offer insurance even to employees suffering from chronic ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic diseases.

Maternity Coverage
Many companies provide high maternity health insurance coverage to take care of their female staff and the dependents of male employees. The plan procured by the organization also covers childbirth expenses under these benefits. Moreover, many businesses also include/ add newborn babies under the group health insurance plan without undertaking any waiting period.

Job Satisfaction
Providing corporate medical health insurance policies shows the employees that the company cares for their health and well-being. This leads to greater job satisfaction, comforts employees, makes them feel valued and content working in the organization. This benefit leads to overall better employee performance and decreases employee turnover as well.

Support in Times of Sudden Medical Emergencies
Corporate health insurance policies provide much-needed financial assistance in times of need. If a worker or his/her dependent relative come across a sudden medical emergency, then the organization’s health insurance benefit safeguards that they do not have to compromise on the quality of medical treatment that is required for the employee or its dependents.

Attracting Good Employees
A corporate health insurance policy is a great perk and benefit for any individual seeking a job in an organization. Having good health insurance coverage for employees and their families helps in finding and retaining good employees/workers.

Performance and Morale-Boosting
When an organization provides concrete corporate health insurance coverage to its employees, it offers them peace of mind and increases their morale, which, in turn, benefits their organizational overall performance.

How Are Corporate Health Insurance Policies Different From Regular Plans?

Corporate health insurance coverage is not the same as regular health insurance plans as they are provided to employees and their dependents by the company as opposed to the individual buying it for himself/herself. Moreover, the waiting period under health insurance plans, which are generally prolonged durations of one month usually, a condition placed by the insurance provider is waived off under corporate health insurance policy. Under these plans, medical examinations are skipped as well. The premiums are significantly smaller in amount than the regular individual or family health insurance policy. This is because of the larger number of employees insured. Leading to a simple formula of “economies of scale”.

Before joining any business, it is important to look into the corporate health insurance policy and coverage offered. An organization may have a custom-made plan for their workers or may adopt from the plans offered by the insurers. Have a look at the necessary policy documentation before getting yourself enrolled in one such corporate health insurance policy. Make sure you do a good amount of research before buying any health insurance coverage. Our health insurance comprehensive guide for 2021 and 2022 has all the information related to, types of health insurance policies, the status of chronic health-related problems, premiums etc. Be well informed and make the right choice to secure yourself and your family future.

What does this mean for small companies?

In a post-COVID world and after the world has seen the importance of health and the expenses if and when required related to it, as the job market rebounds, companies looking to recruit and retain top talent can expect a quality health benefit to be top of mind for candidates applying for the job and working at the organization.
Health benefits are an essential tool in recruiting and retention, but due to rising costs, less than half of small companies can offer them. Even among those that do, the majority of them offer employee’s just one policy choice.
2. Fortunately, small employers have options in 2021 in Pakistan. A stabilized individual health insurance market and an innovative commercial health insurance sector have produced several viable health insurance options small employers can use to win the war for talent.
Of course, in this article, we’ll cover what all of this means more as we go over health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) to provide full and in-depth information.
• Eligibility requirements
• Pros and cons
• Budget guidelines
• First steps for implementation
We’ll also deliberate how to react to the best decision for your business, including considerations you should make when evaluating your options. We will also take a look at the future of health benefits for small employers, what you might see going forward, and how you can ensure you’re positioned for a safe pocket.

Pros

• It’s tax-free
The organizations can deduct 100 per cent of group health insurance premiums, and employee’s share of the premium can be paid with pretax money and save big.

• Small employers can get a tax credit
According to the laws and regulatory bodies, small business health care can avail the tax credit option available to the companies with a group policy purchased, and pay at least half of the health insurance premiums for their workers. The tax credit is usually worth up to 50 per cent of the costs that organizations pay for employees’ premiums.

• It’s easily obtainable online or through a health insurance facilitator
Small employers can purchase a policy directly from a health insurance company or keeping themselves one step ahead they can compare and buy from health insurance facilitators with minimal effort.

• Most employees are familiar with it
Because employees often associate health benefits with group health insurance, offering a group policy requires minimal hand-holding or small employers’ facilitation.

Cons

• It can be expensive
Many companies can’t afford a group health insurance policy. Group health insurance has roughly increased in cost over the past few years, keeping in view the customization and benefits undertaken by the organization and there’s no indication those cost increases will slow down. By 2025, group health insurance penetration is expected to increase double the fold keeping in view the present scenario but that would also indicate that there would be a surge in the prices as well which the companies need to understand and deliberate upon.

• It’s complex
Ongoing regulatory changes and the lengthy annual renewal process leech away time that most small employers don’t have. Usually, they must also play the facilitator, negotiating between employees and the insurance provider.

• It’s one-size-fits-all
Personnel of small organizations are often in varied situations, but with group health insurance, the company typically chooses just one policy to satisfy everyone. This inevitably causes dissatisfaction among some employees. It is the issue that one thing desired by one may not be ideal for another, but while corporate health insurance policy, an organization needs to be extra vigilant and careful.

• Minimum participation requirements can be difficult to meet
With an unpredictable economy in this Post- Covid19 situation and many employees who choose to use their spouse’s plan instead, small companies often struggle to meet these minimum participation inceptions to qualify and sustain the cost incurred for group health insurance.

• Employees who have other health care solutions don’t get a benefit
Employees who choose not to participate in the organization’s policy, whether because they’re enrolled through a family member’s plan or because they’re using an alternative. It is presumed that with no concrete benefits except health insurance which they are unable to make most of it and nothing more to gain outside of salary, they’re more likely to leave the organization or might be on the constant lookout for opportunities.

• Would the employees who live in different states may not get a benefit?

While living in Pakistan, rest assured that employers can purchase a health insurance policy that has a national coverage policy, these policies are both easy to use and provide a huge coverage area. Companies procuring corporate health insurance can do so without leaving out any employee from any part of Pakistan. This may be one of the unique selling points for the organization to retain and recruit top talent.

How can I choose the best health benefit for my organization?

Choosing between these five health benefits options can be difficult.
In this section, we’ll walk you through the most important questions you should ask when weighing each option, including:

1. Based on eligibility criteria, which options can my organization offer?
2. What is my organization willing and able to spend on health benefits?
3. Which employees do I want to include in the benefit
4. How much time do I have to administer the benefit?
5. What are employees’ current insurance statuses?
6. What do my employees prefer?
7. Should I give maternity benefits?
8. Would OPD’s be an attractive feature for the employees?

Let’s dive in.

Based on eligibility criteria, which options can my organization offer?

The first step is to use eligibility criteria to weed out all options your organization can’t offer. For example, if you have just one full-time employee, you can’t offer group health insurance, in Pakistan, you can buy group health insurance for as low as 10 employees in your organization.
Once you’ve narrowed down your list, you can proceed to the next question.

What’s my organization willing and able to spend on health benefits?

For most small companies, the cost is the single biggest factor in their health benefits decisions. If this is the case for your organization, you can use cost to help narrow your options down further. First, determine how much you are willing and able to spend on health benefits. In general, you should aim to spend as much as you can afford on health benefits; next to salaries, they’re the top influencer on where people work.
Once you’ve calculated this figure, compare it to the estimated cost of each health benefit option your organization is eligible for. You should research estimates for your geographic area and industry to get a more accurate projection.

After comparing these projections to your budget, you may be able to eliminate some options. Many small employers can’t afford traditional group or self-funded health insurance, for example. Some companies may offer group health insurance to their employees on hospitalization but it may not offer the frill benefits of OPD’s and maternity since they increase the health insurance plans cost many folds for an organization.

How much time do I have to administer the benefit?

Another consideration is how much time you have or a designated employee has to administer health benefits. Small employers and employees wear many hats, so their time is limited. Some health benefit options require more administration time than others. Self-funded health insurance typically requires the most time, followed by a group health policy and since you have to manage a group plan and an HRA. You need a policy that is very much less time-intensive.
If you don’t have a lot of time to administer health benefits, consider one of the last three options listed above.

What are employees’ current insurance statuses?

Beyond business considerations, companies should also evaluate each benefit option from the workers’ perspective. The first step is to consider their current insurance status and determine how the company can provide value from the benefit.
Organizations need to understand that all workers are valuable to the organization, companies should narrow the list of options to those that will best serve them, their interest and their employees. In general, a company aim should be to provide the employees with the best value regardless of their situation even if some compensations are subject to income tax.

What do usually employees prefer?

Every organization should consider their employees’ preferences on health benefits they need and want. The employees are more likely to use benefits that deliver on what they want, which ultimately helps the company accomplish the goal of hiring and keeping them for a longer run.

Employees generally evaluate and assess health benefits by three standards:

• How much the benefit will cost them or be useful to them?
• How the benefit will integrate with their individual health care preferences
• How familiar they are with the benefit and the actual usefulness of Benefit-cost affects employees with most health benefits options, but it’s especially true with h group and self-bought health insurance. Corporate health insurance offered by the organization in contrast, don’t involve employee contributions at all, though low allowance amounts typically require employees to shoulder more out-of-pocket costs.

Employees also want to know how your benefit will integrate with their individual health care preferences. Will your group health insurance policy cover their doctor, for example? Or provide coverage for mental health services? The provision of the right information is typically the best way to ensure employees can use their benefit to cover the health care they value get the most out of the offered benefit and utilize them. Finally, employees gravitate toward benefits that are familiar to them. This generally favors group health insurance over newer offerings.

Making the final decision

Employers must balance each of these contemplations to arrive at the best health insurance policy decision for their organization and workers. Although each organization is different, group health insurance is typically the least disruptive value offering. If the organization can afford it and the majority of employees would receive significant value from it, group health may be the best choice.

This is not the case for many small employers, though. Rising costs and increased administrative complexity have put group health insurance out of reach. What’s more and ineffective is that these benefits often fail to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse set of employees.

In this case, comparing the quotes from multiple providers and buying insurance is almost always the best choice for small employers. There are no minimum contribution requirements, no arguing with health insurance providers, and no decisions that benefit some employees but not others. And rather than forcing employers to select and sponsor a limited number of programs an organization to give its employees tax-free money to spend on the health care services they find most valuable.

Any new benefit has already helped thousands of small employers offer health benefits and compete for the most talented employees.

What’s the future of small business health benefits in Pakistan?

Personalized solutions like the tailored and customized are the future of small employer health benefits. This is because employees can take their own individual policies with them from job to job.

And this is a bonus for employees since we’ve seen how unpredictable the economy is during the pandemic and post-COVID19. No matter if they’re employed at one company or another, employees still need health insurance, and being able to take their policy from one employer to another helps reduce the amount of change they have to face when changing jobs. As traditional options like group health insurance become untenable for many organizations, the pressure to create alternatives that allow employers to control costs and employees to make their own health care choices has grown. This will continue to be the case through 2021 and beyond.

Which companies provide group health insurance?

There are many insurance providers in Pakistan that provide corporate health insurance. Providers like Jubilee General Insurance, IGI General, TPL, Askari general insurance and other big insurance companies have A+ and AA++ ratings and have the capacity to ensure against premiums and provide coverage.

What customization can be provided or procured in the corporate health insurance plans?

The plans can be customized and tailored as per the needs and requirements of the organization. These plans offer high value to the employees and provide benefits and coverage that are not available in the individual and family retail health insurance plans.

One of the major health insurance benefits is that that many organizations can provide is OPD and maternity benefits it which are rarely part of any health insurance plans in Pakistan. Hence the health insurance plans can be customized and made on the “basis-to-fit-everybody’s-requirements.

Conclusion

2021 is set to be an eventful year for employers. Between managing the business during an epidemic and navigating a change in the present administration, employers have their work cut out for them. Small employers are prepared to meet this opportunity with more health benefits options available than ever before. By carefully considering their benefits goals, budget, and employee situations and preferences, these employers can make a choice that will help them hire and keep employees and succeed in 2021 and the future.

Khurram Zahid

The post Group Health Insurance in Pakistan: A Comprehensive Guide for Businesses & Corporates appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.

SUMMARY

This article is a short handbook for all the CEOs and people in senior managerial positions, this article is also a good read for the employees to avoid distraction and establish a path to more efficiency and productivity.

This articles also caters to the emerging trend in Pakistan, which is the culture of Start-ups and how these young entrepreneurs should ace their multi-dimensional race against time-resources-management. How they can effectively manage all by eliminating things are not so important in nature which can be delayed and handled by a sub-ordinate which can be spent on other things.

There are multiple tips for the CEOs to accommodate and increase their organization productivity by encouraging employees to take ownership, to be responsible for the task-assigned, how a little thank-you and appreciation can go a long way to keep the company thriving. Apart from that just all organizations and their bosses need to understand that SMALL THINGS CAN HAVE REALLY BIG IMPACT!

A Company means any company has only one matchless role: the role of chief executive officer. We all understand the responsibilities and power this tittle carries, but as goes one of the very important quotes: “With great power comes great responsibility.”

The true talent of the CEO: Match talent to value

So we understand that It’s the most authoritative and sought-after title in business, it is far more exciting, fulfilling, and significant than any other. We all know how and what the CEO controls, he has the authority to control and govern the company’s biggest moves and his performance accounts for 45 per cent of a company’s performance.

Despite the lustre of the role, serving as a CEO can be all-consuming, lonely, and nerve-wracking. According to a study, just three out of five recently appointed CEOs live up to performance expectations in their first 18 months on the job. The high standards principles and expansive expectations of directors, stockholders, clients, and employees create an environment of unrelenting scrutiny in which one move can affect the CEOs performance and the person must learn on the job, and they must learn while every stakeholder is watching and perform as required.

If you ask any successful investors what they look for in portfolio companies, and many will tell you they’d rather put money on an average strategy in the hands of great talent than on a great strategy in the hands of average talent.

The CEO’s job is like no other in the organization. We also need to understand the consequences of each decision made and its infinite impact. Senior executives are, by definition, ultimately responsible for every decision and action of every member of the company on board. Including some of those decisions and actions of which they are not even aware.

CEOs even the newly appointed ones are allowed a few mistakes. Not surprisingly, research shows that between 35% and 50% of all CEOs are replaced within five years. Looking at the stats it seems like it is a costly proposition for any organization, as no company can lose its front-runner without losing some sense, even temporarily, of its identity and direction. Any such activity can make or break even an accomplished career.

For all the scrutiny and analysis of the CEO’s role, though, little is solidly understood about what CEOs do to excel. Some of the things they are doing regularly are to “set the strategy,” “shape the culture,” and “get the right team.” Perhaps that’s not surprising industry contexts differ, as do leadership preferences but it illustrates that fellow CEOs don’t necessarily make reliable guides.

With this article, we set out to show which mindsets and practices are proven to make CEOs most effective. What does it take to make a great CEO, how one reaches that position? Is it short term or it is the fruit of a long-running effort?

We need to determine how closely they adhere to the mindsets and practices that are closely associated with superior CEO performance. Our hope and anticipation are that all CEOs, new or long-tenured, can use these tools to better apply their scarce time and energy.
Six main elements of the CEO’s job are

• Setting the overall and corporate strategy,
• Aligning the organization,
• Leading the top team
• Working with the board,
• Being the face of the company to external stakeholders,
• Managing one’s own time and energy.
• The allocation of capital.

What Makes a Great CEO

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is one of the most misinterpreted roles in a company. The position is accountable for holding the dominions of the company, leading everybody toward business success.

Thousands of ambitious young entrepreneurs start new companies each year, meaning more people than ever are functioning as leaders. What about a great CEO? How are they? How do they operate? They’re a much rarer breed. Many of us accept as true that a CEO is some kind of all-powerful, highly competent mortal; probably built by robots, something Alien not from amongst us. Yet, it’s often the human aspects that set great CEOs apart from the rest of the lost.

What are the roles and duties of the CEO?

The classic job description of a Chief Executive Officer includes the following duties;
• Set a company’s direction and create a strategy
• Decide and model upon the set and agreed values, behaviour, and culture of the business
• Structure and lead the C-suite department, so other employees in the respective department could follow the suit
• Assign budget and resources to different priorities within the business, based on corporate objectives.

Business leaders might get some assistance on these tasks, but don’t let that fool you. It takes hard work, dedication, and a thick skin to take on the role. That being said, sometimes someone of this position can forget the traits, behaviours, and attitudes of what made their most-admired CEOs so brilliant.

In this section of the article, we have explored the qualities of what we believe to be successful leaders in business.

Inspire, engage, and energize

The most notable and the first is, a great CEO knows how to get the most out the productivity of their staff. They create an encouraging corporate culture which empowers the workforce to be effective while adhering to the company’s overall mission and higher values.

They make their teams lives easier

An insightful CEO should always strive to boost staff productivity and improve efficiency and proficiency within the business. CEO provides them room to perform effectively; they should also ensure that every task allocated is essential. Nobody should be compiling endless reports for no eminent reason, filling out unwarranted and needless forms or holding long, drawn-out meetings unless they’re genuinely useful.

They’re not afraid to unsettle old traditions

It’s easy for companies to consume processes and habits without questioning whether it’s still the most effective means of operating and working. Strong and efficient leaders can recognize when methods have become tired and require innovation. Outstanding change can insert life into an organization and quicken the pace of its growth and development. At the same time, good and seasoned leaders need to know and understand how to take calculated risks when it comes to driving innovation. They’re careful and cautious and at all means avoid leading the company into troubled waters.

They understand mistakes happen

A true leader and CEO in order not to suppress creativity, make employees believe that they are free to take risks and try out new things without the fear of punishment and retribution. Any mistake they make does not make them a lesser performer as a CEO understand no matter how strong of a performer a staff member is, they’re still human and likely to make mistakes. A good CEO can distinguish between errors that are made out of negligence or not. They also take suitable action to provide better sustenance and ensure the mistake isn’t repeated.

They’re excellent communicators and even better listeners

Effective communication is vital in any business and every phase of life, and a strong leader must possess those skills. They should have the ability to be consistently explicit, whether it’s setting the deadlines, expressing company needs or displaying teams how things are done. It also helps with employee encouragement and boosting morale. Good CEOs are dedicated to paying attention to their team members, customers, and shareholders. We need to comprehend that they are humans too and they’re not experts at everything! They recognize this, and also identify that they will have a more successful business by getting advice and insight from their teams.

They invest in learning and development

No matter the industry you are working in, the change is constant. All industries are dynamic and on top of this, year after year, we’re welcoming a new generation into the jobs market complete with next-generational updated skillsets. It doesn’t matter whether an employee has no experience or whether they have 50 years long experience under their belt, a strong business leader can make out that every employee within their company should be granted with the required training and be updated with the tools to keep their skillsets relevant. In return, the business will benefit from all these skills. It would at the same time create goodwill and loyalty amongst the workers as well.

They don’t micro-manage

The quickest and the most irritating and disgruntled staff is to constantly tell them how to do their job, monitor and observe their every move. If the staff feels their self-worth and value is being challenged, they find it more difficult to get on board and feel aligned with company goals. While guidance and support can encourage innovation, intervening and interfering kills productivity and creativity. A good CEO knows that employees should be given independence, trust and space to succeed. Tell employees what you expect as an outcome and its role in the company’s bigger picture but leave it in their basket to decide how to achieve the desired objective.

They instil a healthy work-life balance

Seasoned Leaders give the utmost importance to their employees’ physical health and mental well-being. Part of this includes having a healthy mind. Excessive overtime should be monitored, and only be allowed under special circumstances and on absolute essential times. It should especially be looked into if it is being carried out on days off. Plans and deadlines should always consider the number of hours genuinely required to be put in to get the results, being careful not to depend too much on extra office hours. When projects mandate more time than allotted to a normal workday, a strong and robust Lead stays behind with his team. Nothing builds bitterness amongst employees than when the CEO regularly leaves the office promptly and the team is anticipated to continue work during their leisure time.

Gives praise for good work

One of the traits of a respected CEO is that he will always recognize employees for their successes and achievements. He will never take credit for their work. Not only does it give employees endorsement that they’re doing their work correctly, but it also motivates them to keep working hard and striving for more. It costs nothing to the business, only takes a minute, and upsurges office morale. So, it’s important to not only reward and acknowledge your employee’s hard work but is recommended to encourage them to take time off and take well-deserved breaks when they’ve worked hard and achieved something great. They will come back to work feeling recharged, refreshed, and ready for another sprint of efficiency.

Well, we have been seeing in Pakistan there has been a lot of START-UPS coming into the limelight, there is a whole budding culture of entrepreneurs who are coming into the market with some brilliant ideas to upgrade our lifestyles and solutions to make our lives simpler. But at the same time being new in the field and creating something new they might feel overwhelmed and overburdened at the same time, we have enlisted productivity Techniques for Busy Start-ups CEOS.

Managing the Hierarchy….

The best CEOs take a systematic approach of matching talent with roles which can create the most value for the company. The first important step is discovering which roles matter most. Careful analysis typically produces findings that surprise even the sassiest CEOs.
Out of the 50 most value-creating roles in any given organization, only 10 per cent normally report to the CEO directly. Sixty per cent are two levels below that level, and more 20 per cent sit farther down the line of delegation.
Most astonishing of all is that the remaining 10 per cent are roles that don’t even exist. Once these roles are acknowledged, the CEO can work with other executives to see that these roles are managed with increased rigour and are occupied by the right people.

 Productivity Techniques for Busy Start-up Business CEOs

According to the literature we have and the examples we use of Tim Cook emailing Apple employees at 4 am, or Mark Cuban not taking a vacation for seven years, we have all heard of CEOs’ legendary work ethic. But one thing that needs to be understood early on is do you need to mimic their peculiar productivity techniques to grow your small business to an empire?

The answer can be probably not. As an entrepreneur, you should know that your “most prized resource is your time.” “Being busy is not always the same as being productive.”

One key challenge for SME leaders is to be able to their time while still guaranteeing that their business thrives. This can be complex and tricky, particularly when you may be working with a small team with the constraint on resources, and often have to pitch in with some of the not linked tasks yourself. In short, you need a strategy to be as productive as possible. So, below we have collected some simple but efficient production techniques that you can use today in your life as a small business decision-maker.

Ready to learn how to be more productive… Let’s go!

Productivity technique 1: Plan your week ahead

This may sound trivial, but once you start the week, it becomes very difficult to plan properly. Every new task takes precedence over another. In a particularly small business, it may seem difficult to create any structure and assembly of things. But how you spend your time greatly impacts the success of your company. So take a little time at the end of each week before you start the new week to reflect on the upcoming week and consider the following:
• Check your meetings for next week
• Identify tasks to be completed
• Block time for each task and plan around them
• Set deadlines for tasks
This simple productivity technique, enlisting everything will prevent less important tasks taking over because you have already set your time aside. You can adopt various productivity techniques which will prove helpful for differentiating between important and less important tasks, and the following two models stand out for this purpose.

The Pareto Principle – 80/20 Rules: The Pareto principle or the 80/20 rule states that 80% of results come from 20% of the work. What this means is that a lot of the work isn’t going to affect the big picture, so focus on the activities that are most crucial to driving the business forward. If something in your schedule is not critical, either delegate the task or drop it completely.

Productivity technique 2: Optimize your meetings

According to the Time to transform research report, 50% of all small and medium business CEO thinks that general admin tasks including staff meetings are the single biggest time waster. And to some extent, it stands correct which means one should dare to eliminate unnecessary meetings.
Do the CEOs need to realize that do you need to meet just to hear an update on the status of a project?
You can also do this regularly at an updated Google Doc, Trello or Kanban Board do the job instead? Without wasting the time in a meeting, where it takes time to assemble, sit, discuss and much more time and activities would be incorporated.

• Try and stick to these rules to get the most out of any meetings you hold:
• Set clear goals for every meeting
• Set clear rules for everyone
• Ensure everyone is prepared (and has a role in the meeting – allow people who are not necessarily needed to skip the meeting)
• Impose a limit on meeting time per day
• Experiment with very short stand-up meetings

Don’t set a default meeting time of one full hour maybe you can finish quicker or even program them for a maximum of 30 min per meeting not more than that. Send a follow-up to every individual involved via email stating any decisions made, the required next actions and who is responsible for them right after the meeting to keep everyone on the same page.
Also remember the golden rule: Only meet if you have a clear objective – all else is a waste of time.

Productivity technique 3: Practice good email hygiene

The overflowing email inbox is the nuisance for many entrepreneurs. So, how can you be more productive in answering your emails? Let’s start simple: start with: A sorting system, such as folders, will help to improve the stream of emails as they come in. You can also specify rules that automatically by putting software in place that put emails in the correct folder in your email client. Most email software offers options to sort between important and unimportant messages. Once you have this in place, you can focus on the crucial emails.

Answer emails that will take less than two minutes
One rule-of-thumb about answering emails is if you can answer it in less than two minutes, do it now. If not, send a brief message explaining when you will be able to respond and add it to the list of to-dos.
Check emails in bunches
Another great productivity technique to reduce the constant distraction is to only check emails at certain times of the day and to disable notifications. If you are concerned about missing an urgent message, you can always set up a custom alert for your most important senders.
Use email automation software to induce facilitation
As a small business leader, you may often find yourself following up on your marketing emails to try and convert a lead. Software like ZOHO Marketing Cloud and CRM can automate a lot of your email workflows, including your lead nurturing process.

Productivity technique 4: Automate business processes and workflows with productivity software

There are many great productivity enhancer tools on the market. The main question is: How can you make sure that you choose the best tool for your company’s needs and requirements? And, how can you be more productive if you start using these tools? Often, it’s best to start with recognizing the specific problem you want to solve using the tool.
There is no doubt that productivity tools do increase efficiency. So while there are many excellent productivity tools out there, for a more comprehensive solution, you should consider a full-fledged CRM.

Productivity technique 5: Manage your energy

Recent #TimetoTransform report found that 45% of SME owners had experienced negative effects on their health due to lack of time. Overworking is not only likely to decrease your overall productivity, but it could also cause adverse health issues. So, this productivity technique talks all about taking time to decompress, staying healthy and conserving your energy. Finding time for this is crucial to your success.

Defining Employee Productivity…

“Work is often conceptualized linearly”.

The linear way means that the more hours one puts in any work, it is believed there is more inclination towards the indication that how productive they are. In the present day, we appreciate a more refined and layered definition of productivity by and how the concept has evolved over the last several decades.

We can see productivity in multiple ways and have multiple measures through which the productivity of an employee could be rightly managed.

Matrix of spent V/S Results produced
Productivity through time spent ad results achieved

Let’s step into a time machine and travel back to a rougher and unforgiving industrial time, a time where labour was abundant, cheap, and workers were valued mainly for their net output and the time they spent in factories. During this era, productivity evaluated the absolute output of a worker or a group of workers. And the ultimate goal of business owners was to maximize worker’s productivity or output at all costs. Case in point, it was highly common to find industrial workers working 80-100 hour weeks during this time.

In 1926 Henry Ford popularized the 40-hour workweek after discovering that working an inordinate amount of hours only yielded a small increase in productivity and only for a short period.
So we should all say…Thank you, Mr Ford.

The current actuality…
We now have labour rules and laws in place to protect workers from being exposed and being exploited to such extreme and harsh working conditions. However, even within the 40-hour workweek, many companies still approach productivity from an undeviating perspective.

In the modern context, does working more guarantee higher productivity?

Let’s go back to our college and university days, and recall that have you ever pulled an all-nighter to produce a presentation or essay at the last minute? Perhaps you ended up with multiple pages in a short amount of time great, by all accounts; you were “productive.” Which means the real question is how did that presentation or essay turn out? Would you call that your best work? Maybe and Maybe not, Bottom line: Just because you’ve produced something, doesn’t always mean its high quality or valuable work.

As another case in point, Microsoft Japan recently rolled out a bold initiative to improve work/life balance a 4-day workweek. What Microsoft Japan found when decreasing the number of hours worked in a week; the company’s overall productivity soared, by 40% to be exact! This proves an important and counter-intuitive point: Thoughtful, creative, and intensive work doesn’t always unfold in such a linear way.

In short, today looking at the way the world is working and things happening in a more parallel manner working more hours don’t automatically mean an increase in productivity.

Although argumentatively the industrial sector still exists, and a linear model of production sometimes applies, the total output shouldn’t be the only measure of performance at work. For creative, tech, and a multitude of other industries, the value or quality of that output is just as significant; employee performance and productivity metrics should always reflect that.

Let’s unpack this idea a little further…

How to measure productivity

In our contemporary working environment, the definition of productivity should take into consideration the value and quality of production as well. A traditional model of productivity is limited and doesn’t give us a granular understanding of the total output of one’s work. In sum, a more fitting definition of productivity means producing valuable and quality work in a short amount of time.
Factors Affecting Employee Productivity

Hub-spot conducted a countrywide survey and analysis of more than 2,000 professionals and found interesting statistics regarding barriers to productivity in the workplace:
61% think loud colleagues are the biggest office distraction
89% prefer to work alone to hit maximum productivity
40% consider impromptu meetings from coworkers stopping by their workspace as a major distraction.

The modern-day office is predominant with obstructions to efficiency. For simplicity, they can be reduced to a few all-encompassing themes.
Let’s take in a picture this…it’s 9 am on a Monday.
You have a hot cup of tea and a scrupulous to-do list by your side. That needs to be done today. You crack your knuckles and get ready to start the week off on the right foot with aims high and eye on the trophy.
A few minutes after the beginning of your day and you’re feeling great and all charged with the excitement of work, ideas are unsurprisingly flowing, you think to yourself, and feel that “this is going to be my most productive day.” Suddenly, you’re jerked out of focus by a TINKLE!
All of a sudden you realize so many things happening at once, social media notifications are coming in, and your phone begins to flash and vibrate. Your attention changes away from your work and onto your flashing phone, you suddenly notice a group of colleagues standing near and loudly chatting over a cup of tea and you ask yourself “Were they this noisy before?” you completely shift your focus to that thing and lose your train of thoughts…
Then, your gaze quickly darts to your second screen, you notice a red insignia pop up on your email app. These messages are perhaps not urgent; you’re actively fighting the urge to check them, but it’s still an interruption and disturbance. By now, your concentration is shattered. And before you get time to look at the clock again, it’s almost lunch, and you’ve only produced a portion of what you intended to.

Three main types of productivity obstacles:

1. Environmental
Noise distractions
Visual distractions
Human distractions

2. Organizational
Unrealistic goals
Lack of flexibility
Multitasking
Unclear objectives & mission
Missing/faulty tools

3. Psychological
Lack of communication
Lack of trust and respect
Negativity

Labelling and targeting the obstacles to productivity is important because it will allow you to quickly identify which category needs the most attention in your organization. Moreover, some categories are more manageable to treat than others. That said, by further unpacking these obstacles to productivity, we can reduce them into two main categories: external and internal. Think of these, not as binary categories, but rather living on two ends of a continuum.

External barriers to productivity

Thinking back to the run-of-the-mill workday scenario aforementioned in this article, you can easily paint a picture of what external barriers to productivity look like.
The regular workday is filled with hundreds, if not thousands of these external micro-distractions. These are often palpable components of work such as sounds, visual diversions, digital notifications, loud coworkers, and so on.
But external barriers to productivity just don’t stop there. Other external barriers that are slightly less tangible exists, such as
• Multitasking,
• Missing or faulty tools,
• Murky goals, and
• Being overworked
These barriers can also result from poor organizational practices and expectation management.

Distractions an obstacle to Productivity

Humans can produce exceptional work when they are purposeful, strong-minded, and, most importantly free of distraction.
The difficult thing is distractions are inescapable in our tech-driven world.
You’ve probably faced that dilemma of wanting to start an important task, only to find yourself deep in cat videos an hour later. Distractions fuel procrastination and are the opposite of productivity. Statistics on productivity in the work context support these assumptions. For example, a study by Hubspot found that office workers spend 28% of their day on unnecessary distractions. That’s more than a quarter of the day! Other studies suggest that people are spending only about half the workday on legitimately productive work.
The question which arises is, what are they doing with the other half of the day?
As you can imagine, these daily losses in productivity have a significant impact on a business’s bottom line.

On the other hand, we can’t expect humans to be as productive as machines either. So one thing that we need to ponder on and remains questionable is: Exactly how can a business maximize their human resources, all the while ensuring to treat and recognize their employees humanely and fairly?
Potentially the idea of productivity from a modern perspective is a good place, to begin with, Also, we need to be aware and understanding of both the internal and external barriers to productivity and the ways and means to maximizing productivity in a modern work setting becomes possible.

The bad news which they carry is that: These barriers fuel stalling in work being done and wreak havoc on a worker’s ability to get to work, focus, and focus. The good news that we have here is that, however, is that these barriers to productivity are the most noticeable and actual, therefore they are easier to treat and minimize with proper mediation and mechanism.

Internal barriers to productivity

To comprehend internal barriers to efficiency and productivity, let’s consider a situation as will help to think about the following scenario.
A hardworking and motivated employee feels that his/her hard work is unrecognized in the day-to-day. Managers are strained and anxious, and the business overlooks and undermines regular open and honest communication. As a result, busy supervisors only make time for acknowledgement during the time-period of formal evaluations, which is just a handful of times a year.
Sometimes an employee that works day-in and day out just wishes for a genuine “thank you” or “good job” at the end of a long and tiring week. The weeks and months go by, and this employee continues to put in the same effort in the work done, but a lack of recognition continues. As the simple and basic need for appreciation goes unmet, and then there is a slow decline towards detachment begins. Truancy usually follows. Until eventually, full disengagement occurs. Productivity ultimately suffers.
Internal barriers to productivity, such as
• Lack of communication
• A need for autonomy
• Praise,
They all pose a significant challenge as they are mostly invisible, and as a result, more difficult to identify, measure, and ultimately treat.
Companies need to adopt the Employee Engagement Program comes in to disassemble psychological barriers to productivity by fostering an environment of continuous real-time feedback characterized by mutual respect, trust, appreciation, and, most importantly, recognition. All these things can work as fuel and inject an absolute vigour in the employees to work and perform better.

How to Improve Employee Productivity?

A singular magic one-size-fits-all solution to maximum productivity doesn’t exist. Improving productivity takes the application of a wide variety of tried and true strategies, tips, and research-driven hacks.

Pro tip: Looking at your top performers and their productivity hacks can often help.
That said, a lack of productivity stems from many things: ranging from internal factors such as employees feeling unappreciated to external factors like a noisy office, and everywhere in between.
Many successful organizations have the first-hand experience tackling this issue, and other businesses can benefit from their experiences. Let’s have a look at the top approaches for improving employee productivity.

Limit interruptions & minimize distractions

Management can’t wipe away all distractions, but they can certainly help and provide support to minimize them.
To exemplify, let’s say that a manager works with an “open concept” workplace, mean the employees should know that that if they want to have an extended one-to-one conversation with somebody on the “floor”, they should use the meeting room or lounge area, to not disturb or distract the flow of work of others around them. And for employees, who often have to be on call, a designated area should be created that is closed off from the rest of the group so the member of staff can make a call without troubling or disturbing everyone else.
Management must intercede to ensure the office environment is controlled.
• There should be designated areas set up for deep (and silent) focused work
• spaces for teamwork
• Areas for free socializing
One thing that needs to be ensured is that the employees respectfully follow guidelines and utilize the space effectively; you can help minimize environmental distractions as much as possible and remove those entire barriers that are very common and lead to non-productivity.

Give regular recognition

When immediate rewards and instant gratifications are just an effortless click away, self-control and working hard for distant rewards usually take a back seat. As a result, distractions take over, and efficiency and output suffer.
The object lesson: Ensure clear rewards are always in sight. Organizations should not delay rewards or the importance of praising and appreciating employees should not be reduced to formal evaluations which takes place only a few times a year. Do it time and again. “Celebrating successes (big and small) should always be a top priority for managers”.

A 2019 study conducted by Deloitte called “The Practical Magic of Thank You” found that for their day-to-day work, employees appreciate a verbal and straightforward ‘thank you’ the most. The giving of consistent feedback and recognition can also be facilitated with the help of engagement and reward programs being designed and incorporated in the company SOPs and company book.
Implementing an engagement and rewards program and making all employees aware of all these programs fosters an environment of trust and satisfaction, and workplaces that boast a positive atmosphere based on mutual respect and trust are shown to be more productive and profitable. In addition to recognition and reward, organizational research suggests that taking vacations and breaks is necessary for maintaining mental energy levels and overall productivity. Increase Productivity with an Engagement Program.

Work in intervals & prioritize

If there’s no systematic way to approach work, employees easily fall into the trap of being unsure where to start and feeling overwhelmed often resulting in intense anxiety. Tell and advise them to take a break and leave their position, a few minutes stroll and back on their work would give them a better perspective on work.
One thing that needs to be remembered at this point, inactivity quickly follows. Uncertain, unrealistic goals and a full plate of work can be downright paralyzing. Fueled and fired by the fear of failure, this anxious energy makes people vulnerable to temptations of the instant-gratification variety. Like pointless social media use, for example.

The cure: Managers can help employees with efficiency by ensuring that goals are realistic, actionable, and organized in order of priority.

In short, goals that are broken down into more deliverable and manageable mini-tasks clear up the path to success, and work becomes less daunting as a result because of the complete focus and the confidence which is felt while achieving them. In short, when employees feel supported and reassured, anxiety and pressure slowly subside, and the desire to indulge in procrastinating activities simultaneously diminishes.

Offer Incentives; build Loyalty to reduce turn-over

The productivity and loyalty of an employee can also be enhanced by providing him with the right benefits and sharing some of his financial burdens by providing his/her health insurance for himself and his family, this sharing of burden does not make him risk-free but also provides him mental peace to deal with any unforeseen medical situation that may arise due to increasing uncertainty and health problems. The health insurance for employees can very easily be purchased from Smartchoice.pk under corporate plans and quotes offered by Smartchoice, we get you best rates from all the reputable insurance providers with add-on benefits and cashless claim facilities. We would recommend each organization with a team of as small as 10 members to as big as hundreds and thousands of employees, these benefits acts as a win-win situation for both employee and the employer.

Trust and Productivity go hand-in-hand

Whether you’re an HR or managing professional, you’re probably overseeing and managing groups of educated and mature adults, not children that need constant supervision. Why then would you control and monitor your team as if they were? Always remember in an organization that “Trust and productivity go hand in hand.”

To sum it all up, you need to show your employees and members of the team through your words and actions that you have confidence and trust in them and their abilities, which would encourage them and make them feel complimented and independently fulfil their expectations. Give workers flexibility and ownership over their work and projects and hold them accountable, they will most likely live up to that expectation and even exceed it, because, at the end of the day, people want to see themselves as the wheel contributing on their own, not as a part.

As the saying goes,” Trust fuels productivity”

Stiff and rigid management negatively impacts morale and engagement, and employees may surrender to a self-fulfilling prophecy. In short, if they feel like you can’t trust them, they will act and do untrustworthy things because you don’t trust them to begin with! A 2015 Harvard Business Review report shows that trust helps employees feel less stressed and focus more intensely on their tasks without the constant fear of being fired, reproached, or ridiculed by peers.

Micro-monitoring undermines productivity

When management operates from a place of scepticism and constant worry, it tightens its grip over employees. As a result, managers may monitor (what they consider) productivity closely, or might impose screen monitoring software, they often block access to social media, or prohibit employees to text or take personal calls during work. Although it may seem like a logical solution, tightening and compressing your grip over employees has been shown to erode morale and group trust.
Constantly monitoring and policing the employees to the point where they are practically being persistently under the microscope will undoubtedly affect motivation and undermining engagement and productivity as well. Even if your intentions are in the right place, heavily monitoring productivity through software often produces the opposite of the desired outcome.

Collaboration & Productivity Software

Traditional methods of tracking work progress, productivity, and goals include excel sheets and good old fashioned to-do and priorities lists. Sometimes even manual book-keeping we used to keep track. Now, a multitude of cloud-based applications and software exists to help maximize productivity and generate collaboration between teams.

Here are a few quick tips to help stay focused:

Learn to say “No”
To do this, sometimes you just have to say “no” to non-essential tasks, meetings or requests of your coworkers. That way you don’t waste time by composing a new email or message or spending unnecessary work-time and be confident every time you need to say “no” or they are essential to your work that you need to do at that time.

Do Walk and Talk Meetings…

Try standing desks and walking meetings this would save time. Standing meetings are effective against back pain. Human beings have not been designed to sit for a long time, so try and be active whenever you can. This will increase your energy level throughout the day. Another way to avoid being static and stationery is to take walk-n-talk meetings. Try taking the small meeting to grounds instead of going into the bounded conference room with your colleagues, subordinates and superiors– there is evidence that walking increases creative output by 60 per cent.

Plan a day as per Energy Level

You know yourself the best Plan your day around your activity levels. If you are most productive in the morning, keeping that in perspective you should schedule your most important tasks accordingly. This is a great productivity booster, as you can plan the things that require less energy later in the day.

Final Thoughts

Humans are not specialized task robots or automated mechanized individuals with artificial intelligence who have their own emotions and feelings unlike those unfeeling machines and both are quite the contrary to each other! In the long-run, treating them as machines and just gauging their productivity against the time they have put in and it being the only parameter of efficiency is detrimental to overall employee engagement and in extension, productivity.
At the beginning leaving the employees to dive and swim themselves may feel counter-intuitive, but the more rigid you are with your staff and the more you place restraints and limitations on them, the more productivity will suffer as a result. However, this not means that you let your employees run wild and free and leave them to their device to manage and decide everything. It means acknowledging your human labour and acknowledging them as humans with feelings and emotions.
The key to maximizing overall contribution and output is finding a sweet spot where your organization stays knowledgeable and realistic about the limits of cognitive effort and attention while respecting and trusting employees as autonomous individuals. Also, engage them by providing them with incentives and bonus.

Be the CEO you want to work under, the one you would like to build your loyalty too, the one you would like to stand by for years and years and build your own and company portfolio. Be the team member you own yourself to be! Ensure the Best Practises in your company to decreases employee turnover and increase productivity.

Khurram Zahid

The post A Comprehensive CEO Guide to Employee Productivity… appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.

Health coverage is a key part of the investment companies makes in their employees.

Some of the research findings from across the globe state that:
• Paid vacation time (65%) and health insurance (62%) are the most commonly-offered benefits.
• Nearly quarters (23%) of full-time employees do not receive any benefits from their employers.
• Over half (55%) of employees say that health insurance is the most important benefit in terms of their job satisfaction.
• Childcare benefits are rare, with only 21% of full-time workers receiving paid parental leave. Just 8% receive some kind of childcare stipend.
• Millennials are more likely than other generations to prioritize paid vacation and overtime, and less likely to prioritize health insurance, indicating a generational divide on how benefits are valued.
• 52% of employees who aren’t satisfied with their benefits want more of a benefit they already have, and 14% want different benefits altogether

Happier and more secure employees are more productive. According to research from the University of Warwick, happy employees perform their jobs 12% better, while stressed, dissatisfied workers are usually distracted and don’t perform up to their full potential.

The top three benefits that make employees the most satisfied, according to Glassdoor’s study, are:

Health insurance

Health benefits are a top priority for employees, it should be a top priority for you as well. Offering it can help with recruiting and entice them to stay longer at your company.

Savings for employees

When employees buy health insurance on their own, they have to use post-tax dollars to buy it. That is, they make money, the government taxes that money, and then they take the remaining amount to buy what they need.But when employees buy health insurance through a group plan, they pay for the insurance with pre-tax money. That can save them on their health insurance premiums.

Providing health insurance helps boost employee productivity

A study from MetLife has found out that 60% of employers say offering health insurance has led to higher productivity levels.

As an employer, you want your employees to focus on being their best productive and successful selves at work. Worrying about health insurance drains their energy and time. As you know, health insurance can be a big if proper knowledge and information are not available.

Providing benefits for full-time employees shows that employers are invested in their employees’ health and their lives outside the office. For employees, benefits provide the springboard they need to do their jobs well.

Offering a quality Health Insurance plan is Key to Employee Job Satisfaction, as when they are being awarded facilities for their pain points and have fewer things to stress about the employs tend to perform better with more passion and dedication since their family is secured.

For instance Companies in the United States with 50 or more full-time employees must provide health insurance, according to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). However, businesses with less than 50 employees are not legally required to offer insurance, due to which 38% of full-time employees don’t have a health insurance plan through their employer.

According to a survey, over half (55%) of full-time employees say that health insurance is the most important benefit they receive.

It’s not a surprise that so many employees prioritize their healthcare benefits, since an average visit to the emergency room costs over) PKR. 2500 to PKR. 3000 per visit, imagine the cost of any emergency procedure or an accidental cost if the inbound hospital care is needed in a certain scenario.

Stated below are the views which people have on the importance and impact of health insurance being provided by the employer to its employees, which indirectly acts as a catalyst to their better performance.

“Employees are concerned because both medical treatment and health insurance are so expensive,” said Chris Wolpert, managing member of Group Benefit Solutions, a group of health insurance and benefits consultants in Seattle.

Companies should provide comprehensive health coverage, though, even if they’re small enough that they’re not legally required to do so. Lisa Oyler, human resources director at Access Development (link is external), a private discount network popular with employers, asserts that health coverage is a key part of the investment companies make in their employees.

“If you offer health insurance, it will benefit you because you’ll have more productive, healthier employees,” she said. “People are a valued asset. Offering these benefits and educating employees on how to utilize them is an investment in workers and their long-term health.”

The questions that you should be asking/having the information about health insurance provider to maximize the value you receive for the money you have to spend and ensure the health insurance you purchase meets requirements. Also, be prepared to share your business goals for sponsoring employee health insurance.

Questions important to get answered before finalizing your insurance policy and the areas to cover with each provider when considering your options:

Cost: What is the cost per employee, including service charges and account fees?
Customer service: What kinds of support with you get as the health plan administrator?
Employee support: How much and what kind of support will they provide for your employees? Will they answer questions about healthcare coverage options?
Benefits of enrollment: Will they help you manage open enrollment paperwork? Do they have a website for employees to sign up?
Accessibility: Will you have a dedicated rep, or do you get the feeling they’ll disappear once the contract is signed? What support can you expect from the company?
Reliability: Do you see any complaints online about the company? Do the online reviews concern you?

Steps to acquire employee health insurance hassle-free

Compare prices: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. How quick was the insurer in paying claims? Are the claim processed as promised by the insurer? Do the services and hospital list include all the desired requirements? Employers can get to know all this much other important information by visiting Smartchoice.pk, the company primary aim is to provide information that is clear and unbiased so the procurement of insurance is transparent and the decision making in informed and at the same time educated.

Smartchoice.pk strives to make this process easy and swift, as it believes that financial literacy among the masses should be inculcated to reap better fruits of their investment.

Check the plan and the rating: Once you decide you need/want a certain insurance plan from a certain company, you can also check their rating at our platform for instance Jubilee has A++ rating that shows its capacity to follow-up with claim quick and swift means “their claim paying ability”, as with Adamjee and other companies plans offered at Smartchoice platform.

These ratings and plans indicate the services offered in the plans and the financial strength and ability of the company.

Cost Varies by Type of Health Benefits You Provide: Different coverage plans have varying benefits as per the cost you pay per plan, for instance some plans can have an add-on maternity benefits if required, you can check all these benefits very explicitly mentioned on Smartchoice.pk, it has the room type, the ambulance charge covered, number of days, details about pre-and post-hospitalization costs and any add-on cover that you can purchase for your employees.

Pros of Providing Small Business Health Insurance

Here are some great reasons to provide health insurance to your small business employees:

Employee retention: Employees will be less tempted to change jobs for work that provides health insurance; plus, they won’t want to quit and give up their coverage.

Employment brand: Your brand reputation will increase as employees note in online company reviews that you take care of your staff by providing benefits as a health benefit is one of the major attraction for many people and it reliefs them of stress.
Get healthcare for yourself: When you offer health insurance to your employees, you often have the option of purchasing it for yourself and your eligible dependents as well.

Health benefits make your employees happy: According to a survey by Glassdoor, employees said health insurance is, by far, the most important benefit they receive from their employer. That’s why employers should offer health insurance as their first company benefit, and then add on additional benefits over time.

Employer workers compensation: Paying for health benefits instead of higher salaries can save you money because your employees may prefer benefits over salary as well.
And there you have it. From building a healthier, happier team to saving money, there are many reasons to take the plunge and offer health insurance to your team. Offering health benefits signals that you care about your team, ultimately building a culture of trust, care and loyalty to your business.

Conclusion:

According to a survey by Aflac, 72% of small business employees say an improvement in their benefits offerings would make them happier. Setting up employee benefits doesn’t have to be complicated or even expensive, and will improve your ability to hire and retain employees. Offering benefits is one of the small business problems that, once you get it right, can improve your bottom line by reducing employee turnover.

Health benefit costs are still rising at two times the rate of wage increases and three times general inflation, making this [cost] trend unaffordable and unsustainable over the long term. So offer health insurance as a primary incentive and show that you care….

You can get more information for individual and corporate plans from Smartchoice.pk, your one-stop shop for all financial solutions.

Khurram Zahid

The post Employee Medical Insurance: A No.1 Benefit a Company Can Offer appeared first on Smartchoice.pk.