Can the implementation of digital healthcare in your workplace reduce employee turnover?
Healthcare as we know it is changing. In this digital era, healthcare is now directly accessible via our mobile phones.
It’s not surprising really. With the endless possibilities now offered by our smartphones, it makes sense that healthcare should be just as accessible as ordering a meal from your favourite restaurant straight to your desk at lunch time.
Healthcare and wellbeing benefits are thought to be the most highly valued by employees, so offering employees personalised and flexible access to healthcare can go a long way in boosting employee retention rates and improving an employer’s value proposition.
Employee turnover rates
The average UK employee turnover rate is approximately 15% per year.
Employees leave a workplace for a variety of reasons. Be that the attraction of a new job or dissatisfaction in their current position, causing them to seek new employment opportunities, or it may even be due to a change in domestic circumstances. It may also be that they are overworked and stressed, or that work-life balance is virtually non-existent in their company.
Regardless, a high staff turnover can be disruptive for other staff and can result in low staff morale. Those employees that are left may be overworked due increased workloads and responsibilities due to a lack of an active or trained workforce.
Now more than ever companies are focusing on employee well-being and promoting a healthy work-life balance in the bid to retain employees. Healthy workers are more motivated to stay in work, recover from sickness quicker and are at less risk of long-term illness. Staff are more likely to feel supported and appreciated with appropriate health and well-being packages in place. Increasing employee retention is paramount to creating a thriving organisation as well as encouraging a good workplace culture.
In the UK, the average number of sick days taken has fallen to the lowest on record, to just 4.1 days per year. In reality people are much more likely to go into work sick, than they are to take time off. High levels of presenteeism is often because people are afraid to take time off sick. This could be because they are worried about the added stress or repercussions on workload on their return to work or are worried about high levels of absenteeism on their HR record.
Investing in employee wellbeing has never been so crucial. Many organisations now offer excellent employee benefits, so attracting and keeping the best members of staff can be a challenge for any company.
How can digital health reduce employee turnover?
With younger millennial generations now dominating the workforce, the use of innovative mobile apps for healthcare access in the workplace seems like the obvious choice for employers. As well as supporting quick access to the appropriate care in the most convenient location, digital healthcare can help to reduce sickness absence and promote wellness and wellbeing within the office environment.
The implementation of on demand digital healthcare services – a GP they can access instantly via video, phone or face to face consultations, is a great way to ensure that employees are supported. By providing instant access to a GP via effective healthcare benefits employees can save time on going to the doctor, recover from illnesses quickly and avoid coming into work sick.
Digital healthcare supports the rising demand for flexibility within the workplace. By supporting flexible working and promoting work-life balance employees will no longer have to brave the nearly three weeks wait for a GP appointment and spend hours waiting at Out of Hours and A&E for potentially non-emergency situations.
By providing modern benefits and keeping abreast of digital advancements in healthcare employees can be confident in a strong workplace culture that puts their healthcare needs first.
At ZoomDoc, we offer employees on-demand telephone, video and face-to-face consultations. We also offer wellness and wellbeing days, flu clinics and general health advice.
Get in contact with us at info@zoomdoc.inter.scot if you think your business could begin to offer modern day employee benefits to support your workforce in 2019.