September 24, 2016
By Florin Selaru
You Are a Small Business Owner. An Employee Just Called in Sick.
If you don’t already have a corporate concierge doctor, what is your reaction? If it is the flight of ideas, scrambling for options – you are not alone. Beyond the subjective reaction, however, let’s look at the numbers. What is the effect of an employee calling in sick for a small business? The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) analyzed the magnitude and cost of absenteeism. The data is freighting, if not surprising. It appears that up to 5% of the employee workforce was absent any given day.
“The cost of absent employees can be as high as 35% of total payroll.”
This phenomenon is certainly important to small business owners, who need all resources to compete in the marketplace. In a resource-limited environment, typical of small businesses, who can afford to have employees calling in sick? What if providing with a corporate concierge doctor to your employees turns out to be less expensive than the current scenario?
If Present at Work – Do Your Employees Represent You Well?
Small businesses thrive (or die) as a function of customer happiness. In turn, customer happiness is directly related to employee happiness. Recent data from a Gallup survey, however, suggests that the vast majority of employees are unhappy.
“70% of workers are NOT ENGAGED at work.”
Even more disturbingly, the same report found that 19% of employees are actively disengaged. What this means is that these employees are “actively busy acting out their unhappiness”. The effects of a disengaged employee on a customer are disastrous. Same Gallup report explained by a Forbes article shows that companies with engaged employees have up to 150% more earnings per share compared to their competition.
What Exactly Is Corporate Concierge Health
First, let’s define Corporate Concierge Health. It is a company benefit that small business owners can offer (paid in full or subsidized) to their employees. Employees who choose this benefit obtain their own corporate concierge doctor. This service is aimed at employees who don’t already have a primary care doctor, or who have trouble reaching their primary care doctor when in need. An employee who signs up for Corporate Concierge Health obtains access to a primary care team, including a corporate concierge doctor, at Clarii Health.
“Primary care at Clarii Health means lots of services.”
For example, you have guaranteed same or next day appointments, longer appointments, ability to reach out to their corporate concierge doctor 24/7 via text message, email, phone calls. Moreover, there are no co-pays, no deductibles, no charges to the insurance company. This is particularly important if employees have no insurance or an insurance policy with a high deductible.
What Are the Benefits to the Small Business and What is the Cost
According to our findings, the Corporate Concierge Health program reduces missed days at work by 50%. Given the tremendous impact of that absenteeism has on productivity, it is not surprising to see business owners happy to offer this program to their employees. Cost, however, is a main concern for any small business. First, this service is paid only for employees who sign up. Second, the engagement is month to month, therefore, it can be stopped at any point. Last, for a full-time employee (40 work hours per week), the cost is approximately $0.35 per hour.
“This price equates to a 35 cent per hour raise for your employee.”
It goes without saying that an employee would probably appreciate more if the business pays for a primary care doc vs. offering a 35 cent per hour pay raise. Hopefully, this demonstration of good will also result in increasing those “engagement” numbers that are so important.
For a comprehensive article in regards to the Corporate Concierge Health program at Clarii Health, click HERE or see the LinkedIn article HERE.
