Taking Action
This effort began by establishing baseline information on the entire population and then to attaining pulse intelligence every month. The initial stay interviews revealed that the focus needed be on the benefits program. It was clear that the current program was not meeting the needs of BWSC employees. When asked to rate the benefit package using Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, or Poor, 36.8% of their employees rated the healthcare program as “fair” or “poor” and only 9% rated the healthcare program as “excellent.” This level of dissatisfaction was distracting employees and affecting the organization’s overall productivity and profitability.
To obtain the actionable data needed to make positive changes, Work Institute and BWSC designed a new survey around the benefits program, including open ended questions. Using the survey responses, BWSC leaders identified major issues and began to address them. First, the benefit program represented a major cost to BWSC because of utilization patterns and poor cost-sharing protocols. Second, communication between the insurance carriers, BWSC Human Resources and the employees was not effective. Finally, an unusually high number of customer service issues were distracting employees and causing problems with productivity. The dissatisfaction level was affecting employee satisfaction, retention and engagement.
After analyzing the quantitative data along with verbatim comments, BWSC developed its current benefit program concentrated on resolving these three areas of discontent. BWSC responded by switching carriers, implementing cost sharing with employees, and offering three healthcare plans. To increase communication, BWSC conducted benefit meetings in each location, so that representatives could walk employees through the plan options. The new healthcare plans and the ensuing communications program yielded results. Employee responses indicated an immediate decrease in distractions due to the benefits program and a positive increase in employee engagement. By 2005, employee dissatisfaction had fallen to less than 8%.