The only constant is change. In today's rapidly evolving world of health benefits, many organizations resist new opportunities and instead settle for the same steep premium hikes every year.
It's time to shift the narrative from reluctance to readiness. As a leader, you’re uniquely positioned to address the call for change head-on.
Champion change with these 5 simple tenets:
1. Take the temperature. Check-in with all stakeholders to determine their comfort level, resistance points, and needs. Be sure to take your time and do your due diligence. Good things take time, and health benefits are huge factors in employee satisfaction, retention, and recruitment.
2. Communicate, communicate, then communicate again. Never assume that your intentions and roadmap were conveyed clearly the first time. As leader Adam Grant says, “When you're tired of your message, it's just starting to land.” Health benefit changes can feel daunting, and providing employees with support and opportunities to express their questions and concerns is essential.
3. Have health equity in mind at all times. Lead with the needs of your people. Respect how a decision to change health benefits can significantly impact people's lives.
4. Combat the status quo. It’s human nature to want to do things as they’ve always been done because it’s familiar. But this belief may actually be hurting the organization by preventing something better. Regularly and critically review your current benefits solution to avoid stagnation and potential financial losses. Embrace the discomfort of rejecting the status quo.
5. Plot the whole journey. Understand your starting point before implementing change to accurately measure the before and after results. This can help you assess the success of your change and plan for how to sustain it.
Change is part of the human experience. Be a leader who not only welcomes change but purposefully seeks out new avenues for growth and innovation. The next step is to move beyond thinking about change and to take action. What change are you ready to make?
To learn more about effective change management for employers, tune into our podcast episode.
Every year, employers are faced with brutal premium inflation. Explore an alternative health benefits solution that slashes high premiums and eliminates out-of-pocket costs.
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