Can Digital Healthcare Boost Employee Retention?

A decade ago few would have believed we'd be ordering pizzas, taxis—and now even doctors appointments, straight from our iPhones.

But according to 2014 research from McKinsey, more than 75% of patients said they expect to use digital services in the future. And as AI gets smarter, product design gets better, and healthcare professionals become more involved with digital platforms, these tools will become not only more commonplace—but more loved by users.

And that's important, because as millennials enter the office in increasing force—flexible, personalised, and user-friendly tools will become crucial to retaining top talent.

The state of employee turnover

In their global survey, consulting firm PwC found that due to lackluster economic conditions, many millennials have made compromises when accepting a job.

• 72% felt they made some sort of tradeoff to get into work
• 38% said they were actively looking for a different role
• 43% said they were open to offers
• Only 18% expected to stay with their current employer for the long term

As the economy picks up, voluntary turnover among this giant talent pool is almost certain to increase—leaving employers with turnover costs of up to 2x the exiting employee's yearly salary.

The role of digital healthcare in employee retention

According to a US-based survey from Willis Towers Watson, over half of employees view healthcare and retirement benefits as compelling reasons to stay with an employer.

If you think about it in personal terms, it just makes sense. We're never more scared than when we're trying to access healthcare.

In fact, in 2015 Nuance Communications conducted a global survey of 3,000 people to determine how the NHS would need to evolve to meet the needs of both its boomer and millennial patients. They found that more than 54% of millennials said they search online for health information before seeing a clinician.

Digital healthcare takes traditional benefits the extra mile by alleviating the key fears for millennials seeking healthcare (namely cost, time and cyberchondria) and meeting them where they're comfortable—their mobile phones.

The Keys to Retention: Career path, flexibility and culture

While traditional benefits like healthcare and pensions are still fundamental to retaining your best people—they're certainly not the only factors.

According to an Arch Apprentices survey of 750 senior leaders, the most effective retention strategies are enabling employees to learn new skills (73%), providing access to promotions (67%), and pay rises (65%).

Flexibility is another must. Given the rising demand for better work-life balance, and the ensuing popularity of flexible working programmes, the ability to control their own time is of paramount importance to today's employees. Digital healthcare can help by adding an additional level of flexibility to the overall benefits package and eliminating the headache and time-burden of long hospital queues.

Strong retention also comes from strong culture. Providing digital healthcare, along with other modern benefits, lets your employees know you're actively updating and examining your benefits. Demonstrating a flexibility and willingness to adapt can go a long way in making employees feel confident about the future.

Enrich your employee benefits programme and give employees access to video GP appointments, health assessments, symptom checking, prescription delivery and more from wherever they are, 24/7.

Contact the Babylon team today on [email protected] or 0207 100 0762 and learn how you can keep your benefits on the cutting edge.

babylonhealth.com/business

Written by Zoe Puckering