8th annual employee health and benefits study
8TH ANNUAL EMPLOYEE HEALTH AND BENEFITS STUDY EMPLOYEE CHOICE IN BENEFITS - INSIGHTS FROM INDIA & ASIA INTRODUCTION EMPLOYEE CHOICE IN BENEFITS - INSIGHTS FROM INDIA AND ASIA The IMF and the World Bank are forecasting a 6.4% growth rate for India in 2015. A buoyant economy typically translates into a buoyant employment market. With a diverse workforce spanning millennial on one end and baby boomers at the other, corporate India has realized that compensation packages alone are insufficient to win the war for talent acquisition and retention. It is not enough to provide rudimentary health coverage and benefits, but there is now an inherent benefits need to re-evaluate standard benefit offerings into attractive and needs based packages given the diversity and the demands of the workforce. Today, health and benefits have moved from the exclusive realm of the HR department to the boardroom where CXOs are actively involved in deciding on the benefits strategy in view of the greater People strategy. Our previous year’s 7th Annual Employee Health and Benefits (EH&B) Study focussed on medical insurance cost and its key drivers. The current Survey findings revealed that cost remained a major influencing factor for most organizations. The attempt to find a balance between economy, price and competitive benefits persists, and with double-digit medical inflation in most geographies in Asia, a similar trend is likely to continue in India and alter how we perceive benefits and their value. With a focus on long-term sustainability, the key challenge is to offer benefits packages that are well differentiated, comprehensive and competitive in terms of cost. The Indian insurance sector has reciprocated by opening up to newer benefit plan designs and offering more choice to the consumer. Additionally, as per the employee survey part of Marsh’s 6th Annual Employee Health and Benefits Study, 62% of employees were not satisfied with benefits provided to them by their employer and 60% of surveyed employees said that they would like to build their own benefits package. This trend is gathering momentum and employee choice in benefits is becoming key in providing competitive benefits. Our latest Study, the 8th Annual Employee Health and Benefits Study outlines the drivers, challenges and strategies impacting employers in the area of choice in benefits across India and draws parallels against its Asian counterparts through the responses received in the Mercer Marsh Benefits 2013 Asia Total Health and Choice in Benefits Survey and the Marsh India 2014 Employee Health and Benefits (EH&B) Survey. © 2015 Marsh LLC. 38th Annual Employee Health and Benefits Study ABOUT THE SURVEY The 8th Annual Employee Health and Benefits Study compares employer responses from the following two surveys: Marsh India 2014 Employee Health and Benefit Survey, received responses from 382 organizations across various industry segments covering 777,714 number of employees. The Mercer Marsh Benefits 2013 Asia Total Health and Choice in Benefits Survey included responses from 1,035 unique organizations across 12 countries in Asia. Participating countries included: China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. INDUSTRY SECTOR Marsh India 2014 Employee Health and Benefit Survey Mercer Marsh Benefits 2013 Asia Total Health and Choice in Benefits Survey 11% 2% 1% 5% 1% 1% 4% 9% 1% 15% 7% 7% 10% 4% 3% 3% 2% 5% 18% 10% 3% 16% 21% 8% 7% 1% 5% 6% Manufaturing Advertising & Media Automobile BioTech/Pharma/ Research BPO/KPO Consulting Consumer Durables Education Engineering FMCG Hospitality IT/ITES Logistics Manufacturing Media&Entertainment Others Petro & Chemicals Power & Energy Real Estate & Infrastructure Retail Banking & Financial Services Hi-Tech and Technology BPO/Call Center Hospitality and Real Estate Pharmaceutical Automative 6% 3% 3% 3% Professional and other services Health care and life sciences Financial Services Energy and chemical Retail and FMCG Others © 2015 Marsh LLC.4 8th Annual Employee Health and Benefits Study NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES Marsh India 2014 Employee Health and Benefit Survey Mercer Marsh Benefits 2013 Asia Total Health and Choice in Benefits Survey 19% 20% 48% 56% 25% 32% Above 2500 501 to 2500 Below 500 Above 2500 501 to 2500 Below 500 © 2015 Marsh LLC.5 8th Annual Employee Health and Benefits Study EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A good compensation package is not enough to attract and retain the modern day workforce. In an emerging trend that was first identified in the 6th Annual Employee Health and Benefits Study, employees don’t just want a standard health and benefits package but seek options to customise it to suit their need. As this demand grows, more organizations are considering ways to provide their employees with increased choice in their benefits package. As per the Marsh India 2014 Employee Health and Benefit Survey the key drivers governing employee choice for the employer are: 1. Talent acquisition and retention 2. Employee satisfaction 3. Benefit enhancement 4. Cost management 5. Derive greater value from existing benefits As per Mercer Marsh Benefits 2013 Asia Total Health and Choice in Benefits Survey, 49% of organizations in Asia support employee choice. In India that drops to 21% of organizations support offering employee choice. However, 50% of the employers stated that they are keen to look at employee choice within the next 3 years. As per the survey, the top constraints for not offering choice are complexity of administration and the perceived heightened cost of benefits. Within the sample of organizations that had not previously considered employee choice, 44% voted ‘Yes’ to a spending account and 39% were favourable towards having standardized flexible plans when presented with simple options such as: •Voluntary benefits: coverage and services that the employee can purchase with their own money at discounted prices •Standardized plans: an off-the-shelf flexible benefits plan that is simple, cost efficient, and easy to launch and administer •Spending account: a simple flexible benefits plan that provides a flex budget that can be used for various non-insurance benefits With the emerging digital workforce and digital jobs that didn’t exist previously in the past 5 years, a “one size fits all” employee benefits plan limits organizations from attracting this talent pool who prefers choice to standardization plus limits, organizations moving from defined benefits to a defined contribution push co-sharing or co-contribution of the costs with its workforce. The Marsh India 2014 Employee Health and Benefit Survey Report shows that 18% of the organizations enable some form of employee choice through voluntary and top up plans and an additional 16% offer varied benefits focussed around wellness and lifestyle outside the realm of insurance. A choice based plan typically engages the workforce in a positive way and empowers them with the ability to customize their benefits that are most relevant to them. Additionally, such a plan can be effective in containing costs while increasing the perceived value of benefits. © 2015 Marsh LLC.6 8th Annual Employee Health and Benefits Study TOP CHOICE OFFERINGS Mercer Marsh Benefits 2013 Asia Total Health and Choice in Benefits Survey Under employee choice, the top most prevalent benefits in Asia are Medical, Dependent cover, Health screening and Life cover. In comparison, in India, Parent cover takes precedence over these benefits followed by Medical, Health screening, other health programs and mobile telecommunication. Medical 81% Dependent's coverage 72% Health screening 67% Life The prevalence of other lifestyle choices like gym memberships, travel, childcare, vacation and so on, in comparison to Asian companies, continues to be low possibly due to complexity of administration and lack of availability of suitable partners to implement this. 63% Critical illness 62% Accident 60% Maternity 52% Dental 46% Long term disability income 34% Vision 33% Health programs (e.g.smoking cessation, weight management,stress management,wellness) 30% Parent's medical 29% Traditional chinese medicine and consultation 28% Childcare(e.g.vouchers, on site nursery) 19% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% WAY FORWARD FOR CHOICE IN BENEFITS Marsh India 2014 Employee Health and Benefits Survey Portability 52% Simplify administration rules and processes 52% More choices and flexibility 45% Lower cost 42% Simplify plan design 40% Integrate with health and wellness strategy 40% Include work life options and integrated with these vendors 18% Employers are also looking at portability, easy administration and increased flexibility as the way forward for choice in benefits. 79% of the organizations stated that they would look at engaging an external consultant to resolve the challenges they currently face in offering choice. Despite the lower adoption of Indian companies towards choice based benefits in comparison to their Asian counterparts, companies in India will have to adapt to keep pace with evolving employee expectations. Employees are increasingly mobile and in a digital and global economy and workforce – comparisons of benefit strategies within industries or geographies become inevitable. With the right tools and advice, employers can offer comprehensive and competitive choice based health and benefits programs to attract and retain their talent and ensure long term sustainability. © 2015 Marsh LLC.7 8th Annual Employee Health and Benefits Study © 2015 Marsh LLC.9 8th Annual Employee Health and Benefits Study About Marsh: Marsh, the world’s leading insurance broker and risk advisor, teams with its clients to define, design, and deliver innovative industry-specific solutions that help them protect their future and thrive. It has over 24,000 colleagues who collaborate to provide advice and transactional capabilities to clients in over 100 countries. Marsh is a member of Marsh & McLennan Companies, a global professional services firm with 52,000 employees worldwide and annual revenue exceeding $10 billion, which is also the parent company of Guy Carpenter, the risk and reinsurance specialist; Mercer, the provider of HR and related financial advice and services; and Oliver Wyman, the management consultancy. Its stock (ticker symbol: MMC) is listed on the New York, Chicago and London stock exchanges. Follow Marsh on Twitter @Marsh_Inc. Disclaimer: This document is not intended to be taken as advice regarding any individual situation and should not be relied upon as such. The information contained herein is based on sources we believe reliable, but we make no representation or warranty as to its accuracy. Marsh shall have no obligation to update this publication and shall have no liability to you or any other party arising out of this publication or any matter contained herein. Any statements concerning actuarial, tax, accounting or legal matters are based solely on our experience as insurance brokers and risk consultants and are not to be relied upon as actuarial, tax, accounting or legal advice, for which you should consult your own professional advisors. Any modeling, analytics, or projections are subject to inherent uncertainty, and the Marsh Analysis could be materially affected if any underlying assumptions, conditions, information, or factors are inaccurate or incomplete or should change. Marsh makes no representation or warranty concerning the application of policy wording or the financial condition or solvency of insurers or re-insurers. Marsh makes no assurances regarding the availability, cost, or terms of insurance coverage. Although Marsh may provide advice and recommendations, all decisions regarding the amount, type or terms of coverage are the sole responsibility of the insurance purchaser, who must decide on the specific coverage that is appropriate to its particular circumstances and financial position. For more details on risk factors, terms and conditions please read product sales brochure/ prospectus carefully issued by the insurer before concluding a sale. Marsh India Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd. having corporate and the registered office at 1201-02, Tower 2, One Indiabulls Centre, Jupiter Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Elphinstone Road (W), Mumbai 400 013 is registered as composite broker with Insurance and Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) India. Its license no. is 120 and is valid from 03/03/2015 to 02/03/2018. CIN: U66010MH2002PTC138276 Insurance is the subject matter of the solicitation. © Copyright 2015 Marsh Ltd. All rights reserved.
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