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Engage Health Group were amongst the 750 brokers and providers at this year’s UK Health & Protection Awards which celebrated the very best the industry has to offer.

Comedian Russell Kane led us through an evening of sharp quips and sharp suits as we kept our fingers-crossed for a second consecutive year of awards success.

And we weren’t disappointed…

A fantastic win for the Engage International team!

Just being nominated for a UK Health & Protection Award is a big deal, but to actually win is a testament to the hard work the team has put in to providing a high quality service to our business clients.

Winners: Best International Group Advice Firm

The Engage International team, led by Ian Abbott, has dedicated itself to unravelling the complexity of global health and protection policies and making it simpler and more accessible to companies with employees in multiple countries.

Our team of international brokers have gone the extra mile to win this award with their full commitment to keeping abreast of the latest trends and legislative changes, and sourcing the best health and protection policies in whichever country a company needs them.

Providing innovative and client-specific solutions was a key reason for our success in this winning this award.

A near-miss for Esme and Stuart

Two of our team just missed out on individual awards. Stuart Box was nominated for the Best Health Insurance Adviser, and Esme Pearson for Outstanding Newcomer Award.

While they didn’t win, we couldn’t be prouder for the acknowledgement they both so deserved.

What Engage does differently…

For the last seven years now we have been building a fantastic, dynamic team of brokers that can adapt to any specific client need, no matter how big or small. This could look like anything, from setting up global health insurance schemes, to helping new businesses launch their employee benefits strategies.

Our International Director, Ian Abbott, shares why this award has meant so much to his team and Engage Health Group as a whole:

“We set ourselves apart through the in-depth consultancy we offer on top of the typical broker remit of sourcing quotes and explaining how different policies work.

“International benefits can be very complicated, but when a business comes through us, we can handle the whole process on their behalf regardless of the countries their employees are situated in or the policies they are seeking.

“It’s nice to get the recognition for the hard work the whole team has put in, especially by industry peers.

“We’re keen to grow the team and expand what we can do, by providing new innovative solutions for our clients.”

Well done to Hooray Health & Protection!

Our sister company, Hooray Health & Protection, came away with a couple of wins too. They won the Best Sales and Retention Advice Team and Best Small Health Insurance Advice Firm.

Hooray specialises in assisting SMEs and start-ups. They continue to do brilliant work in making employee benefits more accessible to smaller businesses who have traditionally struggled to source the kind of high quality advice which is available to larger businesses. By pooling our expertise we’re able to assist businesses of all sizes with a consistent level of service.

What next for Engage?

Engage continues to seek innovative ways to better help UK-headquartered companies with their domestic and international employee benefits policies. Sourcing and implementing policies needn’t overburden HR teams. We make it our job to reduce their workload and maximise the ROI of any scheme they require.

If you’d like FREE expert help and advice from an award-winning broker, get in touch on 01273 974419 or email enquiries@engagehealthgroup.co.uk.

“When employees are unhappy with their job, they underperform and they’re less productive. Smart employers invest in employee happiness.”

Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

A study by Perkbox found that disengaged employees cost the UK economy £340 billion every year due to the associated costs of training and recruitment, staff sickness, lost productivity and stifled innovation.

The costs can quickly spiral unless you spot the warning signs and tackle the root causes at the earliest opportunity.

In this article, we explore the tell-tale signs of disengagement and look at the four major causes businesses can tackle.

Employee benefits play a vital role in improving workplace engagement. Get FREE one-to-one advice from our award-winning brokers on 01273 974419 or email enquiries@engagehealthgroup.co.uk.

How to spot a disengaged employee

When staff become disengaged, the signs can be right under your nose but easily missed, especially as these things tend to happen gradually. You might dismiss it as ‘this is just the way that he/she always seems’. However, some of the early warning signs to look out for include:

• Lack of enthusiasm
• Poor productivity
• Lack of initiative
• Sluggish responsiveness
• Irritability
• Careless errors
• Low mood
• Poor quality work
• Reluctance to be involved in team events

If disengagement is not addressed early, then it may lead to the following:

• Increased staff sickness
• Neglected work duties
• Deteriorating work quality
• Negative influence on colleagues
• Keep quiet and stay unhappy
• Quitting the company

HR data and tools may also help diagnose such problems, especially if it includes staff satisfaction surveys and general statistics around staff sickness and staff retention – you might see general trends which point to an underlying problem with workplace culture.

4 major causes of disengagement

1. Burnout

Sixty-eight per cent of UK adults mistakenly identify burnout symptoms with anxiety. This suggests it’s a bigger problem than a lot of people realise.

Causes of burnout include:

• Heavy workloads and persistent deadline pressures
• Role conflict/confusion
• Lack of constructive support e.g., feedback, participation, recognition
• Lack of knowledge/expertise for the role
• Long hours

When staff are stretched too thinly, they may end up doing the bare minimum on several fronts. Work becomes a box-ticking exercise rather than an opportunity for employees do their best.

Suggested solutions:

The simple solution is to ensure that employees can report back any concerns about their workload, and figuring out ways to spread the work more fairly.

2. Lack of opportunity for progression & personal development

A big contributor to disillusionment is a lack of opportunity for progression or personal development. It’s important for staff to feel they are working towards something, whether that’s new career opportunities or learning new skills. Without this, you run the risk of your employees feeling stagnant at work and in life in general.

Investing in staff development will help boost their confidence and motivation.

Suggested solutions:

Try investing in:

• Short courses and classes which develop a range of soft or work-related skills
• Professional development opportunities
• Career pathways which employees can explore
• Personal development days in addition to statutory holiday

3. Ineffective employee benefits

There are so many employee benefits that can help support a positive workplace culture. In turn, this helps staff remain engaged and able to give their best efforts.

Suggested solutions:

• Health and protection schemes: Private healthcare is still a hugely popular benefit as it gives quick access to consultations, diagnostic scans, mental health support and a wide range of treatments. Meanwhile, policies like Group Life Insurance and Critical Illness Cover support provide protection should the worst happen.
• Employee Assistance Programmes: usually included with a Group Health scheme, an EAP promotes self-care and provides easy stress management tools to help staff with low concentration, poor sleeping habits, and provides them with the tools to tackle everyday health needs.
• Health Cash Plans: a lower cost alternative to health insurance to help support staff with everyday health needs and problems, providing a range of support such as physiotherapy, counselling, acupuncture, financial training etc
• One-to-one counselling sessions: these can be either be provided through Health Cash Plans, EAPs, as an add-on to health insurance, or as a standalone product
• Apps and online mental health services: again, these can be offered with EAPs and benefits platforms, or purchased as a separate product for staff to manage however they need
• Flexible work arrangements: an easy and cheap way to allow your staff the space and autonomy they need to work in a way that works best for their lifestyle.

Some extra small workplace changes to help your staff feel heard/listened to:

• Regular one-to-ones
• Monitor workloads and scheduling
• Seek further feedback from staff on certain issues
• Regular team meetings
• Regular social gatherings outside of the workplace: staff can connect with colleagues and express themselves in a more relaxed/open environment

Need impartial advice about employee benefits and healthcare schemes? Engage Health Group’s expert brokers will review any schemes currently in place, or help you set one up for the first time. All FREE of charge. Email enquiries@engagehealthgroup.co.uk or call +44 (0)1273 974419.

4. No recognition or rewards

All employees need regular recognition for their work; without it they’ll be left feeling their efforts are going unnoticed. Investing in creative ways to reward the hard work of your employees will boost productivity, retention, and company culture, as well as helping staff feel connected to the company!

Suggested solutions:

• Team building events
• Virtual gifts
• Promotions
• Peer-to-peer recognition
• Employee recognition platforms
• Performance bonuses
• Company parties
• Early Friday finishes
• Vouchers and gifts
• Staff discount schemes

Further reading: 8 ways to recognise remote teams in 2023

Finding the right support with Engage

Every employee who feels happy, valued, and listened to at their place of work will be more likely to want to stay at that company and deliver their best work. It’s all about creating a supportive company culture in which employees feel valued and listened to.

One important element of that is your employee benefits offering. An independent broker like Engage Health Group can help you negotiate the marketplace safe in the knowledge you’re getting advice from people who are working on your behalf and in your best interests. We take the time to talk you through all options available and gather the best quotes and terms from across the market.

Contact our expert team at enquiries@engagehealthgroup.co.uk or call +44 (0)1273 974419 for FREE no-obligation advice and support.

Rules and regulations related to sick pay vary greatly in different parts of the world. In some countries you’ll be obliged to cover sickness absence (up to a point), while in others you won’t. But that doesn’t mean your approach to looking after employees should be inconsistent.

Today’s global employers have the option of investing in a single International Group Income Protection scheme which provides financial protection to multiple employees in multiple countries.

In this blog post, we put this policy under the microscope:

• What is International Income Protection?
• What’s the problem with separate local schemes?
• Why is sick pay insurance important for remote workers?
• How to get free expert help

Looking for global employee benefits and insurance policies for your international staff? Call our award-winning team on 01273 974419 or drop us an email enquiries@engagehealthgroup.co.uk.

International Group Income Protection (AKA Sick Pay Insurance) explained

What is it?

International Group Income Protection provides employees and their families with a lump sum payment in the event of them falling ill, having an accident, or developing a disability. Essentially a form of sick pay, it provides extra financial support to employees no matter where they are in the world, going further than the usual sick pay requirements.

As an international insurance policy, it is designed to cover staff based in different locations and territories, supporting your teams wherever they are based or travelling to.

How does it work?

Global Income Protection is paid out if an employee is deemed no longer capable (both physically or mentally) to carry out their job role and duties. Unlike other health and protection schemes, there isn’t a list of included or excluded conditions – it’s merely down to whether they are fit to work or not. The claims process is therefore straightforward.

Employers have the final decision on how much salary is covered as well as when the payment will kick in (13-25 weeks for short-term cover is typical for this policy). Staff won’t receive income until that time period kicks in. For most policies, employers set a maximum pay-out limit at 80% of the employee’s wage, placing a safety cap on the payments.

If said employee returns to the workplace but ends up relapsing, payments will pick up again without any additional deferment period. However, remember, this only applies if the return-to-work period lasts less than 60 days and it is for the same health condition as before.

Income Protection schemes will also provide some rehabilitation support and early intervention services which aid employees in their recovery and ultimately help speed up their return to work.

How much does it cost?

Just as it is with many other health insurance policies and products, landing on an exact price point varies depending on a variety of factors:

• Age
• Job role
• Smoking
• Medical history
• Number of staff covered (e.g., the more covered, the greater the discount per employee)
• Coverage provided (e.g., length of deferral period, agreed pay-out amount)
• Number of countries covered
• Indexing (coverage can be set to rise with inflation)
• Extra value services offered by the insurance provider (such as online GP services, return-to-work support services and Employee Assistance Programmes]

Why not go for separate local schemes?

Investing in International Group Income Protection will provide your business and staff with one central contract, one set of paperwork, one renewal date, all under one language.

As you can imagine, this makes for a much smoother and simpler process, compared to having lots of different policies in different locations. Doing this will save time and money for HR handling claims. This is true across most areas of employee benefits, whether it’s the systems used to manage and make them available, or the policies themselves. For example, Group Health Insurance, Life Insurance and Critical Illness schemes can be all be purchased as a single policy covering multiple countries – and all made available on a single platform.

Would you like to ask an expert about International Group Income Protection? Call 01273 974419 or email enquiries@engagehealthgroup.co.uk. We can also gather quotes tailored to your business need without any charge or obligation.

Why Sick Pay Insurance is important for remote workers

Income Protection provides essential financial support to your staff, giving them peace of mind that they will be supported by the organisation they work for. This reassurance is particularly needed for expat employees, globally-distributed workers, and their families where they might not have access to the same safety nets as they would at home.

Why else is it so important for a global remote workforce?

• Provides employees working overseas with vital cover, especially if they have no access to a local business income protection policy
• Provides one centralised policy covering everyone no matter where they are located, all handled with in one language and through one point-of-contact
• Protects your business from the impact of long-term sick pay liabilities
• Provides financial security and reassurance to staff and their families
• Remote global staff feel more connected to the business and colleagues by being offered the same level of care
• Provides support services to help employees in their recovery – reducing their recovery time and potentially speeding up their return-to-work
• Most providers include wellbeing apps and services which give practical day-to-day help to employees across a wide range of issues

Get further support from an international broker

The first thing that most companies want to know about International Income Protection insurance is how much it is going to cost. The only way of knowing is by getting in touch with an impartial broker who will gather your details and source quotes from across different providers. So, if that’s you, contact us via the form on the right or via the contact details below.

The award-winning team at Engage Health Group have a wide reach of global partnerships spanning 61 countries and territories which means we can give you the best advice and the most competitive quotes on the market.

Contact us at enquiries@engagehealthgroup.co.uk or call 01273 974419 for FREE no-obligation advice and support.

“By taking a look back over the last ten years and charting progress, we can understand a little bit about the pressures, the trends, and the influences that are brought to bear on employee benefits.”

Engage recently participated in a webinar hosted by The HR World which explored the evolution of employee benefits over the last decade. The expert panel comprised of our Founding Director, Nick Hale, Kate Palmer (HD Advice and Consultancy Director Peninsula UK), and Alison Richardson (Director of HR Operations Yodel). The event was hosted by Head of Content at The HR World, Simon Kent.

The illuminating discussion covered the following issues:

• The evolution of employee benefits
• The impact of a positive workplace environment
• The importance of communication
• The growing role of technology

Read on for a summary or watch the whole thing at The HR World.

Need help creating the ideal employee benefits scheme for your business and staff? Get FREE one-to-one advice from our award-winning team of brokers at enquiries@engagehealthgroup.co.uk or call us on 01273 974419.

The evolution of employee benefits

Employee benefits have changed radically over the last decade. From a top-down discussion, it’s now very much bottom up as employees have gained more of a voice.

Mental and financial wellbeing has joined physical health as a top priority for businesses and their employees. A holistic approach is very much in fashion.

Nick Hale:

• “Businesses really viewed employee benefits simply as a cost, a business expense, sometimes a low-level HR initiative, rather than a meaningful part of their overall business strategy. The attitude of benefits was around frills, bells, and whistles – very much a secondary consideration.”
• “All the focus was on physical wellbeing and insurance mechanisms. Things like Health Insurance, Group Life, for example. More preventative measures simply weren’t part of the conversation.”
• “Whereas what used to be offered was exclusive and pretty vanilla, things are now improving significantly. Today, businesses are now trying to align their benefits more with their own internal values.”
• “Employers are looking at the objectives of their business and trying to offer something which is more inclusive and far-reaching.”
• “Employees are much more empowered to now ask what’s in it for them, viewing their relationship with their employer really as a partnership.”

Kate Palmer:

• “The interview process, the recruitment process, is very much the employer being interviewed as well as the employee.”
• “You’re very much selling your business in the face of the talent shortage.”

The impact of a positive work environment

As remote work is clearly here to stay, our panellists discussed how important it is to create a positive “family-like” workspace and dynamic – almost as important as offering the right employee benefits. But how do you create that feeling within a work environment?

Kate Palmer:

• “At the core is a really good, strong leader. We’ve worked a lot with our clients over the past two years, in particular, around emotional connection and emotional resilience and understanding of your people. I think that’s an area a lot of businesses need to focus on.”
• “It’s brilliant having all the products and certainly peripherals, but emotional connection, understanding someone’s mental health position, supporting with that, caring – these are what’s important.”

Alison Richardson:

• “As you walk around and you talk to people within the network, I think much more than in past years, people talk about things like bereavements, loneliness, menopause, fertility issues, those sort of things.”
• “Within that family environment, they do pull together, they support each other.”

Communication really matters

Many businesses will spend weeks, if not months, designing their employee benefits scheme, but forget a crucial step – successfully communicating it to staff. Technology can play an important role in this:

Alison Richardson:

• “We rely on multiple streams, so it would be things like your internet and SharePoint and push messages, through to apps where people access pay slips or connected screens on the wall as you walk in to one of our service centres across the country.”

Tech is useful, but over-obsessing on providing the latest tech isn’t always recommended:

Nick Hale:

• “There are lots of options based on what your budget is and there’s no one-size-fits-all. I don’t think anybody should feel under duress as an employer to be out there spending tens of thousands of pounds on really expensive snazzy benefits tech.”
• “The point is to try and get the comms out there in whatever way you can, by whatever means you can. And there’s various options available depending on where you are in your business.”

The significant role of technology

The use of technology allows for greater choice, flexibility, agility, and immediacy in selecting workplace perks while improving access to services like telemedicine, virtual GPs, and private medical insurance. However, keeping up with technology can end up feeling like an endless loop for businesses as the next new thing is always just around the corner:

Kate Palmer:

• “I was thinking how historically we have the TV channels. We were told what to watch, when to watch it, and that it’s going to be good. This is your Saturday night! Now we’ve got Netflix, choice, immediacy, a toolbox or a sweet shop to choose from. We’re greedy, we want it quick, we want it now. We want to be able to be empowered to choose what we want.”
• “A platform where it’s a bit of a sweet shop and you can have flexible benefits which change, being quick and fresh. That’s certainly what I see people wanting now as opposed to being told what they’re going to like and what’s going to keep them in a job.”

But tech moves fast and brings its own challenges:

Nick Hale:

• “There’s so much that it brings in, but you are chasing it all the time. The moment you’ve spent 18 months, which is sometimes the case, putting in a really top-level employee benefits platform, which is all singing, all dancing, can deliver total reward statements, can link in with your group life provider, your PMI and everything else that’s rolled out. It’s out of date, and you’ve got to start again!”

How will you evolve your benefits?

There was clear agreement from across the panel that choice in what you’re offering staff is incredibly important – and technology is key in being able to deliver that. However, it’s easy to get lost in trying to provide absolutely everything, for everybody. As an employee benefits consultancy we’ve helped disentangle overly complex benefit schemes,which have provided more difficulty than it has rewards.

So, how do you provide choice while keeping things simple and delivering a strong ROI? This is where an expert team of consultants like Engage Health Group can help.

Our award-winning team will review your employee benefits scheme and ensure it’s delivering optimal benefit for employee and business. And our services come at no extra cost to your business.

Contact us at enquiries@engagehealthgroup.co.uk or call +44 (0)1273 974419 for FREE no-obligation advice and support.