Engage Health Group

Tag: iEAP

  • 5 borderless benefits designed for international workforces

    5 borderless benefits designed for international workforces

    Is your workforce scattered around the world? If so, you’ll need to rise to the challenge of providing a consistent level of employee benefit.

    Group Health Insurance, Income Protection and Life Insurance are a few of the typical policies that businesses provide to employees. They might be relatively simple to arrange for a single country, but how do you implement them for a global workforce?

    One common solution is to invest in a single multi-country scheme, as opposed to buying separate national policies.

    So, in this blog post we look at five employee benefits which are designed to extend beyond borders.

    Need one-to-one professional advice and support to find the best international benefits package for your global teams? Contact us at Engage Health Group Ltd on +44 (0)1273 97449. We’re here to answer any queries and offer FREE expert advice.

     

    1. International Group Health Insurance

    UK businesses employ over 5 million people overseas.

    Source: ONS

    Health insurance is consistently amongst the most in-demand working benefits. But it becomes a whole lot more complicated when you’re trying to serve a global workforce. However, a single International Group Health Insurance policy can cover employees in several countries all at the same time.

    This means just one policy to manage and just one person to contact for all your policy queries. This makes it a lot simpler to navigate and less of a headache for HR teams.

    International health schemes are also more comprehensive than single country ones. You’ll typically get a higher level of maternity support, emergency evacuation, travel vaccinations, private doctor visits and access to top healthcare facilities around the world.

    As with any healthcare policy, what’s included will vary.

     

    2. International Group Life insurance

    International Group Life insurance provides a lump sum to covered employees’ families or beneficiaries in the event of that employee passing away.

    International Group Life covers multiple employees across a range of countries, all under one centrally managed plan. This provides your staff with a consistent level of benefit, efficient administration, and all done through a single contract.

    The policy payout can be calculated as either a fixed amount or based on a percentage of an employee’s salary. This provides businesses with an element of cost control, which is always welcome.

    Need help finding an international solution designed to the needs of your business? Engage helps businesses better understand the global benefits marketplace and find ‘perfect fit’ policies. Contact us at enquiries@engagehealthgroup.co.uk or call 01273 974419 for FREE no-obligation advice and support.

     

    3. International Group Income Protection

    Global Group Income Protection ensures employees have financial support if they fall ill or become seriously injured, leaving them unable to work. Coverage is offered on the simple basis that an employee is no longer able to carry out the functions of their job – encompassing many ailments under one cover.

    International Group Income protects your international staff by paying a chosen percentage of their salary (most policies set a maximum limit of 80% of the employee’s wage).

    Expect to receive a host of rehabilitation support included with the package – these are designed to help the employee return to full health faster.

    This borderless benefit acts as a form of international sick pay insurance, supporting your employees all over the world and ensuring guaranteed financial security.

     

    4. Cross-cultural training

    Cross-cultural training programmes help staff learn how to handle cultural differences amongst colleagues or in destination countries. The training programme is accessible for all levels of employees – multicultural teams, business travellers, expatriates, HR teams, short-term international assignees and remote workers.

    Businesses have a range of training programmes to pick from, each targeting specific needs and job roles. These programmes set the foundation for a cohesive workplace, where differences are celebrated, and problems can be managed, providing staff with the tools to navigate people’s difference.

    A successful business with international and borderless teams must embrace cultural differences but also understand differences and how to manage them. Offering cultural training helps international teams stay productive and acclimatise well with different cultures.

     

    5. International Employee Assistance Programmes

    40% of companies are supporting increased flexibility over the country or office employees work from over the next three years.

    Source: HSBC

    International Employee Assistance Programmes (iEAPs) provide a range of employee support services offered under a single platform, addressing the health and wellbeing of your international teams. IEAPs are designed to help each employee, wherever they are in the world, to deal with work-related stresses and personal challenges.

    What’s included in this borderless benefit?

    • Confidential support services 24 hours-a-day
    • Face-to-face counselling
    • Digital tools supporting health & wellbeing
    • Practical employee support for specific issues e.g., legal, childcare, financial, elderly care, work-life balance, relationships, stress, anxiety & depression, life transitions, emotional support (grief, trauma, loss)
    • Employer support for critical/traumatic workplace incidents
    • Multilingual
    • Global access

    The capacity for resilience is important for anyone making their way in the world – and an iEAP is designed to help develop it.

    Investing in iEAPs reflects the growing recognition that a top priority for employers is to support and protect the mental and physical health of their workforce wherever they are in the world.

     

    Which international benefits are right for your company?

    Choosing the right international employee benefits can be challenging, and knowing where to even begin is often half the challenge. As international benefits and health insurance consultants, we understand how important it is to take the time required to ensure that a benefits scheme is precision-engineered to match business and employee needs.

    The award-winning team at Engage Health Group have a wide reach of global partnerships spanning 61 countries and territories meaning we can give you the best advice and the most competitive quotes on the market. By consulting with an experienced international benefits broker you can ensure you’re getting the best cover at the most competitive price point.

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

     

    Further reading: Why utilising an insurance broker is important for finding the right International Private Medical Insurance policy.

  • Is it worth investing in a global Employee Assistance Programme?

    Is it worth investing in a global Employee Assistance Programme?

    How do you look after the mental and emotional wellbeing of employees working from different countries? It can be a tough ask when your employees are scattered here, there and everywhere!

    International Employee Assistance Programmes (iEAPs) have been designed to meet this very challenge. 

    And they are increasingly popular: the number of UK employees seeking support from their Employee Assistance Programmes leapt by nearly 350,000 between 2020 and 2021.

    In this article, we provide a jargon-free guide to iEAPs which explains:

    • How an iEAP works
    • The process of buying an iEAP
    • How much it will cost
    • The benefits it can bring to your business and employees

    Need help finding the perfect international benefits for your global staff? Give our award-winning team a call on 01273 974419 or email us at enquiries@engagehealthgroup.co.uk. 

    What is an International Employee Assistance Programme? 

    An International Employee Assistance Programme (iEAP) is designed to provide global staff with the tools they need to tackle work-related problems, personal issues, and general everyday health and wellbeing needs. 

    iEAPs can be accessed from just about anywhere in the world, using a mobile or desktop app. This toolbox of health and wellbeing services enables staff to take control of their own health and prepares them for anything they might encounter which impacts their physical and mental wellbeing. 

    What’s typically included? 

    The services usually offered with iEAPs vary from provider to provider, but most will offer the following tools and services: 

    • 24/7 confidential support services 
    • Legal support
    • Financial advice 
    • Childcare support 
    • Work-life balance management tools 
    • Stress support
    • Relationship support 
    • Alcohol/drug abuse support
    • Anxiety and depression services 
    • Life transition tools
    • Grief, bereavement, trauma, loss services 
    • Multi-lingual capabilities
    • Counselling services e.g., CBT, face-to-face sessions, virtual sessions 
    • Data confidentiality 
    • Employer support to help with critical incidents/traumatic workplace incidents 
    • Access to staff engagement stats to measure what’s being most useful 

     

    How do you buy a Global EAP? 

    Global Employee Assistance Programmes can either be bought as a standalone product from iEAP providers, or as an additional service included in an International Business Health Insurance plan. 

    If opting for the standalone option, your selected iEAP provider will set everything up for you and  your staff as quickly as possible. This also includes all the necessary documentation, guidance and contact information for staff. 

    If you’ve purchased an iEAP as part of an International Health Insurance policy, it’s important to promote it to your staff – so they know that it exists and how to use it. We are surprised by how often this is forgotten (but as a broker, we always help our clients with this step!). 

    For an iEAP to be a good investment, it’s important that staff know it’s there and how to use it!

    Would you like one-to-one advice about Global Employee Assistance Programmes and the practicalities of investing on one? Engage Health Group is an expert brokerage and consultancy which offers its advice for FREE. Contact our award-winning team on 01273 974419 or email us at enquiries@engagehealthgroup.co.uk.

    How much does an iEAP cost? 

    There is no set menu of price ranges for iEAPs. However, according to the UK Employee Assistance Professionals Association, the rough estimation for an EAP lies between £5 and £15 per person. Price points are influenced by a range of factors, each based on the specific and unique needs of your business:

    • Number of employees: products are designed for different workforce sizes, the more employees the bigger the per person discount
    • Location of employees: it’s more expensive to provide in different areas of the world due to the varying costs for professional services attached to the product, such as counselling support 
    • Features included: there is often some choice on which features to include, for example an employer can set an upper limit on access to consultations
    • Purchase method: it can be bought as a standalone service or bolted on to a global health insurance policy

    What benefits will an iEAP deliver?

    Investing in an iEAP can deliver a range of benefits, including:

    • Provides a broad range of wellbeing services that anyone can benefit from, all accessible under one platform 
    • Multi-lingual capability and services, making it truly accessible to the whole global team 
    • Supports staff to better handle whatever life and work throws at them
    • Reduces staff absence rates
    • Boosts productivity and wellbeing 
    • Reduces pressure on HR  
    • Low-cost support compared to other global insurance benefits 
    • Highly beneficial to expat staff where the stresses and strains of being away from home can be particularly challenging
    • Support from therapists and psychologists who can assist both on-location employees and HR teams should any major incidents occur such as terrorism, social unrest or natural disaster.
    • Impressive ROI: according to the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA), every £1 spent on an EAP will return £8

     

    Get FREE one-to-one advice on iEAPs

    Finding the right International EAP service provider that fits with your business needs can be challenging. There are hundreds of providers each vying for attention with a range of price points and services included. Speaking to an independent broker, like the team at Engage Health Group, can help.

    Our friendly and expert international team will talk through your options at your pace and explain in practical terms how it might address the needs of your specific business and at what price point. 

    At Engage Health Group, we have a huge global reach spanning 61 countries and territories. We guarantee the best advice and deliver the most competitive quotes in the global healthcare and protection market to help support your remote international workers. 

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

  • Bupa Global Launches New Executive Wellbeing Index

    Bupa Global Launches New Executive Wellbeing Index

    The pandemic has been a nightmare for us all in one way or another, but it has also made us take a step back and reassess how we’ve been living our lives up to now – a lot of us don’t want to go back to exactly how it was before. Perhaps the small silver lining in this crisis is that it has forced us to re-examine our values and goals; What’s really important? And how would we prefer to muddle through this life in the future?

    As we realise that COVID-19, or at least, the effects of it, are here to stay for a good while longer, we’re adapting to a new set of needs and wants. And so, too, are the world’s boardroom executives. These business leaders will be helping to shape businesses, employment, and economies in the Post-COVID world – so how have they felt the impact? How will they respond?

    The New Executive Wellbeing Index

    In light of this, the leading International Health Insurance provider, Bupa Global, has commissioned research across seven key global regions (China, Egypt, France, Hong Kong, UAE, UK and USA), interviewing almost 2,000 high net-worth individuals and senior executives. The result is their recently released: Executive Wellbeing Index – a fascinating insight into how each area reacted to the spread of the virus, both in terms of public health and the economy. The report also comments on how business will be changing in response to the experience of 2020 and indicates how the focus areas within an International Employee Benefits offering may shift. We have outlined some of the key findings below;

    • Seven in 10 experienced poor mental health in this time, rising to eight in 10 for business leaders. For many, this was a new experience and didn’t know how to best handle the situation, with 40% of board-level executives reporting that they delayed seeking help.
    • This experience has led to one in four executives committing to provide better mental health and wellbeing support for colleagues. This is something that Engage Health Group can testify too, with a surge over the last few months, of interest in International Employee Assistance Programmes (iEAP) which deliver low cost, but very high impact mental health support.
    • One in three board-level executive plan to continue working mostly from home on a permanent basis, with over half stating they plan not to return to the same fast pace of life.
    • Other key findings include; a planned cut down of travel, plans to manage down their hours (24%), take more regular exercise (38%), maintain a better diet (32%), make more time for meditation and mindfulness (30%), and an increasing number of executives are looking to opt for early retirement.

    The Wellbeing Index Highlights Mental Health Problems

    It is sad, but perhaps, unsurprising, that mental health and wellbeing was one of the biggest issues identified, with such a large percentage of the interviewees claiming to have experienced mental health issues. The silver lining to this cloud may be a genuine acceleration in embracing the importance of workplace mental and physical wellbeing, and a rebalancing of work/life priorities. These business cultures can often stem from the top down and with such a significant and lasting impact on board level exec’s focus, and crucially budget, being allocated to support the many employees becoming increasingly isolated. A well designed International Employee Benefits strategy is critical in providing employees with a consistent and effective support system, and with a broad range of products and services now available to international businesses, a meaningful International Employee Benefits offering can be provided across a range of budgets and employee host countries.

    Bupa Global’s research also uncovered that 70% of executives now plan to purchase Private Medical Insurance, or International Medical Insurance, with an emphasis on preventative care and mental health, in the next 12 months.

    In anticipation of this demand, Bupa Global has been investing in its mental health services to support employees, individuals and their families by removing annual and monetary limits across their International Medical Insurance plans for in-patient and day-patient mental health treatments. They are now also including cover for various conditions relating to mental health that had previously been excluded from their policies.

    Bupa Global, and the majority of other International Health Insurance providers, now also provides an International EAP incorporated into their company International Private Medical Insurance plans, as standard, to reflect the demand in this space.

    Bupa Global’s full Executive Wellness report can be downloaded here and the accompanying infographic can be downloaded here