Corporate Blog

How Funeral Insurance Can Improve Employee Satisfaction and Retention

Aman

18 September, 2024

• 1.   Acknowledging the Challenge
• 2.   The Modern Benefits Landscape
• 3.     Funeral Insurance: A Unique Offering
• 4.   Impact on Retention
• 5.   Crafting Your Strategy
• Conclusion

With a new wave of self-realisation and awareness, the employees have started to focus on the unconventional benefits that might impact their own and their family’s long-term wellbeing. It all started after the setback posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many private sector employees who ensured a great financial cushion for themselves during their employability, found themselves standing at a crossroads with options to leave the metros and return back to their hometown or stay in the metros and face the wrath of extreme conditions developed due to pandemic.

Posed with the toughest choices of this era, the employees for the first time realised the need of robust planning and wise choices. This marked the beginning of a new kind of employment negotiations, where employees were ready for a trade-off between lucrative paycheques and enhanced employee benefits.

Data Credit: buffer.com

It took some time for the corporates and business giants to understand this new phase, but smarter ones identified that this might be altogether a new strategy to attract and retain the talent.

1.   Acknowledging the Challenge

The popular employee demands in the post-COVID phase included incorporating a better work culture to promote work-life balance and sensible employee benefits that may make a real difference to the lives of employees and their families.

Struck by the wrath of pandemic, these demands were presented with resilience post-COVID. Understanding the gravity of the situation, most of the organizations not only considered but embraced the idea of a hybrid work culture, fully remote, flexible schedules, four-day workweeks, better health insurance coverage, discounted medicines, cover for family and much more.

This embarked a race of pulling the talent by offering better work culture and employee benefits. But the trend began to reverse by the end of FY 22. According to the third annual EY Future Workplace Index, the percentage of employees working full-time remote drastically came down from 34% in 2022 to 1% in 2023, in the US and the trend is following in India as well.

So, how to maintain the pull for the talented work force. Well again the think tanks came up with a USP that might be just as much effective as the remote-work option. The top MNCs and corporates have added Funeral Insurance as a part of the employee benefits. Addition of the care for employees and their family members including elderly parents beyond the limits of life is seen as gesture of deep thoughtfulness of the employers.

2.   The Modern Benefits Landscape

In today’s competitive job market, employers must present themselves as employers of choice. A comprehensive benefits package plays a crucial role in attracting and retaining quality employees. Here’s how funeral insurance fits into the equation:

a. Competitive Benefits

A good modern benefits package should include:

• Comprehensive Healthcare: Access to quality medical care is essential for employees and their families, especially their ageing parents. With the changing environment and levels of environmental pollution employees are more inclined towards a robust healthcare from their employers.
• Pension and Financial Benefits: Offering pension plans and financial guidance demonstrates long-term commitment. It shows the employers empathy towards the employee even when he gets detached from the organization in his old age.
• Post-Retirement and Funeral Benefits: With a post-retirement plan in place the employee’s retention possibilities increase. It’s further boosted when the employer acknowledges the very last truth of an employee’s life, i.e. death. Offering cremation insurance might seem like a taboo but no one can negate it, especially after experiencing the pandemic.
• Flexible Work Schedules: Providing work-life balance through flexible hours. Some incidents bear the potential to change the usual way of life in society. COVID offered the realisation of the fragility of life and flexible work schedule reflects the employer’s concern towards employee’s families and relations.
• Ample Paid Time Off: Including parental leave to support employees during significant life events. It furthers the employer’s agenda that the employee is not a mere resource but an integral part of the fundamental organisational fabric.

b. Mental Health Support

Professionals deal with intense emotions daily. Providing access to mental health resources, counselling, and support groups can significantly improve their well-being. When employees feel cared for, they are more likely to stay with the organization.

C. Communication Matters

Clearly, employers won’t reap the rewards of providing benefits if employees don’t know they exist. Frequent communication about available benefits is crucial. Regular reminders, workshops, and personalized guidance can help employees make informed choices.

3.     Funeral Insurance: A Unique Offering

a. Eternal Satisfaction

Funeral insurance provides a sense of final satisfaction to the employees. It assures them that even the last expense of their life has been taken care of. They work with mental relief even when they are working offshores that their parent’s won’t have to wait for their return to get a ritualistic and dignified last journey. Knowing that their dignity and respect will remain intact alleviates their final worries.

b. Financial Relief

Funeral insurance is affordable, making it an attractive benefit for employees. It covers each aspect of the cremation expenses, ensuring that families don’t face financial burdens during an emotional period. While offering the funeral insurance, the employer must understand that it needs to cover employee, his spouse, and his parents. This holds a specific significance in case of the NRI or Offshore employees working away from their elderly parents.

c. Emotional Support

Beyond financial assistance, funeral insurance offers emotional support. Aggrieved by the loss of a near and dear one while sitting in some faraway land, the employees can focus on healing rather than worrying about costs or arrangements. Some prominent trusted funeral services providers like Last Journey, even give an option of posthumous counselling, celebration of life, etc. for the aggrieved family.

4.   Impact on Retention

When employees feel valued and supported, they are more likely to stay loyal to the organization. Funeral insurance demonstrates empathy and compassion, reinforcing the employer-employee bond. It takes away the speculative stress of inability to do the needful in case of an emergency situation with their parents and family while they are on an onsite project in US, UK or any other country of the world.

5.   Crafting Your Strategy

To implement funeral insurance effectively:

• Assess Current Benefits: Evaluate your existing benefits package and identify gaps.
• Educate Employees: Regularly communicate the availability and advantages of cremation insurance.
• Customize Plans: Tailor funeral insurance options with the help of a funeral services expert to meet diverse employee needs.

Conclusion

Funeral insurance isn’t just about financial coverage; it’s about showing employees that their well-being matters. It shows that the worries of the employee towards his family and parents is understood and empathised by the employer. By prioritizing their needs, organizations can create a supportive environment that fosters loyalty and longevity.

Remember, a compassionate workplace extends beyond the office walls—it reaches into the lives of employees and their families during their most vulnerable moments.

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