Peppy HealthMarch 10, 20236 min read

How high-impact health and well-being support can be a powerful tool for building employer brand

Employer branding is increasingly the most important tool in attracting a diverse and high quality range of employees. Following recent years, financial stability is no longer a certainty, and your employees face a world of pandemic, economic crisis and global unrest; likely tired and anxious about their future. With this in mind, employees are crying out for companies to offer a culture of stability to encourage them to apply and commit to potential employment. If achieved, a better retention of staff provides resilience against current crises and offers your company a more stable future. Nowadays, people are looking beyond your website to understand your values, with increased demand for ethical and supportive practices; as a potential employer it’s vital to actively position yourself competitively within the market to avoid current and future employees looking elsewhere.

A focus on equity

Offering a work environment that celebrates female equality does not mean treating everyone the same. Instead, by focusing on each employee as an individual you can recognise their distinct needs and support them accordingly. Offering female-led benefits will endear you to a wider range of employee options and current employees will view their future with the company more favourably. There are now more female-identifying workers than ever before, meaning that employers and employees alike are steadily more likely to be affected by female health complications. Our latest research in partnership with the Rewards and Employee Benefits Association (REBA) found:

Nearly two-thirds of employers say that inability to attract and retain enough women into their workforces provides future risk.
Currently, 39% of employers offer menopause support, with this figure projected to grow significantly. If you are not offering this you risk being overshadowed by those who do.
Likewise, 46% of employers currently offer pregnancy and new parent/carer support, providing a stable workforce who are less likely to stray when returning to work.
Lastly, employers can expect to see a rise in fertility and LGBTQ+ requirements. Currently, only 15% of employers offer support in these two areas and so providing this would make you a worthy competitor.
91% of companies already address gender health issues, or plan to do so in the next two years. Don’t let your company be the one to fall behind.

Ask yourself how many of your staffing pool is female, and what effect it would have to continuously lose people to physical or mental health complications.

A new culture of hiring

Such changes in the structures of our workforces means entry into the workplace proffers vastly different expectations of new generations. As such, we should be adjusting our practices to understand those needs. Offering an adaptable and more accepting hiring process is the starting point which enables us to embrace a younger branch of employees. When hiring, you should consider the impact that job security and work culture could have on your reputation. Stop looking at employees as outgoing cost and consider them an investment to the bettering of your organisation; investment isn’t something you want to lose to a more competitive offering on the market! This means ensuring your job advertisements are inviting to candidates for your company’s ethics alone. With such widening competition, workers are empowered in their expectations as more companies offer better standards of care that bolster wellbeing within their primary goals. Remember: it is vital these considerations continue after hiring, where employees can see you actively striving to further yourself as their employer.

What can you offer?

Female health causes many invisible limitations to employees, and can often be the reason for a drop in productivity and ultimately for handing in notice. Traditionally, workplace career development does not make allowances for these limitations, and those needing to take time off for parenthood, menstrual conditions or associated mental health conditions can find it harder to maintain a career, and therefore are often deterred from even applying. Employers acknowledging this and offering better support will draw in the wider range of talent and skills needed in today’s fast-changing world. These offerings could include, but are not limited to:

A well rounded maternity leave plan offering pregnancy and parental support
Flexible working environments that embrace chronic conditions
Free access to health support and advice
Awareness of the mental and financial implications of pregnancy and infertility

When redirecting your benefits is vital to ensure a compassionate workplace encouraging openness and acceptance of all the above. Peppy can help you formulate these offerings and equip you with the tools needed to become a responsible employer. In doing so, your workforce will see you aligning yourself with their needs.

Female health within your branding

The most influential tool to drive your branding and compete effectively is current employees’ loyalty. Whatever benefits you put on offer should promote a caring and inclusive brand with equity at your very heart, as retention of current staff is as important as bringing in new hires. Addressing potential fears at the point of application will open you up to a wider range of talent than ever before, as women will see they are being adequately provisioned for, and the effect it will have on current staff will be overwhelmingly positive. Without your support, the employees you currently value will be drawn away by competition who better understand the challenges they face: Peppy has found that 85% of working women have experienced at least four women’s health conditions that can cause anxiety, depression, lack of concentration and general inability to perform to standard. Without receiving the correct support, most of these women will need to take time off work to prioritise their health, often at the sacrifice of their career. Understandably, a company needs to offer benefits they can feasibly maintain and that also give back to the future of the business.

How can you benefit from promoting female wellbeing?

As explained, potential recruits are looking for more than just employment from their employers. Being able to offer life changing support goes a long way towards helping businesses stand-out from the crowd as well as retaining staff who feel proud to work for an organisation that takes gender health seriously. Our recent research shows that improving employer brand is the third most popular reason for implementing female health benefits as an employer. To attract the right people for you, you should be operating in a way that maximises the benefit to the candidate and champions your people, to build an honest reflection of your organisation. Your business is only as strong as those you employ. Improving overall wellbeing will ultimately improve the level of functionality within your team, leading to a more dedicated and focused output of work. The gaps in our healthcare system mean it's likely your employees are already silently juggling healthcare concerns that are affecting your workforce, so make sure you are among the first to address them. Within the outgoing branding of your company, people will see you working on a wider level to expand the industry and as an active spokesperson for gender equality.

If you'd like to see the full findings from our latest research in partnership with the Rewards and Employee Benefits Association, click here to download your free copy.

Peppy Health