Supporting Employees With Whole-Person Care Meets Gen Z And Millennials’ Needs

By supporting employees with whole-person care — including physical, behavioral, and social support — employers can take a holistic approach to well-being. In turn, this can help boost employee satisfaction, retention, and productivity, while also serving an organization’s bottom line.

Compensation Beyond Salary — Why Whole-Health Benefits Matter

Both millennials and Gen Z say better benefits are a top consideration for remaining with their current employer. Specifically, these offerings need to reinforce positive work-life balance and provide improved mental health and wellness support. This is especially critical at a time when 96% of the U.S. workforce is said to be looking into other job opportunities.

Robust well-being benefits can relieve pressure from mental health concerns around work-life balance, anxiety, and burnout, and help with major life stressors like legal issues, financial planning, and family care. Employees can focus on doing their best work and staying healthier. In addition to basic coverage, this is why an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can prove to be a smart and strategic investment in long-term employee health.

An EAP can provide support for both professional and personal challenges, offering appropriate and specialized care. By helping with some of life’s biggest stressors, employers can get ahead of costly escalations and employees can remain happier and more productive in the workplace.

The Importance Of Confidential Behavioral Healthcare

The opportunity for employers to support behavioral health in the workplace has never been greater. Untreated mental health conditions can result in reduced productivity, increased absenteeism, high employee turnover, and higher healthcare costs. In contrast, employers who support behavioral care needs could see a return of $5.30 for every dollar spent. This return on investment (ROI) may be even higher with millennials and Gen Zers, who report higher rates of anxiety and depression than previous generations due to isolation and lack of socialization.

Organizations can promote a full range of mental health support services, from self-service digital cognitive therapy to telehealth appointments with care providers and counseling for acute life situations. Leaders can actively work to reduce the stigma around mental health, encouraging employees to use available and confidential resources and leading by example in the workplace. Leaders have an opportunity to foster an environment encouraging employees to seek support while making it clear that privacy is a priority.

Virtual Care Meets Employees Where They Are

Telehealth has emerged as a convenient and effective way to access care, especially with millennials and Gen Zers. In fact, 44% report they would switch care providers if they stopped offering virtual appointments. This follows the continued rise of virtual care adoption, which makes it easier to schedule appointments and meet with care providers independent of geography or transportation limitations. With over half of U.S. counties lacking a single psychiatrist, virtual care offers a sustainable way to bridge this gap.  

Appointments can even be made during lunch or at breaks, reducing the amount of time an employee needs to be away from work. Virtual behavioral healthcare even makes appointments more accessible to employees in settings where they may feel more comfortable and at ease.

Access to virtual care is a powerful way to show how your organization is meeting employee needs, especially when combined with a digital front door app like Anthem’s Sydney^SM Health. By linking them immediately to on-demand virtual care through an advanced digital platform, you can smoothly integrate telehealth into your benefits offering.

The Demand For Digital Access To Health Plan Information

Gen Z and millennials are more likely to value both cost transparency and personalization in their healthcare. Sydney Health provides a highly personalized experience which also allows your employees to communicate with care providers and gain maximum transparency into their health costs and resources.

From messaging to scheduling, to reading medical records or documenting symptoms to review with care providers, Sydney Health provides the ultimate central portal for employees to manage their care. And because it’s powered by industry-leading data and artificial intelligence (AI), Sydney provides personalized insights for informed decision-making. Employees get one-click access to their benefits information, claims, well-being resources, ID cards, and an interactive chat tool for answers to their questions.

Today’s employers have a large opportunity to address the evolving ways both Gen Z and millennials expect support, tapping into a wider range of resources than ever before. When employers provide whole-person care, they can support the entirety of their employees’ well-being and proactively mitigate concerns. This approach can drive increased employee satisfaction and productivity, reduce care costs, and prevent health issues from becoming full-fledged problems — both at work and beyond.

Sydney Health is offered through an arrangement with Carelon Digital Platforms, a separate company offering mobile application services on behalf of your health plan. ©2023

The Virtual Primary Care experience is offered through an arrangement with Hydrogen Health.