We spend a large proportion of our waking time at work. It is therefore more and more regular to see employers get involved in promoting healthy lifestyles in their community.
How can companies be supported in these efforts by their employer? This is the subject of our interview with Véronique Grenier, Advisor, management practices favorable to attendance at work and health at Beneva.
Daniel : What were the reasons that prompted Beneva to become a presenting partner of the Corporate Challenge?
Véronique : Health has always been one of our priorities and is a deeply ingrained value for us. This is reflected in our products and our actions, both as an employer and as an insurer.
It is important to know that we have our own internal health program and that Beneva is certified as a Healthy Enterprise , which is in fact a seal of excellence in organizational health.
We therefore developed our internal health program for our employees, above all, which allowed us to develop a program for our customers. In short, we offer our customers what we offer our employees!
I would say that the orientation is even more marked since the birth of Beneva. Born from the merger of La Capitale and SSQ Insurance, Beneva is very involved in the community.
All this to say that the Corporate Challenge shares a common goal and similar values: improving the health of individuals and businesses. It also allows us to offer an activity that is accessible to everyone, promotes health, and encourages people to be more active.
Through this partnership, we want to play a leadership role with other companies by demonstrating the importance we must give to the health of our employees.
Daniel : How does group insurance work?
Véronique : Group insurance can seem a little complex.
Many players are involved in the process:
- the insurer providing a service;
- the client, or the contract holder, who happens to be the organization being insured. It can be either the employer or the union, or both.
- the consulting intermediary who acts as adviser to the client.
- policyholders, who are also called clients or members.
Various guarantees are offered in group insurance such as salary insurance, travel insurance, drug insurance, etc.
Daniel : How is the integration of the health aspect in the workplace into insurance options?
Véronique : It integrates in several ways, actually. It could be the intermediary-consultant who informs the company that the insurer offers the corporate health service, or who proposes it when the organization encounters internal challenges that could be improved by promoting corporate health.
You should know that as insurers, we have access to a lot of non-personalized data, such as the consumption of drugs for example. This allows us to report to the company and offer services tailored to their needs.
Internally, we have a team of professionals in the health field, specialists in nutrition, kinesiology and soon mental health. We are therefore able to offer health-oriented services and activities in the workplace.
Daniel : What does your day-to-day work look like? How and how often do you track statistics?
Véronique : I would say that our daily life is quite varied but it generally includes a lot of support with clients and various training courses for managers.
Innovation is also very important at Beneva. We are therefore constantly on the lookout for new practices in order to be leaders in our field.
We must not ignore our involvement in various research projects related to health. Indeed, as we hold a significant amount of non-personalized data, it is very useful for research.
As far as this data is concerned, it does not take place from the outset. Everything will be analyzed following a customer request or research projects, for example.
Daniel : How does your offering differ from that of other healthcare service providers? Why should a company use your services rather than going it alone and selecting services individually?
Véronique : It's important to understand that if a company decides to offer services piecemeal without measuring key performance indicators, it represents a certain risk. Indeed, the services selected may not be appropriate.
At Beneva , we begin by assessing the needs and interests within the company. This allows us to ensure we implement the right activities and achieve widespread employee satisfaction. Financial considerations also guide our practices.
Finally, you should know that our schedule gives us a certain closeness to the customer, which has the effect of making our approach very human.
Daniel : Finally, how has the pandemic affected your daily work?
Véronique : In addition to teleworking, we've seen an increase in requests related to mental health. This has forced us to implement measures, such as opening a free mental health support helpline. We've also redesigned our services to offer virtual options, for example.
Mental health webinars offered to businesses also took shape during the pandemic. These webinars were developed in-house and we take care of the facilitation.
Finally, we were greatly asked for analytical support in order to draw a portrait of the repercussions of the past year.