Latest news with #HRleaders
Forbes
5 days ago
- Health
- Forbes
Nine Ways Employers Can Help Make Healthcare Coverage More Affordable
Many HR leaders are navigating the strain of healthcare costs on company budgets and employee paychecks. Creating coverage options that are both affordable and comprehensive means listening to employee needs, analyzing data and co-designing solutions that promote long-term wellness. To achieve this, leaders must work more closely with insurance providers as true partners while also making informed internal choices about benefits strategies and communicating them effectively with employees. Below, nine members of the Forbes Human Resources Council offer practical recommendations for employers seeking to provide smarter, more affordable coverage. 1. Understand Employee Needs Before Choosing Plans Companies need to take the time to understand the true needs of their employees based on age, where they live and which socioeconomic factors they might be facing. They need to ask them about their needs. Company benefits should meet employees where they're at, not be aligned with what is trending. It will help employees get what they need out of their coverage and impact the overall cost of plans. - Oksana Lukash, People, Culture, You 2. Share Data To Co-Design Smarter Coverage Employers can partner with healthcare insurers by sharing anonymized workforce health data, co-designing preventive care and wellness programs, offering tiered plan options based on employee needs and leveraging group size for better rates. This collaborative approach helps reduce overall claims risk and enables insurers to provide affordable, customized coverage. - Subhash Chandar, ESOM Holding 3. Use Health Trends To Guide Value-Based Plans To ensure affordable healthcare, companies across industries, including digital banking, can forge data-driven partnerships with insurers. By analyzing anonymized workforce health trends, HR leaders can design preventative care-focused plans and negotiate transparent, value-driven options. This kind of collaboration is essential for promoting employee well-being and fiscal responsibility. - Julie Hoagland, Alkami 4. Tailor Plans Through Claims And Cost Analysis One strategy is to work closely with insurers to tailor plan offerings to employee needs. You should partner with insurers to analyze claims data to identify utilization patterns, chronic conditions and high cost drivers. Employers and insurers can jointly invest in education and transparent tools to empower employees to compare costs, understand care choices and optimize their healthcare decisions. - Britton Bloch, Navy Federal Forbes Human Resources Council is an invitation-only organization for HR executives across all industries. Do I qualify? 5. Offer Flexible Benefits And Funding Strategies You should evaluate different funding strategies and consider offering voluntary benefits and diverse plan choices that enable employees to customize their benefits. You can promote wellness programs, offer financial incentives to employees who use lower-cost providers or who routinely seek preventive care and leverage your workforce data to optimize benefits design and negotiate pricing. - Lori Landrum, Heights Tower Service, Inc. 6. Bring The Employee Voice Into Negotiations It starts with listening. You can't negotiate what you don't understand. Employers must really hear what employees need, then bring that voice to the table when working with healthcare partners. Collaboration only works when people, not just premiums, are the priority. - Nicole Cable, Blue Zones Health 7. Incentivize Wellness And Review Plan Performance Employers can explore value-based care models, wellness incentives and preventive care programs to reduce long-term healthcare costs. Regularly reviewing plan performance and employee feedback ensures offerings remain relevant and cost-effective. Just like with employees, open communication and shared goals between employers and insurers are key to driving affordability and better health outcomes. - Dr. Timothy J. Giardino, 8. Prioritize Equity And Preventive Care Design True affordability starts with shared accountability. Employers must go beyond plan selection—partnering with insurers to analyze utilization data, co-design inclusive benefits, address cost disparities and center preventive care. Strategic HR leaders align offerings to workforce needs, health equity and long-term sustainability—treating benefits as a lever for wellbeing, not just retention. - Apryl Evans, USA for UNHCR 9. Align Incentives Around Mental And Physical Health Employers should stop treating health plans as one-size-fits-all. They should partner with insurers to offer choice-driven plans that link mental and physical health. When employees improve both, premiums should go down—reward wellbeing, don't just insure illness. Affordable healthcare starts with aligning incentives, not just cutting coverage. - Prithvi Singh Shergill, Tomorrow @entomo
Fast Company
12-07-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
How a C-Suite mom of three stays sane in the summer
As the school year winds down, many working parents face a seasonal challenge that's as predictable as it is taxing: how to stay productive at work while managing the logistics, emotions, and expectations that come with kids being home for the summer. For parents in leadership roles, the stakes can feel even higher. Over the past decade, as a mother of three and a leader in human resources and people operations, I've learned firsthand how parenthood profoundly shapes one's approach to work and life. But these challenges are not just personal, they're organizational. If employers don't address the summer wellness support gap, they risk employee burnout, decreased productivity, and long-term attrition. It's crucial that parents feel seen, supported, and empowered to thrive, both at home and in their professional lives. Why the Summer Crunch is Different and More Stressful Summer means parents suddenly take on the additional roles of full-time caregivers, activity planners, and sometimes even tutors, often while still carrying a full professional workload. With school out, daily routines dissolve, screen time goes up, childcare becomes patchworked, and workdays are punctuated by snack requests, playtime, and pleas for attention. For parents in high-pressure roles, this creates a relentless push-pull, fueling guilt, exhaustion, and a constant sense of falling short in both spheres. What's the solution? Boundaries, Flexibility, and Mental Health First Here is a take that some may find controversial: the concept of 'balance' is a myth. We often chase it only to feel more disappointed because it's an unattainable ideal. Instead, I focus on integration—weaving work, parenting, and self-care together throughout the day in a way that honors each of these priorities. Presence is key. This means truly being in the moment, whether on a leadership call or with my kids. And that's harder than ever in today's always-on world, where Zoom fatigue and Slack notifications fragment our attention. Being on all the time blurs boundaries and drains our energy. In my own professional and personal life, I've learned that rather than letting the summer months derail my rhythm, I encourage a handful of practices to stay aligned: Calendar Management and Sacred Personal Time Build intentional breaks into your day for mental rest. Don't overbook yourself and respect your own boundaries. When time becomes more limited, especially for working parents, calendars need to do more than just reflect your next meeting. They should actively support your energy and focus. That means intentionally scheduling short breaks throughout the day to reset and decompress. Even just 10 to 15 minutes between video calls can dramatically reduce fatigue. Without a set time for personal recovery, burnout becomes inevitable. Whether it's a morning workout, a midweek therapy session, or a summer Friday reset for rest and solitude, carving out nonnegotiable time for yourself is critical. This isn't about being selfish. It's about making sure you have the energy and clarity to show up fully for both work and family. Practice Presence Train Yourself to be fully engaged with whichever role you're in at the moment, whether a meeting or a family dinner. Reduce multitasking when possible. When everything happens under one roof, it's easy to blend work and home roles until neither gets your full attention. Practicing presence and focusing completely on the task or person in front of you can help reestablish meaningful boundaries and reduce guilt. If you're leading an all-hands or helping out with your daughter's next vocab test homework, being fully present strengthens trust, deepens relationships, and improves performance. But presence isn't automatic. It's a discipline that requires reducing distractions and intentionally shifting focus before you log off for the day. Open Communication Negotiate clearly with your employer and colleagues, and at home. Share what you need and listen to the needs of others to find win-win solutions. Work-life intention hinges on mutual understanding. Whether you're agreeing on what to make for dinner with your partner or negotiating hours with a manager, clear communication is key. For me, it took clear conversations to protect the time I needed to recharge. Every Saturday, my husband takes the kids out so I can have uninterrupted hours to myself. That understanding allows me to reset only because we've agreed on it and protect it. The same principle applies at work. I've carved out a few mornings a week for workouts, and that means my first meeting on those days doesn't begin until a bit later. That boundary is known and respected because I communicated it clearly, and I show up better because of it. Transparency and courage in these conversations foster trust and make it easier to adjust as circumstances evolve. Community Support Join or create employee resource groups to share advice and reduce stigma. Consider coaching or mentoring to gain tailored support on navigating parenting challenges in a work context. Connecting with other working parents can be a powerful antidote to isolation and burnout. Whether formalized through an employee resource group or informal lunch-hour chats, these communities, both big and small, offer space to share real-life challenges, swap ideas, and feel understood. Parent-focused groups, especially, help reduce stigma by normalizing common experiences, from managing day camp delays to navigating guilt over missed work milestones. These groups remind parents they're not alone and that shared understanding is a strength, not a vulnerability. Additionally, coaching offers personalized support that acknowledges the complex intersection of parenting and professional growth. A coach can help clarify values, improve time management, and provide a safe space to work through challenges like setting boundaries, managing burnout, or feeling pulled in multiple directions. For some, coaching also provides an accessible starting point for broader mental wellness work, making it easier to take proactive steps before stress becomes overwhelming. Mental Health Resources Take advantage of the mental health benefits available to you, and seek help early if you feel it's needed. Many mental health challenges escalate not because support isn't available, but because people wait too long to ask for it. Tapping into therapy resources or EAP services, even when you're curious, can help reduce stress before it snowballs into something more serious. It also sends a powerful message: mental well-being is just as important as physical health. Organizations that promote early access to resources and normalize their use create cultures where seeking help is seen as a strength, not a shortcoming. Lasting trust and engagement As leaders, we often talk about bringing our whole selves to work. For working parents, that includes showing up with the joys, stresses, and logistics of family life, especially in the summer. The good news is that with the right support in place, parents don't have to choose between professional success and family well-being. They can create workplaces where parents thrive professionally without sacrificing family connections. By prioritizing mental health, offering flexible solutions, and fostering a culture of compassion, employers can turn a seasonal challenge into an opportunity for lasting trust and engagement. As more leaders adopt this approach, the entire organization benefits from healthier, more engaged, and more loyal teams.
Forbes
10-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
5 Steps For Encouraging The Formation Of Employee Resource Groups
Jennifer Morehead is the CEO of Flex HR. Companies everywhere strive to create a culture for employees that is engaging and special. After all, it's expensive to hire new employees and train them to become productive members of the organization. But according to Gallup research, only 21% of employees globally are actually engaged in the workplace. One of the crucial ways to engage and retain employees is to ensure they have a buddy, and employee resource groups (ERGs) are a meaningful resource for making people feel like a true part of the organization. What sets these groups apart from other engagement efforts is that they're entirely employee created and led. If HR leaders and people managers want to encourage ERG formation, it requires a delicate balance to avoid imposing their will. This five-step guide can help organizations foster an environment that encourages the formation of ERGs and supports their lasting success. 1. Foster a culture of inclusion and belonging. Our workplaces are full of diverse talent. Whether it's gender, ethnicity, religious affiliation or simply interests, employees' lived experience shapes how they view the workplace. Promote inclusion and belonging by modeling this behavior as a foundational company value. For example: • Create a space that encourages open conversation and actively seeks out diverse points of view. • Build company policies that support individual identities and needs, like offering expanded time off for religious holidays, compassionate leave or mental health days. • Invite employees to share more about their cultural celebrations, like sponsoring a lunch or event to bring people together. 2. Establish a clear process for ERG creation. Successful development of ERG requires a process that's clear, consistent and transparent to ensure all groups receive equal consideration. It could begin with an application form where employees state the potential group's mission and objectives, as well as identify a leadership council. Requiring some thoughtfulness and groundwork prior to the application will make the review process easier and set the ERG up for long-term success. 3. Make your leadership available to serve. In some organizations, executive sponsorship is a vital aspect of employee resource groups' success. Sponsors are typically an existing manager or leader who either identifies with the community or is a vocal ally. Their role is bridging the gap between the ERG and company leadership, as well as amplifying the group's mission, advocating for its initiatives and promoting its visibility at the highest levels of an organization. Organizations need a culture where executives are enthusiastic about sponsoring ERGs. This involves promoting the groups' value at the leadership level, explaining the potential for impact and clearly outlining sponsorship expectations. It will also require reasonable accommodation for the time commitment required to be successful. 4. Offer financial support. The simple act of allowing ERGs isn't enough to maximize their impact. Organizations should offer a designated budget to each one. There are a few approaches to this. Some organizations choose to offer the same amount of financial support to every ERG, regardless of size or scale. Others may require ERG leaders to build a budget based on their goals for the year, which company leadership will review and approve. No matter the approach, providing some level of financial support demonstrates the organization's commitment to ERG success. 5. Integrate ERGs and professional development. Employee resource groups can be hugely beneficial when building a leadership pipeline. Being an ERG lead provides opportunities for employees to develop critical management skills like meeting facilitation, collaboration, empathy and budget oversight. This experience can prepare rising talent for future roles within an organization, which strengthens the internal leadership pipeline and reinforces a culture of inclusion and belonging. Supporting the formation and longevity of employee resource groups is a strategic investment in your people and your culture. When ERGs are supported with intention, structure and transparency, they become powerful agents of connection and positive change. Let's face it: the success of ERGs mirrors the success of the workplace culture, where every employee has the opportunity to lead and achieve, all while showing up authentically. Forbes Human Resources Council is an invitation-only organization for HR executives across all industries. Do I qualify?
