Attracting and keeping top talent has always been a challenge for organizations but in a post-COVID-19 world, the challenge is proving to be all the more evident. Studies show as many as half of employees intend to look for a new job in 2021 in what experts at SHRM are calling a “turnover tsunami”. The pandemic experience brought focus to what matters most. Not only are employees looking for great places to work that align with their goals and values, but they are also more likely to leave jobs that are not keeping up with the new work landscape. Additionally, low unemployment rates in many sectors results in employees being difficult and costly to replace. In a survey of 50 major US retailers, 94% stated they were having trouble filling vacant roles, and 29% said they had implemented a sign-on bonus incentive. Replacing employees, which already costs an average of 6 to 9 months’ salary, is now more difficult than ever, creating even higher turnover costs. For a 20k person employer, at the 2021 voluntary turnover rate of 25% and an average salary of $50k, this equates to a $125 MM annual expense.

How to tame a tsunami

Employees cite the top reason they would leave their job is for better compensation and benefits. As remote working is projected to continue indefinitely for many companies, standard benefits designed for being in the office are less effective. Dated benefits from the pre-COVID-19 working model range from on-site cafeterias and snacks, fitness centers, clinical offerings, and similar designed to make employees excited to be in the office. In the new remote or hybrid working environments, carefully crafting your offerings to include innovative and supportive remote benefits will have a substantial impact on how attractive your workplace is for current and potential employees. To make the biggest impact in reducing turnover, it’s imperative to consider benefits that meet 3 criteria: 1) they are a solution for everyone, 2) they are widely adopted, and 3) they offer significant value.

Criteria 1: Benefits offer a solution for everyone

By offering solutions that benefit everyone, you have a higher percentage of employees likely to engage and stay with the company for fear of losing that benefit. Foodsmart, our comprehensive telenutrition solution, can be one such addition to strengthen your health benefits plan and help you tame the “turnover tsunami”. Eating is essential for everyone; thus, programs that emphasize foodcare can benefit an entire organization. We all eat multiple times a day and countless data suggest that the quality of our food has a significant impact on our health. In fact, data from our 1.25 million users suggests that 91% of the U.S. population is afflicted by some combination of overweight or obesity, a chronic condition, or poor nutrition which means the opportunity for change is great, and surely relevant to your entire employee population. Even those who are healthy still need support managing stress and burnout and can appreciate benefits that make their busy lives easier.

Criteria 2: Benefits are widely adopted

As more employees embrace and engage with benefits offered, the value to employers is compounded. Employers see better ROI by way of reduced healthcare costs and a more competitive workplace and employees experience better health and satisfaction. We make it easy for you to implement Foodsmart by providing marketing support and using a multi-modal approach to enroll up to 50% of employees in the first several years. By reaching as many people as possible, we can help you maximize the vast benefits of Foodsmart so that your uptake is high. We also educate our registered dietitians on your other offerings so those programs have higher utilization. For example, many individuals often gain weight due to stress eating - our RD’s can refer these individuals to mental health programs to offer more support.

Criteria 3: Benefits are significantly valued

As important as it is to offer great benefits, it’s equally as important that employees perceive their value. In addition to being impactful, Foodsmart is also widely enjoyed and highly recommended -- our telenutrition solution has an NPS score of >80, even higher than Amazon and Apple. In fact, in a recent example we found that employees at one of our customers who enrolled in Foodsmart were 11% more likely than non-Foodsmart members to maintain employment after a six month period. This could mean for our 20K live employer, a savings of $13M annually supported by Foodsmart.

The Foodsmart solution

With Foodsmart, eating well is simple for employees with personalized telenutrition from our registered dietitians who serve as their trusted advisors. Our RD’s emphasize relationships as they guide members towards their goals. They even coordinate with other benefits offered, such as mental health or fitness, when supportive to maximize the uptake of all of an employer’s programs. Members have been known to ask whether they can still connect with their RD if they were to leave the company; it is sticky benefits like these that decrease turnover in these turbulent times. Unlike many nutrition and weight management programs, we have RD’s who are trained to support employees with chronic health conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease in addition to helping them maintain a healthy weight. Our program is so effective that more than 1/3 of Foodsmart members with obesity lose 5% of their body weight which improves health outcomes, helps curb your medical costs, and of course, tames turnover. Outside of telenutrition appointments, our digital platform keeps members engaged and on track with healthy meals and recipes, and saves them time on grocery shopping with partners like Walmart, Instacart, and Amazon Fresh. Additionally, employers can offer food subsidies to employees through our Grubhub integration or prepared meals/meal kits. We often hear that this is a top benefit for employees as it helps them get healthy food easily while working remotely instead of eating their kids chicken fingers, again. With Foodsmart, your employees develop the foundational tools to create sustainable changes and develop habits to keep them healthy. That’s foodcare at it’s finest. To learn more, schedule a registered dietitian experience.