<img src="//bat.bing.com/action/0?ti=5739614&amp;Ver=2" height="0" width="0" style="display:none; visibility: hidden;">

The Skinny

More money, more emotional problems.

Posted on Thursday, March 11

Share:
 

Weekly Skinny

Let’s start off on the right foot

“All that you touch, you change. All that you change, changes you. The only lasting truth is change.” – Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower


 

financially-prepared-icon
The skinny

According to this recent report, employees are more financially prepared, but may not be ready to spend on health care costs.

What do you mean?

Glad you asked. Thankfully, there’s some good news with this story. Since 2018, employees have been successful in creating a rainy-day fund that will cover a large, unexpected medical expense.  

Now, that’s good news!

Indeed. However, now that they’ve got the dough in the bank, they don’t want to let-dough of it….basically, the reason they don’t want to spend has to do with loss aversion.  

You’re about to lose me.

Now hold your horses. Simply put, people don’t like to lose, and we really don’t like to give things up. Remember the toilet paper shortage of 2020?

I needed a trigger warning for that one.

For real. But that same panic and fear of losing something valuable rings true with hard-earned nest eggs as well. Just like now-a-days, it takes a while to build up the courage to answer a phone call, health savings accounts (HSAs) similarly take a lot of time to build up.

This could have been a text…

Don’t say “cheerio" just yet, mate. It makes perfect sense that the prospect of spending down what might have taken several years to amass would make employees apprehensive. For one, employees who have HSAs typically spend the money on incremental out-of-pocket costs like office visits. Basically, even if they are feeling fully prepared for a large expense most employees feel negatively about the prospect of dipping into those funds.

Interesting challenge.

The intrigue is real. Employers should not only understand the challenges employees face, but also how they feel about them. The way they feel can affect their benefits decisions and color their overall benefits satisfaction.

Can’t get no…

We try though don’t we? Without some nice hand holding, employees could play “would you rather” with higher-cost options that aren’t appropriate for their needs vs facing the emotional discomfort of seeing that comma in their accounts disappearing.

Expert insight: “To address the marked dichotomy between people’s actual level of preparedness for health care expenses and how they feel about that preparedness, employers need to consider employees’ emotional state as they choose and use their benefits. Reframing benefits messaging and communications to focus on potential gains (for example, pretax savings) can also help employees feel even better about their benefits—and their finances.” —Sherri Bockhorst, SVP of Innovation and Strategy at Businessolver

Further reading: 2021 MyChoice® Recommendation Engine Benefits Insights Report


 


women-lost-job-icon
The skinny

Since February 2020, 5.4 million women have lost their jobs and employers need to start addressing the fallout.

That’s bad.

Yes. Despite March 8 being International Women’s Day, organizations need to start putting the money where their uplifting tweets are. As we think back to those naïve days of “this will only last a week,” a year later, the consequences have been nothing short of devastating.

Like how?

More grim stats for you. Over 2.1 million women have disappeared from the workforce entirely. And since September 2020, three working mothers are unemployed for every father who had lost a job.

How to fill the void?

Let’s dive in. Of course, you probably know what the first step is: providing flexibility. When juggling things like chores, work, kids, virtual learning, pets, emotional breakdowns, etc., mothers may not have the capacity to work 9-5. They can probably work 4am-6am, 2pm-4pm and 8pm-10pm. This is why focusing on “visible” hours is in fact being utterly and totally blind to their specific needs.  

Taking the 2-4 shift.

Now, ready to get into some radical ideas? Many organizations are offering a four-day workweek without a pay cut. Others are providing more time off for parents specifically. Salesforce, for example, added six additional weeks of time off for parents. And other organizations are offering stipends for child care.

Wow.

Yes. Now here’s another radical/wild idea. If you do see a child in the background, have some grace. Say hi. Wave. Or if you need some more coaching, download the app. When organizations support efforts to not only be great leaders, but also mothers, it helps build trust and allows women to continue to feel valuable and productive.

What about the ones who left?

Yes. Bringing women back into the workforce after a career break is also critical during times of crisis. Check back in with women who left your organization by email, virtual coffee or even a phone call (or text) can help build a pipeline for when you’re hiring again.  

A look back at the original Zoom crash: The infamous BBC news interview. #IYKYK #BeenThere #LOLthroughthepain



 

fight-flight-icon
The skinny

The stress of the past year has forced brains into fight or flight mode, but that adrenaline burst is running out for many.

My burst is bursted.

Straight up. It’s been a year since the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Many of us, are even celebrating a second birthday in this H-E-double-hockey-sticks situation. 

Oh, Happy Birthday!

Stop now. This bubble is bursted, remember? When the constant flow of adrenaline that’s been keeping us working, parenting, cooking, making bread, cleaning, smiling, talking, putting pants on runs out, apathy settles in. Which is why so many of us feel like we’ve hit the pandemic wall and don’t know if we should break through, climb it, or just stare at it.

Wall + head = rut.

Rut is literally life. But good news is, this is very normal, according to many health experts. And first things first, if you feel yourself in #rutlife, take a moment to pause and acknowledge your feelings. I don’t know who needs to hear this, but the pandemic’s been brutal, and we are ALL feeling the brutality.

Free Britney, free me.

Hear that. Because all of our outlets for stress relief are essentially Toxic, finding new ways to cope should be top priority.

Meet at the park?

Yes, getting outside for socially distanced hangouts is a cool way to get outdoors and also get some Vitamin D. But be aware, feeling exhausted after one of these is also normal.

Huh?

Think about it. When you’re talking from six feet away with masks on, that takes a lot of breath because we have to project a lot more deliberately. That can get exhausting. That plus, our social skills are all so wacked out, we’d probably bite Charlie back. Again, be patient, be kind and most importantly, take naps.  

Further reading: I forgot how to hang out

Totes quotes: “The other day, a barista at the drive-through Starbucks Lydia and I frequent—because there is nothing else to do — cheerfully noted that I was there alone. “Yep,” I said, dumbly. And that was that.”—Katie Heaney


Here’s something to…



social-corner-icon-skinnySocial Corner

#ChoosetoChallenge

magnifying-glass-find
Benefits Pulse at a glance

Leave of absence trends continue to fall MoM.

lasso-roundup-gather-rope
Rae's Roundup - what we're reading

24 things you say that are holding you back at work.