Good employers care for their employees and truly would like to help them in every area of their life. They would like to give their employees big raises, great health care, bonuses and help them in any way they can. If the decision doesn’t make financial sense, then no matter how much we would like to help, it is just not possible. Companies may not like being that blunt, but if it doesn’t help the bottom line somehow, then they cannot do it. Companies are in business to make money…bottom line.
If an employee has good health care, then usually the worker will miss less days of work and can be more productive for the company. If the employer can provide good health care, it helps him retain good workers who will be loyal and continue to help the company for years, instead of spending thousands of dollars training someone who will just end up using that training to help someone else’s company make money. With employers understanding this, many are willing to spend $200-$500 a month to provide health care for their employees.
Providing chaplain care works the same way. By providing a chaplain to help people with their emotional and spiritual needs, it helps the employees to miss less work, be more productive and continue working for same company. For $10 a month per employee, they can help provide for their emotional and spiritual needs that will help their bottom line. A company may not see the need now, but when an employee is faced with divorce, cancer, loss of a loved one, or just normal stress, the company will more than see the help that providing chaplain can provide.
The most valuable asset of any business is its people
Even a company's best employees occasionally have personal issues
90% of employees surveyed agreed they bring their personal issues to work
Troubled employees perform at about 50% of their ability
Most employees have nowhere to turn to deal with their problems and issues
Lost productivity due to behavioral healthcare issues cost American companies more than $300 billion each year
Depression alone cost an estimated $34 billion each year
Substance abusers are absent 3 weeks more each year than other employees
The chaplains program can also help the company:
Keep good employees
Improve morale
Increase work attendance
Create a caring environment
Reduce employee conflicts
Decrease theft
Improve production and sales
Build a good employee/employer relationship
Lower healthcare cost
THE EXTRA SPECIAL BENEFIT
Many employees see their salary/wage and most benefits as entitlements or something they deserve. They think they deserve health care, matching 401k, and anything else some other company provides. Even if all these things are provided, they are still never good enough: ie. - the co-pay is too expensive, healthcare doesn’t cover enough, they want a bigger raise, profit sharing, a bigger bonus and on and on it goes. Providing chaplain care will be a special benefit that employees even thank their employer for, because in their time of need, it is seen as such a benefit and not something they ever thought they could deserve. You cannot put a price tag on the care that is given during an employee’s time of need. The help is priceless.
For only $10 a month per employee, the chaplain program can add so much more to the bottom line than what it would ever cost.
PEOPLE PREVENTIVE MANTENANCE
Everyone knows how much money preventive maintenance can save on our vehicles, computers and other equipment. If our employees are our biggest asset, and our number one budgeted item, then we should put some thought and money into preventive maintenance for people. The money we could save could be incredible. It is always cheaper to change the oil than an engine. It is always cheaper to solve a problem before it happens than to clean up a disaster.
Most companies understand that customer satisfaction is important; so they focus much time, attention and money to get and keep customers. Many don’t realize that customer satisfaction must start with employee satisfaction. The quality of the product is directly connected to the care, heart and mindset of the employee. If the employee has the “I don’t care attitude” and “it doesn’t affect me” then it will definitely affect the customer that purchases the product in a negative way. All of that affects the bottom line.
"People spend the majority of their working lives here," says HomeBanc CEO Patrick Flood. "And I believe that if we recognize their needs and try to create a climate that makes them better people, the byproduct will be better, happier, and more productive associates."
