Vantage Health & Benefits Consulting Releases Annual All Industries Benefits Benchmarking Survey – 2014

vantage Mumbai, December 09, 2014: VantageHealth & Benefits Consulting Pvt. Ltd. today released its first “Annual All Industries Benchmarking Survey” 2014 report. The survey is aimed at helping organizations to understand the prevalent market practices in the benefits space and assess their position versus the market at large. This will enable them to develop competitive employee benefit plans for their employees and emerge as an “Employer of Choice”.

 

The findings of the survey are based on the responses received from 129 organizations, both Indian and multinational, representing all major industries such as Hi-Tech, BFSI, E-commerce/Retail, Manufacturing, Consumer Goods/FMCG, and Pharmaceuticals. The survey focused on six critical benefit plans prevalent in the Indian market – Health, Insurance, Wellness, Leave, Retirement/Separation and Travel.

 

The main objective of the survey is to:

  • Create benchmark data from the survey findings
  • Bring out key trends with respect to each of the findings
  • Help organizations to benchmark their employee benefits vis-à-vis the market

 

Commenting on the occasion Mr. Arvind Laddha, Founder & Mentor, Vantage Health & Benefits Consulting and CEO, Vantage Risk Advisory & Insurance Broking, said “With the rapid evolution of the Indian workplace led by strong changes in the socio-economic structure of the country and new aspirations of the young generation, it has become imperative for organizations to establish a “human-to-human” relationship with their employees and even with their families.  Compensation cannot achieve that but benefits can.  Benefit programs help organizations to present to the employees the core philosophies of the organization and support them in their “life needs”.  Vantage Consulting aims to support our clients in this endeavor by bringing in an amalgamation of global perspective and local market knowledge.”

 

Survey highlights:

 

  • Benefits are getting designed based on the ‘Life Needs’ of the employees
65% of the companies provide dependant parent coverage which is not provided in most other major markets 100% of the surveyed companies provide hospitalization coverage to their employees and their dependants
69% of the companies  run various wellness programs for their employees NEW Companies are introducing new  leave categories like extended maternity leave, Adoption Leave, Paternity Leave, Volunteering Leave and Miscarriage Leave

 

 

  • Cost Management of benefits continue to be a matter of worry for employers
47% of the companies have introduced co-payment of claims in their hospitalization coverage 81% of the companies have hospital room rent restriction
Majority of the companies offer only statutory retirement benefits

 

 

 

  • Gaps and differences continue to exist between Global and Indian benefit practices
    • Globally Comprehensive health coverage is prevalent in most major markets, whereas in India companies are still offering only hospitalization coverage for employees and their dependants
    • In most markets health coverage for dependant parents are usually covered either under the social security scheme or individually funded insurance coverage.  However, in India, majority times dependent parents are covered under the corporate health insurance policy
    • Employers around the world provide short-term and long-term disability coverage both due to accident and medical illnesses.  In India however, only short term disability cover due to accidents is provided by the employers (excluding coverage under ESI)
    • In the developed markets, Employee Health Management initiatives are driven by Disease management & behavior change programs.  In India we are still in the early stages of evolution of the Employee Health Management concept and therefore currently the employee wellness initiatives are dominated by  awareness creation and health screening programs

 

The focus of Vantage Consulting is to keep corporates abreast of the latest developments in the benefits space and help them create a strategic roadmap and then implement appropriate changes in their employee benefit programs.  The team will continue in its endeavor to enhance knowledge and bring innovative solutions in the employee benefits domain while working extensively with its clients pan-India.

 

About Vantage:

Vantage is a leading Indian business house with strong presence in the financial and HR services sectors.  Vantage Wealth Management Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is the one-stop destination specifically targeted towards the individual customers who require a very strong relationship driven approach towards value investing.  Vantage Insurance Brokers and Risk Advisors Pvt. Ltd. is one of the largest IRDA recognized direct insurance brokers in the country serving the employee benefit needs of over one million lives, partnering with over 700 leading organizations and managing premium of over INR 400 crores.  Vantage Health & Benefits Consulting Pvt. Ltd. is the first Indian comprehensive health & benefits consulting company. Vantage Consulting aims to help clients develop relevant, distinctive and flexible benefits plans that drive employee engagement and overall well-being and at the same time enable cost optimization for the organizations.