Health insurance reigns as SBJ's most important benefit

Some kind of health insurance program is the most important employee benefit for Springfield Business Journal staff, according to an informal survey conducted in our office a couple of weeks ago.

Due to the fact that SBJ is known to attract a group of highly verbal individuals, and also because my unscientific research methods left ample opportunity for wise cracks, a wide variety of other employee benefits were mentioned.

First, I had to separate the comments into two categories. There are, I realized, the traditional “bennies” and then there are “perks.” It’s difficult to decide where one category ends and the other begins. Could massage therapy fit into our employee health plan? I didn’t know. I’ll have to look into that one when I get around to it.

Last fall, just after as we put the final layouts to bed for a huge, 80-page issue, we had a massage therapist come in for chair massages. That would be a pure perk, I think, since it was a one-time-in-24-years event.

Another response that made me privately think “In your dreams!” was that we should provide a parking spot where we don’t get tickets. My defense is that the benefits of our increasingly “hip” urban scene here in center-city Springfield far outweigh the extra steps to a safe and legal parking slot. Besides, the regular fast walks might increase our well-being and lower our overall health premium. I’m getting pretty fluent and confident with my justifications after all these years.

Seriously, when asked what benefit was most desirable – whether it currently existed at the Business Journal or not – staffers overwhelmingly stated simply “health insurance,” followed or preceded by vague modifiers like “reasonable” and “quality.” It would be wonderful, a couple of people mentioned, if we could have an affordable family health care plan.

As it is, our plan is reasonable for employees. It takes care of us, but not our families.

Springfield Business Journal is an independent small business not associated with any larger corporation or chain, just like the overwhelming majority of other companies in southwest Missouri.

It is a sad fact that organizations such as ours can no longer even consider offering affordable coverage for families, our spouses and kids.

The lucky staff members are the ones who can get in on the family plans available to their spouses through larger corporations. The rest of us pay through the nose and feel grateful we can get anything at all. Most of the people here can’t even remember the days when companies provided complete coverage – at no additional cost to the employees – for the entire family.

Small business-people have identified the cost of health insurance premiums as their greatest challenge. Many, if not most, cannot offer health insurance of any kind to their employees.

Because business owners requiring a highly skilled work force cannot attract or retain these employees without a good health plan, we find ourselves between a rock and a hard place.

I should mention here that the millions of kids in this country going without adequate health care are in an even harder place. This is an intolerable situation that is crushing lives and the health of our nation. We are begging for answers.

On a somewhat lighter note, I want to share the rest of the benefits that Business Journal staffers talked about. Paid time off was mentioned several times. “How much time?” I asked. “As much time off as I can get,” was the fast-as-lightning response. One staffer said, and another chimed in with agreement, that our policy of five days’ paid time off after nine months of employment was appreciated.

Some sort of time flexibility built into the work schedule is more difficult to quantify. I’m not talking about flex-time, job sharing or staggered shifts. Some businesses are fortunate to be able to allow for urgent personal business during our work day, with the trust that this privilege is not abused, that communication is effective and the job is covered. This is a make-or-break work situation for many employees.

A couple of people also said that they rated our 401(k) plan as an important consideration.

I like it, too, when share price increases along with my age. I try to remember the benefits of being able to buy shares at a bargain.

Finally, a pleasant working environment is an important benefit that we can offer universally at no extra cost or payroll deduction for anyone. I am gratified to say that several staff members mentioned it. A good atmosphere is good business. If you don’t know how to get this, get help. News of a workplace with a positive, productive environment travels fast and pays off handsomely.