The Indian economy is considered to be one of the fastest-growing economies globally. This essentially means a dynamically growing corporate infrastructure is pivoting this growth. Despite this, corporate insurance can arguably be called a vastly underpenetrated sub-sector of insurance. While group health policies have been a standard part of most organisations’ pay structures, they didn’t necessarily translate to overall employee wellness. However, with the advent of technology, corporate health insurance has evolved to be more accessible, expansive and inclusive. The unanticipated onset of the pandemic further propelled this evolution and gave rise to InsurTechs redefining employee wellness in the corporate insurance landscape.
The pandemic also acted as an impetus for bringing forth conversations like burnout, productivity, work-life balance and mental health in the corporate space. As organisations at scale rethink their wellness and retention strategy, InsurTechs are helping them address these issues with a multilevel approach. With technology breaking down barriers in the workplace in every possible way, here’s how InsurTechs are playing a pivotal role in leveraging employee wellness through corporate insurance.
Providing a level playing field to SMEs and MSMEs
Historically, large corporations have always possessed the resources to put a robust employee wellness strategy in place. The challenges leaned more towards the SMEs and MSMEs. The strength or size of the corporation largely defines the kind of resources it can invest in employee initiatives. However, it also means that the employee needs vary from a large organization and a standard one-size-fits rule won’t apply to corporate insurance either.
At Policybazaar, we have an organisation-centric approach to address this protection gap. Depending on the demand and feedback, we create cost-effective, quality products corresponding to a particular organisation’s needs along with the insurers. Next, we leverage omnichannel distribution to maximise the reach and capabilities. Product creation and distribution ultimately culminate into a digitally-driven, frictionless user journey and experience. The companies have the flexibility to customise their policies as per employee needs. The requirements of a young organisation differ greatly from an established one, and so should the product offering. The final step is to ensure an exceptional customer support experience so that they can smoothly manage any issues. Technological innovations such as chatbots have made claim filing a lot easier thereby solving a major pain point. Simply put, InsurTech has made it viable to offer high-quality products at low cost owing to digital distribution and helped with higher penetration.
Keeping pace with the psychological change in the workplace
The workplace model has witnessed a major reshuffle globally after the pandemic. While remote work is the new norm at one organisation, resuming work from office is the priority at another. Some want to offer the best of both worlds with a hybrid model. This metamorphosis has had a major impact on workforce psychology and by extension, the workplace. It is now up to the organisation to keep up with this psychological shift. Now that employee wellness has been brought to the forefront, wholesome insurance is the need of the hour. This transition is still in a nascent but promising phase and it’s evident that corporate insurance is no longer a customary offering by the organisation.
Irrespective of the size and nature, corporate insurance is a priority for organisations now. Employees have grown more aware of their insurance needs and organisations are going the extra mile to suit those needs. Besides, it’s always in favour of organisational productivity to ensure employee wellness. The pandemic was just a high point that made the corporate world take stock of employee wellbeing. Not just through coverage, enterprises are making sure that the policies also take care of preventive healthcare to maintain wellness levels. Fitness trackers, gym memberships, yoga classes or wellness benefits – are some of the many measures being adopted across organisations to ensure employee wellness.
Making group insurance more accessible and personalised
As the name suggests, group insurance might be bought for a group of people in the organisation. But it no longer means that the group has to adhere to a standard set of rules applying to everyone. Today, customisation and personalisation are the keys to instill a sense of belongingness in the workplace. Corporate insurance no longer comes with a common playbook. Some might want parental inclusion, while others want pet insurance. Mental health today is considered as important as physical health and needs to be insured too. Similarly, family coverage is no longer restricted to the pre-defined meaning of spouse. In today’s times, it could mean covering live-in partners or same-sex or transgender partners. Not just at an individual level, but also at an organisational level, those relying heavily on blue-collar workers might want customised policies to cover their last-mile workforce.
The good news is, the corporate InsurTech ecosystem has evolved to cater to all of these needs effectively. And digitisation has played a crucial role in making this possible. With the seamless integration and data flow, a lot of challenges pertaining to the manual effort have been eliminated. Not only there’s minimal room for error, but there’s also a huge scope for further innovation.
Authored by
Raghuveer Malik, Business Head – Corporate Insurance, Policybazaar.com
