Things to consider when selecting group insurance for a startup

Startup culture in India is on the rise. Many professionals who were previously working in big firms and companies abroad are leaving their lucrative jobs to start their own venture in India. As per NASSCOM Startup Ecosystem Report 2015, India stands third in the world, in terms of number of startups in the country. By the end of last year, India witnessed a staggering 40% growth in the startup ecosystem.

However, the competition is cutting edge and sustaining in a fast pacing market comes with a set of challenges. While, you may have a great business idea with immense potential, for that idea to turn into a reality is a totally different ball game. What you need is the backing of team of talented resources who can live and feel the dream and vision you have for your company.

You need a blend of top of the line IT professionals and managers who can oversee development and marketing of your product or service. However, getting talented pool resources onboard is not as easy as it sounds.

There are a number of things that you might have to consider, such as:

· How much salary should I commit to my potential employees starting from executive to managerial level staff?
· Should I include stock or equity as part of the compensation?
· Should I provide a good group insurance plan for my employees?

The decision on matters related to salary and stock remuneration is affected by a number of external factors. These determents include the previous salary withdrawn by your potential employees, their expertise and skills sets, the current evaluation of your company, the existing industry standards so on and so forth. However, when it comes to offering a group insurance plan, it is strictly an internal policy of the company.

Unlike the West, in India employers are not obliged to offer insurance plans to their employees. However, recently several mid-sized companies have begun offering insurance plan to maintain an employee friendly culture and to earn goodwill in the market. Including an insurance plan as part of the salary package can assist in recruitment as well as employee retention, which is one of the top most priorities of a startup enterprise.

Why should you buy group insurance policy for your employees?

· A solid health plan insurance policy can help you attract employees to your startup.
· Offering group insurance policy is an effective way to enhance the compensation package of your employees.
· Benefits such as health insurance policies add to employee satisfaction.
· Plays a big part in employee retention and talent acquisition.
· Helps create goodwill in the market, which is important in a competitive ecosystem.
· Helps you provide added health coverage to your employee’s immediate family members.
· Employee satisfaction and friendly policies in turn boost performance of your workforce.

Things to consider before selecting a Group Insurance plan:

Before we take this discussion further, it is relevant that we reinforce this question again as to why do companies offer corporate health insurance plan to their employees? The answer to this question is simple and worth noting. In India, majority of the people pay for health expenses out of their own pocket. The rising cost of health and onslaught of lifestyle diseases is urging people take health insurance cover more seriously.

However, instead of taking health plans to their own, people rely upon their employees to offer them a corporate health cover. Offering employee friendly policies can go a long way into creating a loyal workforce and employee satisfaction. And in some cases, employees value a good health plan over higher salary compensations.

Most startup companies have a relatively young and healthy work-force. Therefore, a group insurance plan, such as those provided by SecureNow, India’s leading health insurance distributor are great for a startup enterprise .So, as owner of a startup company; you must pay attention to the following features of the group insurance plan:

· Make sure that the health plan provides medi-claim coverage to the employee as well as immediate family members, parents, spouse or children.
· Inclusion of maternity benefits in the insurance plan will help you create positive image of a company as a women friendly work enterprise.
· You could also consider including health cover for pre-existing medical conditions of your employees as well.

India is slowly transforming into a startup hub, which is great for the country’s economy as it will create more job opportunities in the market. This indirectly will curtail the rising cost of health treatment, which at the moment is one of the biggest concerns for the health industry. The Government of India has chalked out some interesting scheme and plans to boost the ongoing startup revolution in the country. It is therefore extremely important to create a young brigade of work force which feels financially secured and productive to transform India into an economic and investment destination of this world.

(The article is authored by Utkarsh Sahu, a digital strategist and contributor to business magazines, such as Business Insider, Huffington Post, Tech Radar, etc.)

(Image: Thinkstock)