If yourworkforce is weakened by high turnover or absenteeism, or if yourcompany doesn't offer high-quality benefits plans compared to yourcompetition, the support holding up your business will falter orfail. (Photo: iStock)

Without employees, you have no business. The people who work foryou don't just bring in money for the company – they're the facesof your entrepreneurial pursuits. A bad experience with a singleemployee can drive a customer away forever, but a great customerservice experience will keep people coming back again and again. Ifyour employees are helping your business grow, they deserve thebest possible treatment in return.

Related: People, processes and culture: The most importantparts of a business

By providing your employees with high-quality benefits they canafford, you expand the purpose of your own mission, creating ahappier and healthier world one employee at a time.

The backbone of your business

Many employers see their relationship with their workers asmutually beneficial by default: they provide work for you, and youfinancially compensate them for that work. The truth, though, isthat your employees act as your company's spine, holding up all theother elements of your business so they don't fall apart. Thinkabout the steps you take to protect your spine throughout your ownlife. You may take bone or joint supplements, or maybe you practiceyoga or other exercises to keep it strong and flexible. At the veryleast, you're probably more worried about injuring your back thanbruising your shin.

Your employees deserve this same dedication and protection. Ifyour workforce is weakened by high turnover or absenteeism, or if your company doesn't offerhigh-quality benefits plans compared to your competition, thesupport holding up your business will falter or fail.

A way to give back

Taking care of your employees doesn't only involve making surethey get paid on time – it means doing your absolute best to makesure they stay healthy and provided for. Your benefits plan can beone of your most powerful tools to protect your employees andpreserve their happiness by:

• Offering affordable care and treatment options
• Saving you money, which you can pass down as bonuses andraises
• Educating them on how to get the best quality care at thelowest cost

Your plan can be just another annual expense, but it should be atool that can improve your employees' health and sense of security.Providing your workers with low-cost, high-quality benefits is theperfect way to show them that you appreciate everything they do tohelp your business succeed.

The ripple effect

The impact of giving your employees great benefits can extendfar beyond the employees themselves. Imagine how their entirefamily may be affected if they didn't have to worry about goinginto debt over their child's sudden illness or their spouse'supcoming surgery. Or perhaps the savings that get passed down tothem could help them afford a bigger house or pay off overduebills.

In fact, look beyond your employees' immediate families. Thinkabout the greater societal impact of a group of 100 employees whocan afford to go see a doctor for contagious illnesses. Without agood plan, your employees may dismiss their symptoms as a simplecase of the sniffles – something they can push through withoutneeding to visit the doctor. But if your employees can afford to bediagnosed and treated (better yet, if they can do so viatelehealth, thus avoiding a trip to the doctor in the first place),they can get better faster while being armed with the informationthey need to avoid infecting others.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, one person can have a bigimpact on the health of an entire group of people, and you can doyour part to help others stay healthy by focusing on the wellnessof your own employees.

Looking beyond the business

Employees make our mission meaningful, and the ones who supportyour mission deserve the very best. Your benefits plan can giveyour workers the same support that they give you, and if you canprovide them with benefits that keep them healthy while keepingtheir bank accounts full, your impact as a business owner willextend beyond the direct reach of your company and affect a widerange of people for the better.

Jim Blachek flipped his traditional brokeragemodel in 2017 to focus solely on consulting and building valuebased health plans. In 2019 he co-founded a consulting onlyfirm DynamicBenefit Solutions and founded Local Script a transparentpharmacy and marketing organization focused on reducing employerand employee costs while supporting the local community.

Read more: 

• How and why I became a benefitsadvisor
• 4 ways benefits consultants can become morevaluable during trying times
• 3 questions to help find a benefits advisor thatmatches your business