Panic Buttons Are Key Benefits for Employees
If you’re a service-based business and you are not listing “Panic Buttons” as a benefit you offer, you are missing an opportunity.
Other than salary, what do employees value the most from an employer?
Healthcare insurance (e.g., medical, dental)? Nope, 40%. Vacation/Paid time off? Sorry, 37%. Performance bonus? Good guess, but no, 35%. Paid sick days? Flat-lined at 32%. A 401(k) plan, retirement plan and/or pension? An oldie, but not the goodie at 31%1. Feel safe at work? WE HAVE A WINNER at 98%.
Yup, according to an employee survey we just conducted at one of our sites, a whopping 98% considered the measures taken to keep them safe as a key element in taking or staying at a job. Maybe that’s why you rarely see a headline where the employees are complaining about a new OSHA safety mandate.
You might not have heard, but sexual harassment, assaults, and injuries are rampant among hospitality and healthcare workers. How rampant? In a survey of hotel housekeepers, 58% – yes F I F T Y E I G H T percent reported that they had an unwanted sexual encounter at work at least once in the prior year – and that’s under-reported. In healthcare, workers account for 73% of all nonfatal injuries due to violence.
Why might you have not heard? Because 75% of sexual harassment cases go unreported, and nurses assume violence is part of their job.
Housekeepers, minibar attendants, room service waiters, healthcare workers, and mostly all service-based employees are at-risk in the workplace. Why? Because they aren’t.
Think installing an employee safety solution (panic button technology) is expensive?
Consider the cost of NOT installing one instead. According to a study by SpringerPlus, employees who were sexually harassed reported (a) a decrease in job satisfaction (b) greater turnover intentions, and (c) a higher rate of absenteeism.
The loss of productivity alone is estimated to cost $1,053 per victim – and an environment that isn’t addressing the problem isn’t just affecting the harassed employee, but all of their colleagues as well.
Calculate for yourself, what does one employee turning over cost you? How about ‘just’ absenteeism?
As one example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the hotel and motel industry has one of the highest annualized employee turnover rates at 73.8%. That’s shocking considering HR professionals look for a range of 10-15% according to dailypay.com. Entry-level positions such as housekeeping or front desk positions, an employer can expect to pay 16% of an annual salary in turnover costs. If you’re paying $40,000 per year, that’s a staggering $6,400 per employee that leaves.
We haven’t even talked about the benefits from faster response times to an injury or medical emergency that these safety solutions can offer.
Finally, this doesn’t include the cost of litigation for negligently failing to protect your employees, or the fines if you live in a jurisdiction where they are legally mandated.
In conclusion, it appears we have found an employee benefit that is extremely important to them, that benefits the employer more.