So why should HR care about National Pet Insurance Month?

After all, the National Day Calendar is full of all sorts of observances. Take National Waffle Week, for example. The celebration may be fun, but unless you’re a waffle company, it will affect your waistline far more than your bottom line.

National Pet Insurance Month is a whole other story. Taking this one seriously may be one of the most important choices you make for your company this month.

Why National Pet Insurance Month Matters

When you think of your company’s assets, you probably think about the office space, computers, or desks and chairs. But what about intangible assets like patents, trademarks, and copyrights?

Consider this: Ocean Tomo reports that in 1975, 83% of a company’s S & P Fair Market value was determined by its tangible assets. By 2015, that number had flipped, with 87% being determined by the intangible assets.

In today’s fluid, virtual world, the intangible assets are a much great indicator of success than the tangible ones.

And there’s an intangible asset that’s often overlooked: your employees’ goodwill.

That’s the one that HR is in charge of, and that may be the one that matters most.

But statistics about employee satisfaction are less than stellar.

Gallup reveals that:

• 51% of employees are actively looking for a new job or watching for job openings.
• 63% of employees believe they could find a job as good as the one they have.
• Only 33% of U.S. employees are engaged at work.

Those could be your employees if you’re not actively working to meet their needs at every stage.

And that’s where pet health insurance come in. Pet health insurance is a proven way of increasing your employees’ satisfaction to attract and retain top talent. North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA) sponsors Pet Health Insurance Month each year to educate companies about these issues.

1) Pet Health Insurance Keeps You Competitive

Let’s face it. Employee loyalty is at an all-time low.

According to the 2019 Staples Workplace Survey, a third of millennials predict that five years from now, they’ll be making more money at another employer.

With that kind of mentality, how can you keep the talent you need for your business?

Time and again, research shows that benefits are crucial to keeping your employees. A Zoro study concluded that having more work benefits would increase job satisfaction for a whopping 72% of employees.

More to the point, they also found that 25% of employees don’t have the pet-friendly office they want. How long do you think those employees are going to stick around?

Not long.

Because if you’re not, say, offering pet health insurance as a benefit, it’s easy to find a company that is. Currently, one in three Fortune 500 companies offers it as part of its benefits. And Willis Towers Watson predicts a 67% increase in companies providing pet benefits by 2021.

And that’s what National Pet Health Insurance month is all about. It’s there to raise awareness and help companies offer their employees what they want to keep them happy and engaged.

2) Pets Make Employees More Satisfied and Less Stressed

Have you read about job stress lately? It’s a trending topic as research shows the extent of the problem (40% of employees) and its cost ($300 billion a year.)

Companies are trying to reduce employee stress with everything from yoga classes to in-house culinary teams.

It turns out that pets can play an important role in employees’ wellbeing. Furry companions aren’t just fun to have around. They can measurably reduce people’s stress levels.

A recent WSU study set out to prove just that. They divided a pool of students into four groups. All the groups had some level of exposure to animals, but only one group got actual, hands-on playtime with a dog or cat.

The study measured all the students’ cortisol levels before and after their activity. Cortisol is the human stress hormone, and the less there is in the bloodstream, the more relaxed a person is. The study reported significantly less cortisol in the students’ saliva after they played with a pet.

That can help explain the findings of The Human-Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI). According to HABRI, a pet-supported workplace has employees that are more engaged and less stressed. That means they’re more likely to stay and even recommend your workplace to a friend.

Running a pet-friendly office can mean allowing pets to come in to work regularly of for Take Your Pet to Work Week. On an ongoing basis, offering pet health insurance is a crucial piece of having a pet-friendly company.

3) Pets Health Insurance Adds Value to Your Employee Package

Pets are wonderful, but they’re not cheap. In 2015 alone, Americans spent $15.24 billion on veterinary care.

And pet expenses are increasing by 5.4% annually. Just as with human medicine, there are more and more medical treatment options available for pets today, but they’re not cheap.

According to Dr. Louise Murray, vice-president of the NYC ASPCA, most pet owners will have to pay at least one $2,000 - $4,000 bill for emergency care during their pet’s lifetime.

But not if they have pet health insurance.

Pet health insurance reduces the medical costs of owning a pet. In other words, it saves your employees money, which is a huge selling point. It adds tremendous value to whatever else you’re offering.

National Pet Health Insurance month is a chance to look at the impact pet health insurance could have on your employee benefits package. With open enrollment around the corner, now’s the time to add the benefit that keeps your company relevant in the employee marketplace.

So, skip Biscuit and Gravy Week if you’d like, but ignore National Pet Health Insurance month at your own risk.

Check out Pet Benefits Solutions’ full suite of pet benefits to see what you could be offering your employees.