With ongoing media coverage of President Obama’s pursuit to reorganize our current health care system, many positive and negative issues seem to remain in the spotlight. However, there is at least one positive side effect that has failed to be discussed; employee productivity.
Will employee productivity rise? Will people pursue jobs that make them happier with either universal healthcare or self-purchased healthcare?
Under our current system, talented employees that may have the skills needed to pursue other careers that match their talent are hesitant to leave their stable positions in fear of what that change would do to their current health care benefits. Employees not only have to consider themselves, but in many cases, the health benefits offered that protect their family including their children. These employees, who should be considered as human capital, remain in stagnant positions that hinder their productivity and thus have an overall effect on the American economy.
To match the economic productivity of our counterparts, namely Asia, Europe and Canada, we must go to the source – each individual employee. Creating a work environment that takes health care out of the possible benefits, leaving decisions based solely on skill matching and employee contentment, the employee will feel free to seek employment at an organization providing a better fit.
If given the opportunity to explore careers without regard to health care benefits and plans, many will be motivated to find careers that fit their skills. This can only have a positive effect on each individual, each family, each organization and overall, the productivity of the American economy.
One Response to “Would you consider following your dreams if you had private or government run health insurance?”
Alasdair Munn October 22, 2009
Thank you for bringing this point up. The way we work is changing. We can no longer organize our resources the way we have always done. Whatever your stance is on sustainability or productivity, it is clear that the way we work causes waste and resources, be they natural, or economic, are finite. We are already experiencing huge shifts in the way we work, the way we produce and the way in which we consume. Our children are at school learning skills to fill jobs that have not even been thought of in industries that do not exist yet.
The current healthcare system does not meet our current needs, how then can we imagine it meeting our future needs?
The future of healthcare has to address individual needs and allow for the flexibility that is inherent within those needs. Our institutions are in danger of going the way of the dinosaurs, too large and too slow to adapt to a changing climate.
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