To the casual observer, recruiting, hiring, and
An inconvenient truth of the HR world is that it is an incredible investment of not only time but also money to find, onboard and train a new employee — thus magnifying the need to ensure
At The Phia Group, we offer a zero-deductible plan with members bearing virtually no significant out-of-pocket costs — in a believe-it-or-not cost-effective manner for our own budget. The results are multifold: Not only do employees, for whom we have invested significant upfront resources, have incentive for leading healthy lifestyles and being cost-conscious consumers of healthcare, but they have a compelling reason to stay long-term with such an enticing benefits package, thus vindicating our recruiting and onboarding expenditures. In fact, our retention rate hovers around 92% while over the past five years, we have increased our employee population by over 54%.
Read more:
Let's take a look at some other numbers. In 2025, the average cost to recruit, hire, and train an employee at The Phia Group was $24,300. This may seem like a staggering figure but considering that recruiting is a weekslong process involving LinkedIn licenses, applicant tracking system usage, background checks — to say nothing of the salary paid to our Talent Acquisition Manager — and that it takes a solid three months to get the new employee up to speed, it's actually a conservative estimate.
We do, however, have a precise calculation for the average amount spent on healthcare for plan participants in 2025 — and it's considerably less: $16,931. This accounts for total claims paid out, employer-paid premium contributions, direct primary care (DPC) subscription fees, and miscellaneous expenses. It also takes into account that there is no deductible for anyone nor premium contributions from those employees who have been on the plan for at least five years.
For a self-insured employer, it might seem logical to believe that saddling employees with increasing premiums, co-pays, and deductibles would rein in costs for the plan. We have proven that there are other ways — ones far more conducive to employee contentment — to keep costs in check. In practicing what it preaches to clients, The Phia Group has empowered its valued employees to be engaged consumers of healthcare who realize that there is often no correlation between cost and quality when it comes to healthcare. Of course, education and transparency are key, but so is offering, quite frankly, cutting-edge incentive programs for employees to utilize.
For just one example, we have long championed a program whereby families expecting babies who utilize select high-quality and cost-effective birthing facilities are rewarded with a year's worth of complimentary diapers and wipes.
Read more:
Clearly, there's a lot of wasteful spending in healthcare and if employees can understand how it affects them personally — and that to a large extent, it is in their control — they are going to be invested in programs that improve the welfare of the entire company.
One last point on the all-important correlation between health benefits and employee retention: We do not exist in a vacuum. Applicants generally seek employment in one particular industry. If you hire an employee, invest in their training, and lose them due to inadequate benefits, not only is the money invested in their hiring and training wasted, but they may subsequently find employment with a competitor. You have thus trained the competition.
Additionally, investing in optimal benefits makes you more attractive than rivals in your industry, meaning you not only benefit from hiring and retaining the most capable employees, but you deprive the competition of their services as well.
Offering a zero-deductible/no-premium-after-five years plan may seem like a tremendous short-term, day-to-day expense, but, clearly, it's proven to be a prudent long-term investment that pays tremendous dividends for everyone.
