The Business Advantage of Pandemic Emergency Plans and Employee Benefits

In May of 2020, IBI surveyed 318 Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and other corporate senior financial executives. The main purpose of the survey was to assess how senior financial executives viewed the impact of employees’ health and their health benefits strategy— including healthcare and disability insurance, paid leave and sick days, and wellness/wellbeing programs—on business performance. The full report of CFOs’ views on health and business performance was released in September 2020 at IBI’s virtual Health and Productivity Forum. Given the timing of the survey, IBI included several questions about how the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic impacted business operations, employee benefits, and companies’ preparedness for the current pandemic and future emergencies. This brief report focuses on business planning for emergencies prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and CFOs’ views of their company’s ability to maintain operations and support employees. A description of the survey and respondent characteristics appears in the appendix.