The DNA that makes up the workforce is transforming, along with the priorities employees have and the benefits they expect from an employer. While employees are focusing on affordable benefits that actually meet their unique needs, employers need to meet those needs while being mindful of company budgets, compliance, and employee engagement and productivity. 50% of employees say they would accept a different job if it offered better benefits, so there’s no doubt employee perks are a top consideration for workers.
The question is, how do you move beyond conventional employee benefits packages and create a comprehensive employee wellness program that will recruit and retain top talent, all while boosting employee productivity? Here are five ways you can modernize your employee benefits package to bring your employee perks out of the past and into a prosperous future for both you and your workers.
1. Take a Proactive Approach
Employers often take a reactive approach to providing employee perks. They only add or change benefits after something changes or goes wrong, but by then employees are unhappy and their trust has to be earned all over again. By making the effort to poll your employees about what they’re looking for and how satisfied they are with their existing perks, you can make informed decisions proactively as you look to make updates.
2. Explore Unique Perks
As a workplace that offers standard healthcare and retirement coverage, what makes you really stand out? As the workforce evolves, you need to offer your employees something that protects, provides, and produces both for them and for you. Explore unique perks that save people time and give them convenience, like onsite healthcare (which includes eye care at the office with 2020 On-site), or onsite financial planning and advising services. Nearly 60% of employers report that financial “ illness” plays a role in employee absenteeism, while 71% of employees cite personal finances as their top source of stress. The more confident your employees feel about handling their finances, the more present and productive they’ll be at the office. In addition, consider offering some voluntary add-ons that offer employees the element of choice and flexibility, such as pet insurance or complimentary legal document review.
3. Upgrade Your Tech
Employees want to be able to access their employee perks from wherever they are. Make sure you meet this need by investing in apps and platforms that are easily used and oriented to every employee’s lifestyle. Quick and simple access for employees can do more than just make your workers happy, it can also increase employee productivity. The less time they have to spend logging into different websites and trying to interpret their coverage, the more time they can spend on the work they do.
You can also make both your life and their lives easier by using technology to make information digestible and understandable for everyone. Remember those proactive polls suggested earlier? Try applying data aggregation and analytics to gather, track, and interpret these results so you can better understand the picture they paint of how your employees feel.
4. Encourage Employee Engagement
Those same apps and online platforms that will simplify the process for employees can also be leveraged to increase enhance employee engagement. Employees will get excited about perks they can 1) easily use and 2) understand. Part of meeting people where they are also includes interacting with them on the platforms they enjoy. Have a group that loves Twitter? Share some of your employee incentives in a tweet, or create a poll to gauge how much those users love certain employee perks. This will give you even more insights into who your people are, what they love, and what matters to them most.
5. Customize to Meet Employee Needs
Your employee wellness program should contain perks and benefits that look like the wants and needs of the demographics that make up your actual workplace. No two employees are the same, nor do they have the same needs, which is why 93% of employees want the ability to customize their benefits package. As Baby Boomers begin to look forward to retirement and Millennials (and soon Gen Z) are encompassing more and more of the workforce, it’s important to cater to their specific needs. Maybe one group cares more about investing in their IRA, but another group would rather have paid maternity leave or an optional flexible work schedule (both are top benefit trends for 2020).
Meeting people where they are goes beyond onsite employee wellness programs and social media interaction. It means meeting people’s needs as they exist within their current phase of life and family structure. If you can offer your employees access, simplicity, and customization, you will have successfully created a robust and valuable benefits package for the modern workplace.
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