Workplace benefits should not be one-size-fits-all

You’re buying employee benefits, but are they the right fit for your employees? The onset of the pandemic has transformed the status-quo for benefits with more and more options and offerings available for workers.

While you are buying benefits, it is important to keep in mind that each of your employees are different and show up differently in the workplace. A one-size-fits-all benefits solution is no longer a relevant business strategy.

Social determinants of health

According to Rick Fuerman, in order to serve the diverse needs of your workforce, try offering benefits that aren’t tied to demographics but “help with life events that aren’t defined by a generational tag.” Each of your employees have had different life experiences as a result of their social determinants of health.

Social determinants of health impact people’s health, well-being, and quality of life differently. They are considered as “the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.” They can be grouped into five domains:

• Economic stability
• Education access and quality
• Health care access and quality
• Neighborhood and built environment
• Social and community context

If you want your employees to get the most out of the benefits you are offering, you need to address their social determinants of health by providing them with individualized, personal support.

Employee satisfaction and retention by the numbers

Investing in your employees by providing them with comprehensive benefit packages results in higher employee satisfaction and retention. By tailoring your benefits to the individual needs of your employees, you can give them the level of personal support they need.

• Research shows that work engagement and satisfaction increase with a comprehensive benefits package. One study in 2013 noted that 68 percent of workers who are satisfied with their overall benefits packages are also satisfied with their jobs, compared to only 5 percent of workers who are satisfied with their jobs but not with their benefits packages.
• In 2015, 60 percent of respondents to Glassdoor’s Employment Confidence Survey cited benefits as a major factor when considering a job offer, while 80 percent of employees said they would choose additional benefits over a pay raise. 
• The 2017 Health Care Consumerism in a Marketplace Environment Report found that 75 percent of surveyed employees said they are more likely to stay with their employer because of their benefits program.

Support for your employees

Benefits are the third-highest contributing factor to job satisfaction. WorkLife Partnership can help you understand the real issues that are impacting your employees. In turn, this will give you better insight into the benefits that you should be providing to meet the needs of your workers. Our Resource Navigators provide human-centric support, tailored to the individual needs of your workforce. Seventy-five percent of surveyed employees said they were more likely to stay at their company because the Resource Navigator was available to them.

It’s important to consider not just what to provide to your employees, but also how to get the word out about the great benefits you have. WorkLife Partnership can’t (and shouldn’t) be your whole benefits solution. However, our Resource Navigators can act as connectors across your benefits, helping employees get the most out of all your programs.

If you’d like to learn more about how WorkLife can support you in helping your employees, don’t hesitate to contact us.