Employee benefits programs have existed for more than a century now. It began with the first group insurance contracts issued in the year 1910, they have evolved from mostly hospital room-and-board coverage to include savings options and now digital health benefits. With so much to choose from, it is becoming difficult for employees to make the right choice.
That is where personalization comes into action. And we are not only talking about inserting the employee’s name onto a landing page or email but true personalization of benefits communication and enrollment that draws conclusions from the profile and preferences of an employee to deliver the right message at critical decision points. And it’s not just offering a broad collection of plans, but packaging the right benefits together that best fit the particular needs of the employees.
An article by SHRM related to this very topic and cited the following, “A 2018 survey by TriNet, an HR services provider, found that 91% of employees at small and medium-size businesses view non-traditional benefits as important to their job satisfaction.”
Here we have mentioned a few reasons why personalization is critical to modern employee benefits management:
Employee Satisfaction
The improving economy means that employees are back in the driver’s seat with regards to the job market. Employee Benefits consistently rank among the top factors in employee satisfaction, and employee satisfaction is a lot cheaper when compared to turnover. Depending on the job level, replacing an employee can cost you anywhere from 30-400% of their annual salary.
The struggle here is to make sure that employees not only understand what they’re being offered but also understand how those benefits will work. Otherwise, they might not get the full value from the benefit.
Cost Control
While health care cost growth has slowed down in recent few years, it is still estimated to be at least 30% of total compensation costs of an employer. It is a significant investment, and like other investments, you receive hopefully a positive return, in this case. Employee health and well-being impact productivity. Additionally, being over or underinsured could put your employees at unnecessary financial risk, which is another factor that could diminish productivity. Your job is to help and make sure that they have a health plan that fits their needs.
Expanding Beyond Traditional Plans
Voluntary benefits have become a core component of a competitive advantages package. The number of available options has grown in the past few years with non-traditional benefits like pet insurance, telehealth, legal insurance, and even debt consolidation. As a benefits professional responsible for plan design and participation, you need to understand your workforce to create and promote a benefits package that will be attractive to present and prospective employees.
Let’s now have a look at the strategies to personalize your benefits:
Include employees in the process
You won’t realize how to customize and where to concentrate if you don’t know what is valued the most in your workplace. As often as possible, survey your workforce and encourage managers and leadership to be in tune with the needs of their direct reports. At the point when you solicit opinions and feedback from your employees, they will be more engaged and have a greater desire to invest in what you provide as a company.
Give them what they want
Most studies will reveal the same top priorities, many of which point to more paid family leave and time off. Providing greater flexibility in the method of paid leave for births, medical issues and family-related situations, as well as greater paid time off boosts employee morale. More and more businesses are recognizing the need and benefit of giving employees a greater work-life balance. For example, GE is increasing its leave time for new mothers, parents and caregivers. Requiring your employees to stay and work more isn’t going to yield greater profits. In fact, when employees don’t take time off it leads to a more stressed and less productive workplace. Furthermore, just offering more isn’t enough, it needs to be encouraged to actually use it. As per the State of American Vacation 2018 published by the U.S. Travel Association, 52% of Americans have unused vacation time. At times, employees may not feel comfortable taking the time off. Build a culture that encourages and celebrates time off that is, after all, what most employees want and need.
Provide Customizable Solutions
Rather than bearing the responsibility of customizing offerings for each of your employees, provide a solution that puts the responsibility and perk of choice in their hands. For example, ClassPass offers users access to numerous of different fitness classes in their city offered at different locations and times including options for at-home workouts. Implementing this kind of solution is the epitome of customization; employees are given a platform that allows them to choose for themselves.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chandrima Samanta
Content-Editor at MartechCube
Chandrima is a Content management executive with a flair for creating high quality content irrespective of genre. She believes in crafting stories irrespective of genre and bringing them to a creative form. Prior to working for MartechCube she was a Business Analyst with Capgemini.