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Evolving Your Employee Benefits Strategy to Attract Top Talent and Help with Employee Retention
By: Benefits by Design | Tuesday August 15, 2023
Updated : Monday October 23, 2023
An employee benefits plan is designed to keep employees happy, healthy, and financially secure. It is also an incredibly useful tool for employee retention and attracting top talent for an organization. But benefits strategies must evolve alongside workplace and industry trends in order to remain effective.
Let’s take a look at recent trends to see how your strategy measures up.
Competition for talent is main concern
A new survey finds that a majority of employers (84%) say that competition for talent (including employee retention) is the number one issue influencing their benefits strategies. The survey also found other notable influences on their strategy, including:
- Rising mental health issues (63%)
- More focus on diversity and inclusion (48%)
- Rising costs of benefits (40%)
With so much on the go, it’s important to ensure your benefits strategy rises to meet these challenges.
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Updating your plan to address trends
With the above noted examples, it’s clear that the benefits trends on the minds of Canadian employers include employee retention, attracting new talent, mental health, diversity and inclusion, and rising costs. So the question becomes, “Is your benefits plan keeping up with these trends?”
- Rising mental health — this has been ongoing for years now, and we’ve talked a lot about it. Employees can include an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), mental health program and support, and paramedical services for psychologists. Disability management programs can help employees who are on leave due to mental health issues.
- Diversity and inclusion — employee benefits that are flexible and provide options for all are an excellent way to bring diversity and inclusion to your plan. For example, a Health Care Spending Account (HCSA) provides employees with flexibility in choice in how they spend their benefits dollars. Inclusive mental health support is also important. Employers can provide digital therapy options which can help with accessibility as well as provide an inclusive option for employees who feel uncomfortable with in-person therapy.
- Rising cost of benefits — this is due to a variety of factors (but rising drug costs and Long-Term Disability (LTD) are notable contributors), and there’s no single solution. However, options exist to help control costs, such as stop loss, drug maximums, and more. Speaking with your group insurance advisor about mitigating costs is a good conversation to have!
By addressing the rising trends above, you’ll be addressing the core concern Canadian employers are struggling with: employee retention and attraction. Working Canadians are looking for businesses that provide help and support, keep them happy, healthy, and well, and who look out for their best interests.
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Managing the cost of plans
Another significant consideration for employers’ benefits strategies is centered around cost. Inflation is high, and two-fifths of employers (40%) indicated that inflation is their number one financial challenge over the next two years.
That will make creating and maintaining a competitive benefits plan more difficult and may have employers wondering if removing benefits or reducing coverage will help. However, rather than reducing coverage (hurting attraction and retention efforts) or losing coverage entirely (which will really hurt them), employers can consider making amendments to increase efficiency without losing as much.
Evolving Your Employee Benefits Strategy to Attract Top Talent and Help with Employee Retention
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