After a turbulent year, talent leaders are honing in on health and wellness in particular. Over half of companies added new wellness benefits over the last twelve months, complementing traditional perks like gym stipends with offerings that speak to a broader definition of wellbeing. From on-demand access to greater personalization, here are the employee expectations influencing those decisions.
More Holistic Benefits Offerings
While “wellness” used to refer almost exclusively to physical activity and nutrition, today’s workers associate it with overall betterment, including mental and financial health. In a 2019 Optum Healthcare study, 2,000 employees were asked to rank the dimensions of wellness they valued the most. The overall breakdown was:
- Physical health (27%)
- Mental health (23%)
- Financial health (23%)
- Social health (15%)
- Community health (12%)
In the same study, nearly a third wished their employers invested more in mental and financial wellness. Employee assistance programs, family benefits, and even financial counseling have become part of what employees expect from holistic wellness benefits. But beyond meeting expectations, offering these programs can yield higher productivity, lower turnover, and provide other returns. HR experts also believe they’re vital to maintaining healthy relationships at work.
“Most employers overlook the need for offerings that support social or relational health. Workplace conflict is normal in almost every workplace, but in many, it is also toxic,” said Stacy Hirsch, a corporate wellness consultant. “You need offerings that help individuals see each other better, consider new perspectives, and decrease micro-aggressions, and become more aware of their unconscious bias,” Hirsch said.
On-Demand Access and Flexibility
Telehealth usage increased dramatically over the last twelve months, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, experts believe that several of telehealth’s unique perks — including shorter wait times and an average savings of $120 per appointment — are likely to keep adoption rates high in the future. Employees will expect the same level of convenience from other wellness benefits, ranging from mindfulness coaching to nutritional counseling.
“Companies should be incorporating as many on-demand resources into their benefits as possible, allowing employees to access the support needed when it makes the most sense for them,” said John Fawkes, a wellness program consultant. The easier your benefits are to access, the higher adoption rates will be, helping HR teams demonstrate value and earn additional budget. “It's a bit paradoxical to set up wellness perks only to have each come with tight restrictions and accessibility or scheduling problems, meaning employees end up never using them,” he said.
In addition to on-demand virtual services, HR experts recommended offering “location agnostic” services that are useful to employees wherever they are. Rather than provide a discount for a specific health club, for example, consider offering a stipend for in-home equipment or a gym of the employee’s choosing. As distributed and remote work transition into the mainstream, this flexibility may be key to staying competitive in the talent market.
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