Employee Benefits Trends To Pay Attention To

At AEIS, Inc., we believe that offering a comprehensive, high quality benefits package to your employees is not always a requirement but is highly recommended and has become an industry standard. Yet at the same time, what employees value in such a package is changing all the time. It's not up to you to offer a "one size fits all" package that you hope they will embrace. You need to work to understand what they want and what they need, doing what you can to provide them a benefits package in the most effective way possible.

With that in mind, there are a number of important employee benefits trends taking place as we speak that you need to be aware of moving forward, all so that you can make the best decisions possible when it comes to what you're offering to your workforce.

Increasing Healthcare Costs

One of the biggest trends that deserves to be paid attention to involves the rising cost of healthcare. Thanks in large part to the onset of the still-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, people are paying more attention to their health than ever before. Healthcare costs have risen greatly in the last couple of years due to a mix of inflation, population growth and aging, increased utilization and many more factors. This means employees are looking more and more at their employer to help pick up some of the expenses.

It's true - one recent study indicated that over 60% of people say that their health is far more important to them today than it was prior to the pandemic. If employees are placing a bigger emphasis on their health, that means that you should, too. If they're concerned about how they're going to pay for the healthcare they need, the benefits package that you offer should be able to provide as much assistance as possible to guarantee that they're able to do precisely that.

Employee Mental Health Considerations

At the same time, it is important to not underestimate the importance that mental health coverage has on the overall quality of a benefits package.

This, too, is inspired in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic. Seemingly overnight, many employees found themselves working from home with absolutely no idea when they'd be able to return to the office. They're feeling alone and isolated and collectively, their mental health is suffering as a result. This is especially true among the younger generations of workers, among whom roughly 50% sought support for mental health struggles at some point in the last year.

In virtually every industry that you can name, employees are feeling overwhelmed. They're depressed. They're burned out. The list goes on and on. That's why offering mental health support as part of a benefits package is key - it helps to combat a lot of these issues head-on.

The happier and healthier your employees are, the better positioned they'll be to do excellent work on behalf of your business. Caring about your employee’s mental health as much as they do is the right thing to do, but it is also an investment that will have an almost instant positive impact on your business as a whole.

Increasing Employee Voluntary Benefits

Just how important are employee voluntary benefits to the ongoing success of a business? In a word, "very."

According to another recent study, approximately three out of every four employees say that they carefully consider voluntary benefits when deciding not just to work for a new employer, but to stay with the one that they're already with.

So not only can the right employee voluntary benefits significantly help your efforts to attract top talent, but it can also help retain your existing talent as well. But at the same time, it's true that not all workforces are created equally - meaning that it's always recommended to have an advisor by your side who can create a package that is custom-built for your organization and its employees from the ground up and recommend the voluntary benefits that your workforce might be the most likely to elect.

Expanding Paid Leave Policies

Finally, one of the biggest employee benefits trends that you need to pay attention to has to do with an overarching expansion of paid leave policies.

As previously mentioned, over the last few years people have placed a higher priority on their health than ever before. They want to go to the doctor to make sure they're okay. They want to seek mental health treatment should it be deemed necessary. They want to have the flexibility in their schedule to take a day off if it means they'll be able to recharge and come back all the better for it.

Employee benefits packages need to adapt in order to provide this. Currently, it is estimated that half of workers in the United States do not have access to paid leave time at all. Those who do find their options woefully inadequate. By offering compensation for these needs, you can do a large part to help provide your workers with the care they deserve - all while differentiating yourself from your competitors at the exact same time.

At AEIS, Inc., we've been in the business of helping organizations like yours handle all of their employee benefits needs for many years - all with the name of allowing you to use that benefits package as a way to both attract and retain top talent.

Studies have shown that even more so than pay, potential employees look to benefit packages to decide who they want to work for. With the right benefits advisor by your side, you can make sure that yours is the most attractive package out there - all to guarantee that you have the right people to fill the right positions at exactly the right time, all while reducing employee churn along the way.

If you'd like to find out more information about the employee benefits trends that you should be paying attention to, or if you just want to discuss your own business and your vision for how it operates with someone in a bit more specificity, please don't hesitate to contact the team at AEIS today.