Top 3 Benefits Trends Employers Can Expect in 2022 And Beyond

Re-evaluate your current benefit situations to retain and attract talent

Employee health insurance has long been one of the most vital benefits businesses offer to their most precious assets – their people – and in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, health and wellness-related benefits have assumed a newfound significance.

The events of the past two years have compounded our collective awareness of health, wellness, and work-life balance. These same effects are also behind the past year’s mass employment exodus, popularly dubbed "The Great Resignation". Many workers are leaving old jobs and looking for new ones with a heightened sense of their needs. On top of many people’s priority list is, finding employers who offer the benefits that promote physical, emotional, and financial wellness.

Heading into 2022, these trends will continue shaping the labor market, with consequences that will last well beyond the current crisis. Here’s a closer look at some of the trends employers should expect in the benefits space next year.

One of the primary reasons for the drastic increase in employees voluntarily leaving their jobs is general unhappiness with the benefits at their current workplaces. A recent corporate survey reported that over 50% of employees rate good benefits as an essential employment consideration, but only 31% said they were very satisfied with their current ones.

With the needle shifting rapidly regarding workplace expectations, many employees are asking their employers to fortify benefit offerings. And while holistic wellness has many facets, financial wellness is arguably the top priority, as many employees now expect benefits that will help them not only preserve their health, but also save money and protect their long-term financial stability.

For businesses facing the rising threat of employee churn, financial wellness benefits can help reinvigorate their employees' wellbeing, and with it, their loyalty, commitment, and productivity. Those who are physically and financially healthy outside of work will be more satisfied and productive overall, underscoring how financial wellness can create a virtuous circle that benefits both the employee and the organization’s bottom line.

Simply put, employees are more likely to stay at a given organization if they see that they are seen, cared for and receive a helping financial hand. Accordingly, Bank of America’s Workplace Benefits Report noted that the number of employers offering financial wellbeing programs in 2021 had increased to 46% from only 40% in 2020.

On the flip side, with nearly half of US workers looking to potentially switch jobs, employers that need to recruit new employees would do well to be proactive about financial wellness offerings – they must implement benefits that are worth flaunting on job boards and worthy of attracting new, empowered jobseekers. If a prospective employee is deciding between several jobs, the one with better benefits is likely to have the upper hand.

With over $14.7 Billion of funding for digital health tech in the first half of 2021 alone, it is clear that digital health solutions have all but flooded the market, changing the healthcare landscape. Having so many options is naturally a plus, but it can still be difficult to filter out the good from the bad. These new technologies can be overwhelming to many employers given the sheer number of digital solutions that deal with every facet of the workplace – everything from HR management platforms to engagement-driven insurance benefit apps to synergistic video conferencing tools.

When choosing which tech is best for their organization, HR departments should involve their employees in the process – asking about their specific, individual needs and prioritizing the digital solutions that best meet them.

Some workers are simply unaware of the types of benefits that their employers can even offer. Organizations that already offer a robust selection of benefits can advertise internally and explain these offerings to their employees, while those that don’t offer them should move quickly to meet workers’ growing expectation that their employers go the extra mile to look after their wellbeing.

Almost half of the employees in the US rely on employer-sponsored health insurance, and the ability of an HR department to offer personalized benefits (as opposed to piecemeal, generic plans) can have a tangible effect on people’s working and personal lives.

Accordingly, HR leaders have set a course for drastic change, going the extra distance to prioritize the quality of the benefits they offer over the quantity. In terms of health insurance, retirement plans, and numerous other offerings, the needs of a 25-year-old living alone are drastically different from those of a married 40-year-old with two kids. Cookie-cutter benefits that assist everyone “down the line” often help no one in their unique and individual day-to-day lives.

Offering an array of generic benefits just to “cover all the bases” often leads to choice paralysis and possible disengagement, as employees confront benefits that don’t result in their own personal financial wellness at their various stages of life – not to mention that it only stands to waste a company’s money when these unappealing options go unused.

As employees become more attuned to their wellness needs, they increasingly expect their employers to offer benefits with a more personalized touch. Yes, there are times when it helps to be spoiled for choice. But in this context, choices that directly benefit employees are what HR departments should focus on.

While companies should strive to design their benefits around the demographic concerns of their employees, this is not where the process ends. Financial wellness and benefits plans must also include a certain barrier to make sure that employees who choose the slimmest benefits to save money don’t also forego options of external medical benefits that might be needed in an emergency.

Offering personalized benefits to employees and helping them understand how best to utilize them will do wonders for keeping an organization and its people in sync at every stage.

Over the next year, employees will enjoy a more equitable share in the choices that impact their own overall wellbeing – the result of trends toward championing financial wellness, upping employee engagement through digital solutions, and hyper-personalized benefits. HR departments that wish to stay ahead of the curve and keep their workplaces attractive and competitive must adopt robust benefits and adapt these benefits with a quality-over-quantity mindset.

On top of the obvious appreciation for their financial wellbeing, employees also cherish the satisfaction of feeling truly cared for by their employer. Though slow-going, the recovery from the pandemic is underway. Companies need to reevaluate their current benefit situations if they hope to retain and attract talent at a pace that will keep them afloat in what’s indisputably a job-seeker’s market.