The COVID-19 pandemic changed the face of the American workplace forever. It created new challenges for employee engagement and communication and forced companies to take a hard look at their benefits and how important they are in attracting and retaining talented and connected employees.
There has been a sizable shift in what employees are looking for in their benefits package. Studies show that the benefits package offered by employers is one of the most important things potential employees seek out. That means to recruit the best employees and take your business to the next level, your benefits package has to be up to snuff. It has to stand out. Are your benefits up to the task?
Employers have been forced to view benefits not as a compliment to a job offering but as a top recruiting tool. This is difficult because employees all need and look for different things. The needs of a new employee out of college are different than an employee who is 35 with two kids and a mortgage or an employee who is only a few years shy of retirement.
All employees want and need benefits but the specific benefits and how those benefits work for them is different. And those are just three examples. Wellness, physical, mental and financial needs all have to be taken into account when creating a benefits package.
Benefits like a Vaccination Reward Account, Paid Volunteer Hours Account, Home Office Account and an Emergency Expense Reimbursement Account are just a few of the over 50 Benefit Account Offerings offered at TASC. We call it Endless Aisle; an easy way for employers to offer a wealth of offerings that fit the needs of employees and prospective employees.
Benefits that support remote work, expanded mental health, dependent care, financial wellness and even pet care have become essential components of a comprehensive employee benefits program.
Benefits are more than health care coverage. Benefits have become a total wellness package provided by employers to improve the health, wealth and well-being of employees and an incentive for attracting and retaining top-notch talent. Many employers stepped up their benefit offerings and others are now seeing the benefits of doing so as employees start to voice their needs.
Medical and retirement benefits are now just the foundation for employees and their families and their benefit needs. Benefits now offer ways for employees to receive assistance with financial planning, creating work-life balance. Lifestyle benefits to help with dependent care, wellness, transit, volunteering and fitness are well-received by employees and go a long way help employees feel accepted and appreciated.
Beyond the offering of benefits, employees want 24/7 access to tools like mobile apps and access to all benefits in one platform to reduce the stress of understanding and navigating their benefits to take full advantage of them.
In 2021, Voya did a consumer survey where one-third of respondents stated that they didn’t fully understand the benefits they enrolled in. This is incredibly important considering the ever-changing landscape of benefits. Rules and regulations are constantly changing and while most of the time this creates issues for Human Resources and the business, it can also affect employees causing additional stress and hesitancy in taking advantage of or enrolling in benefits.
Bottom line: benefits are complex. TASC and Universal Benefit Account are working hard to make them painless, straightforward and easier to access and to offer. Endless Aisle helps employers offer a wider range of benefits that meet the needs of more employees. The TASC Mobile app makes benefits easier to access and a single platform like Universal Benefit Account ties it all together.
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