According to research conducted by the Marsh McLennan Agency, the American workplace is undergoing some major changes. Employee benefits, in particular, will be influenced by three major themes. They are:
- Benefits and Talent – Employees will make job decisions based on an employer’s benefits, requiring employers to expand and curate their offerings so that they are appealing to a multigenerational workforce, while improving their benefit-related education and communications.
- Whole Person Health – There will be a greater emphasis on an employee’s overall well-being which influences their medical insurance, and which acknowledges all of the social determinants that affect well-being (e.g., mental and physical health, nutrition, housing, access to transportation, education, recreation, etc.).
- Health Care Costs – Employers will be more affected by inflation, rising specialty drug costs, and other factors such as supply chain challenges and labor shortages which will further escalate health care costs.
The Multigenerational Workforce
The American workforce now includes employees from four generations: Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and Gen Z. Each have different ambitions, motivations and communication preferences. For Boomers, job security was always their chief aspiration, however Gen X seeks work-life balance, Gen Y seeks freedom and flexibility, and Gen Z seeks security and stability. Their motivations also differ across generations. Boomers are motivated by company loyalty, teamwork and duty. Gen X is motivated by diversity, work-life balance and personal interests over company interests. Gen Y is motivated by responsibility, quality of their manager, and unique work experiences, while Gen Z is motivated by diversity, personalization, creativity and individuality.
Key Statistics
Following are some important statistics reported by Marsh McLennan to further support what employees are seeking from their employers and work experience:
- 1 in 3 employees would waive a pay increase in exchange for more benefits for themselves and their families.
- 73% of employees indicate they would remain with a company when provided with better health insurance options.
- 82% of employees with 10 or more benefits say they are thriving.
Some employers are listening, with 42% saying they plan to offer personalized benefits and 85% of Human Resources leaders indicating personalized benefits are essential.
The Benefits Education and Communication Factors
What may be standing in the path of employers leveraging benefits to attract and retain quality employees is the lack of understanding many employees have regarding their benefits. For instance, 47% of employees say they do not understand their total health care costs. This finding may be lost on employers with 76% estimating that their employees “understand their health care costs well.” To close this perception gap, employers would be well-served to develop new benefit education programs and materials accessible in the formats preferred by the different generations (i.e., Boomers – more formal in-person or phone communications, Gen X – informal but direct via email or text messages, Gen Y – frequent and timely feedback, text/chat messages, and Gen Z – in-person preferred, video calls).
The Marsh McLennan Agency’s report titled, “2024 Employee Health & Benefits Trends – The Evolving Workforce” provides other valuable findings for employers and the Human Resource staff to review and address in their employee benefits strategies and programs.