In a tight labor market, the competition for talent is fierce, whether you’re looking to fill an entry-level job or an upper management position. So what kinds of benefits should employers offer to attract workers? Higher pay is always welcome, of course, but today’s employees are looking for more.

Given the pandemic, it’s not surprising that health-related benefits have become particularly important to today’s workforce. In June, the Virginia-based Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) released its 2022 Employee Benefits Survey. The employers that SHRM surveyed ranked health care as the top benefit an organization can offer, ahead of retirement, leave, and professional development benefits (though those certainly remain important). In response to labor market demands, 93% of respondents say that they’re providing access to telemedicine or telehealth services, an increase of 20 percentage points from 2019. And one in five employers now offers mental health days in addition to regular sick leave. 

In addition, 70% of the employers SHRM surveyed identified family care benefits as being important to offer, up from 52% pre-Covid. These types of benefits can include dependent care flexible spending accounts and day care access for employees’ children.

So how are companies rethinking their benefits packages in Minnesota? Twin Cities Business asked benefits professionals for their advice on what to offer, and how to manage the costs of adding new benefits.

In a recent survey, 70% of employers identified family care benefits as important to offer, up from 52% pre-Covid.

Society for Human Resources Management

John Kelly
Founder and CEO
Nexben

Health and retirement benefits are a significant reason why employees decide to stay or leave their employer. That’s why employers must reevaluate their benefits to meet their employees’ needs for security, flexibility, and value. 

Currently, 80% of employers that provide health insurance coverage only offer one type of health plan. There are also many employers who don’t offer health insurance coverage because they have part-time, seasonal, or temporary employees. This leaves employees and their families with no choices, or with plans that may not meet their needs. More than 64% of employees prefer to have benefits choices. We all like choices. This one-size-fits-all approach is expensive, ineffective, and antiquated. 

The good news is employers now have more flexible options. In 2020, Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs) were created to offer a group health benefit based on a pre-determined contribution that gives individuals choice and employers flexibility. Employers build a health benefits package around a set dollar amount and employees have the freedom to select a policy that best fits their needs. This is an important step to offering employees freedom of choice, while also giving employers greater cost control over their health plan budget.

Leah Davis
Partner, HR and Payroll Services
Abdo

Every business leader, HR partner, or hiring manager in today’s labor market has asked themselves the same question: What can I do to attract and retain labor? At the same time, many of them are asking how they can manage expenses as we see the cost of doing business rise with inflation.    

These two questions combined have created an opportunity to get drilled into why you’re spending your benefit budget and how it’s being utilized.  

The place to start is with getting curious. Asking yourself the following questions and looking at data-driven answers is the key:

• What are my benefit costs per employee?
• What is the usage/enrollment for the benefits we offer?
• Have we asked our current employees what they want from benefits?
• What positions are we having the hardest time recruiting and retaining?
• Where can we offer benefits that are minimal cost to free?

When you answer these questions with data, you are able to create a clearly defined reason for the packages you offer that allow you to be transparent with your employees. Taking the time to approach your benefit offerings like you would a business plan gives you a strong foundation from which to build your employee packages.

Read more from this issue

How We Work Now: Media Minefield

Minnesota: Why Are We Still Here?

Office Envy: Beehive Strategic Communication

TCB Q&A: Itasca Project Chair Lynn Casey

TCB Insights articles are sponsored content.