Top Trends in Employee Benefits Delivery

5 key trends emerged from some recent data collected and analyzed by Mercer about benefit offerings and their delivery/utilization that are currently shaping the employee benefits space.

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At the top of the list of employee desires is simply the security that benefits provide in general. In fact, there was a 14 point gap between the 25% of employees with benefits who view their experience during the pandemic as more good than bad, versus the 11% of employees without benefits that view their pandemic experience net positively. Additionally, 15% of respondents in total believe that there is a greater imbalance in their work-life ratio than there was prior to the pandemic’s onset, which provides an additional opportunity for employers to address an imminent employee need through benefit-related support.

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Being able to seek out healthcare solutions and support through digital platforms is another of the most highly prized benefits among employees, with about 80% of respondents valuing access to telemedicine appointments and apps designed to address well-being, etc.

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Mental health offerings are another type of increasingly sought after employee benefits package component, with 50% of employees viewing mental health support as highly important. Offering this kind of support via mental health and well-being resources is all the more critical given that nearly 1 out of 4 employees believes they are in a worse position than they were prior to the pandemic, and 1 out of 5 employees is experiencing greater feelings of isolation. 

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Further, about 1 in 10 employees lost a close friend or relative during the pandemic, which is a shockingly large number of people to be managing grief and experiencing bereavement from the same cause at the same time. The scope of these issues across such a significant portion of the population underscores both the need for and value of supplemental mental health support at the present time, as well as the opportunity to build loyalty and provide meaningful assistance to employees at a time when that support is most necessary and appreciated.

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The trends that Mercer identified in their dataset collection go beyond simply what types of offerings are most on-the-rise or in-demand in the current moment, and involve not just the ‘what’ of employee benefits, but also the ‘how’ by looking into how the delivery of those benefits affects their adoption, utilization, and appreciation.

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For example, variation in employee benefit package offerings is a major factor in terms of how effective those benefits packages can be in achieving their strategic aims. If a primary strategic goal is employee retention, offering a variety of well-being resources would be a tactically wise step to take, given that employees who have access to the greatest variety of well-being and mental health support services and platforms are 35% less likely to seek employment elsewhere.

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The healthcare front provides another opportunity where offering a variety of options provides a chance for employers to distinguish themselves from the competition, given that about 3 out of 4 employers currently offer more than 1 health plan choice, but only about 1 in 4 have 5 options or more. While there is certainly a point of diminishing returns that would make the addition of any more health plan options a greater burden than the value it provides, that point is very unlikely to be less than 5 options given a relatively diverse employee pool with different interests and concerns that must be addressed in their benefits planning. 

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Ensuring that benefits are being distributed equitably is another trend on the rise when it comes to employee benefits delivery and utilization. After all, it doesn’t particularly matter what benefits and perks are theoretically available or how many different options there may be if the employees who would most benefit from accessing them are unable to do so. Employees at lower levels of compensation are often the ones who most need the comprehensive support that well-curated benefits packages can provide, for example, and yet these same employees are often least able to access that support. In the case of healthcare, for one, fewer than 1 in 4 employees are confident that they will be covered for the necessary appointments and treatments they will need in the event of a medical emergency or new/worsening condition. 

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Collectively, these top trends in employee benefits offerings and delivery highlight the increasingly important role that benefits packages and the employers that make them available are playing in the lives of their employees outside of work, especially when unfortunate circumstances strike, as they inevitably do. No matter how thoughtfully compiled a collection of employee benefits offerings may be nor how enticing the latest developments in the market may appear to the ideal pool of talent, unless those benefits offerings are provided in a way that makes them accessible to those who need them and unless there are sufficient options to enable employees to customize their benefits in light of their own needs, then the strategic goals backing up those benefits packages will likely always remain just a little out of reach. 

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You can read more about this research and analysis here.

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