Today’s employees, and their families, are dealing with uncharted waters.
To say we are in new times would be an understatement.
It isn’t your granddad’s time.
From dealing with a global pandemic, that changed the make-up and structure of an employer’s workforce, to war and civil unrest, to supply chain issues, to now entering an inflationary downturn in our economy, today’s times are full of unprecedented factors.
On top of outside influences, today’s workforce is entirely different from previous generations. Their differences range from technological interaction to the evolution in thought and expression to expectations on employment, government, and society.
We are living in a more diverse society; a diverse community requires an evolved approach, especially in an employer’s total rewards strategy.
What does today’s employee really want?
This month we are going to PUSH your way of thinking about three (3) “HOW” areas that must be a focus in 2023:
- How should employers change their focus and approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
- How employers can help employees with family planning and fertility benefits
- How employers can support employees with mental health
We are PUSHING the “norms” around employee benefits and an employer’s overall employee value proposition.
Are you ready? Let’s begin!
How should employers change their focus and approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)
Why is diversity & inclusion in the workplace important?
Great Place to Work, the global authority of workplace culture, research shows many benefits of a diverse and inclusive workplace:
- Higher revenue growth
- Greater readiness to innovate
- Increased ability to recruit a diverse talent pool
- 5.4 times higher employee retention
Inclusion in the workplace is one of the most critical keys to retention.
They have also researched company culture, showing that when employees trust that they, and their colleagues, will be treated fairly regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or age, they are:
- 9.8 times more likely to look forward to going to work
- 6.3 times more likely to have pride in their work
- 5.4 times more likely to want to stay a long time at their company
An inclusive workplace culture will help you attract a diverse set of talent but also help you retain the diverse talent you drew in the first place.
Let’s face it. The positive impact of diversity and inclusion is no longer debatable.
Not only is DEI a moral move in the right direction, but it is also wise from a recruiting and company growth standpoint.
As many as 57 percent of employees believe their companies should improve diversity among the internal workforce.
Inclusive benefits are a way of maintaining employees taking care of their unique needs, preventing, and treating diseases, promoting equality, planning their lives and future, and helping everyone feel they, and their well-being, are valued.
If the intrinsic value isn’t enough, an article written in the “HR Executive” shows the evidence to be clear, organizations that maintain their commitment to their employees during challenging economic times are the ones that continue to THRIVE.
How employers can help employees with family planning
2.5 kids, a dog, a white-picket fence, a mini-van, and a house in the burbs as the “American Dream” was your grandmother’s dream.
Today’s workforce looks different, loves different, and focuses on other things at different times than workforces in the past. Just take these stats:
- In 1960, 72% of adults over 18 were married, while today, only 51% of adults over the age of 18 are married.
- In 1969, the average woman would get married before she could legally drink and now the median age for brides is 27; for grooms, it’s 29
- In the late 1960s, almost 50% of women were stay-at-home mothers, now nearly 80% of women with children under 18 and 65% with children under 3 are in the workforce
The bottom line is employee family planning is much different today.
Being an employer who provides family planning and fertility benefits for the workforce of TODAY will create differentiation and loyalty by attracting and retaining the best employees.
Now that you’ve placed a new focus on DEI, your employee demographic will look different and need different things. One central area of focus is family planning and fertility benefits.
Not only do families look different than yesterday, but when and how they go about “growing,” their family is also different.
Just offering your standard health plan and leave benefits around maternity/family planning benefits will NOT make you an employer of choice.
The 2021 Survey on Fertility Benefits, commissioned by RESOLVE and fielded in February 2021, reveals how employers evaluate adding or improving family-building friendly benefits, which can make a profound difference in the lives of Americans struggling to build their families. Millions of Americans receive health benefits from their employer, and decisions on the benefits offered by those employers can determine who can and cannot have a family.
“The survey results make clear that this highly valued benefit is both affordable and beneficial to companies in terms of attracting and retaining talent, being recognized as a family-friendly employer, and supporting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts,” stated RESOLVE President/CEO, Barbara Collura.
The primary reasons employers cited for covering infertility treatment were to “ensure employees have access to quality, cost-effective care” (51%), “stay competitive to recruit and retain top talent” (51%), and to “be recognized as a “family-friendly employer” (50%).
More employers see the value of the company’s strategy to expand their healthcare benefits with DEI in mind as part of the decision-making.
In a 2021 article, Employee Benefits News described how a Bank of America employee could adopt her two children thanks to her employer’s family planning benefits.
Miyoshi Lee, a director, and U.S. head of real-time payments at Bank of America, never expected she would have trouble getting pregnant.
But after she and her husband spent several years trying to have a baby on their own, she realized it was time to get some help.
One of the first places Lee turned? Her employer. Bank of America’s generous family planning benefits program provides guidance, support, insurance coverage for fertility treatments, and up to $20,000 in reimbursements.
It helped Lee adopt her two children: a daughter in 2019 and a son whose adoption was finalized just in time for Thanksgiving of 2021.
When employers invest in family-focused benefits, they create an environment of support and understanding for their employees.
Family-focused benefits can come in various forms, including backup childcare, fertility benefits, and extended parental leave.
No matter the form, employers need to be focused on their family planning benefits in 2023.
How employers are helping employees with mental health
Mental Health IS NOT just a “check the box” benefit anymore. Not only do employees expect a more robust focus on mental health, but they NEED IT.
Today’s workforce is experiencing things never imagined… let alone at the same time.
They are coming from navigating COVID-19 to a work-from-home (WFH) and hybrid work structure to entering an inflationary economic downturn all while trying to be the best moms, dads, significant others, and employees.
The resources an employer provides for employees to help have access to mental health resources is a top comparison on job choice.
Focusing on mental health is paramount for employees and a smart corporate strategy.
Forbes reports that 80% of those diagnosed with depression say they experience at least some difficulty with work, home, or social activities due to depression symptoms.
Without adequate support, mental disorders and other mental health conditions can affect a person’s confidence and identity at work, capacity to work productively, increase absences, and challenge retaining or gaining quality employment.
Twelve billion working days are lost every year to depression and anxiety alone.
What can employers do to help? A DiversityInc article shares the following six (6) ways:
1. Increase Awareness
The first step to meeting mental health challenges in the workplace involves educating people on the most current research into mental health. Employers should share resources on mental health issues with everyone on staff.
2. Share Experiences
A vital component of the “Together for Mental Health” message is to reduce the stigma around discussing mental health. Nothing accomplishes that quite like managers talking to employees about their struggles, especially those caused by recent events.
3. Check In with Employees
It is essential for businesses with a large portion of the workforce working remotely.
Sometimes an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality can lead to managers not routinely asking questions of their direct reports to discover how they work from their homes or a remote office.
4. Offer Training to Managers
Businesses benefit by offering training to managers that helps them become more aware of mental health issues, including their signs and the impact they can have on an employee’s performance.
Training should focus on making managers more sympathetic to those experiencing mental health challenges and giving them information on how they can support those who do.
5. Encourage Better Work/Life Balance
Finding the right work-life balance is difficult under any circumstances, but especially for remote employees working from home. The risk of work burnout increases when people blur the lines between work and their personal life.
Employers can help in this area by offering flexible working hours that allow employees to better fit their workday around individual schedules (such as those with children in childcare, for example).
6. Offer Autonomy
Employers can create a supportive mental health culture by ensuring that people feel their jobs have purpose and meaning.
By avoiding micromanaging and giving employees more independence and autonomy, businesses show they trust their employees to do what they are supposed to do.
Businesses cannot hold themselves responsible for the mental health of every employee. But they can work to make a workplace that supports good mental health. Mental Health Awareness Month offers the perfect time to focus on these efforts.
Conclusion
In a Forbes article about mental health being a priority to top leaders, diversity and inclusion initiatives must align with organizational goals and company values. Otherwise, they’ll always be pushed to the back burner.
Organizational change begins at the top.
Leadership needs to allocate resources to DEI efforts, even in uncertainty. Taking these steps shows employees that leadership is taking DEI to heart.
Employers need to have these crucial conversations. The changes in our workforce are here to stay and will keep evolving.
Employers that invest in their employees by offering healthcare benefits that attend to their specific interests, goals, and needs will lead to better overall health outcomes, which all lead to better business performance.
More resources:
- Great Place to Work
- RESOLVE
- Benefits News
- DiversityInc
- Forbes