Despite the many catalysts of the so-called ‘Great Resignation’, namely low pay and limited flexibility among others, a new survey by Nayya Health has suggested that workplace benefits – or the lack thereof – remain a significantly overlooked contributor.
Amid the many causes cited for the ‘Great Resignation‘, low pay, limited opportunities for job mobility, insufficient flexibility around work-life balance, mental health stressors, disrespect in the workplace and childcare issues, Nayya Health’s latest survey suggests that workplace benefits remain a significant factor that continues to be largely overlooked.
According to the findings of the survey, nine in 10 employees say benefits matter when considering whether to stay at their current employer or find a new opportunity. According to those employees questioned, benefits such as healthcare plans and other wellness or insurance packages are the second most influential consideration behind salary when evaluating whether to remain at their current job or leave for a new opportunity.
Why have benefits been largely overlooked in the conversation around the Great Resignation?
Nayya’s research, conducted amongst 600 employees and over 100 HR leaders across 10 different US industries, brings to light a conspicuous disparity between what HR teams and employees themselves believe about benefits.
Eighty-two per cent of HR professionals are ‘moderately-to-very’ confident that their employees understand their benefit options, with 72 per cent being confident in their ability to support employees’ benefit decisions.
Despite this, 63 per cent of employees say they lack confidence when it comes to selecting their benefits, whilst a further 68 per cent feel that the benefits they received have fallen short of their expectations. That lack of confidence only grows as company size increases, specifically when the employee count reaches 15,000 or more, illustrating that lack of resources is not to blame for benefits dissatisfaction.
Perhaps most concerning is that probably due to this disparity, far too few HR leaders are taking steps to improve benefits offerings. Only 37 per cent of businesses plan to offer new benefits this year, 32 per cent plan to publicly share their benefit offerings and only a maximum of 20 per cent of HR’s time during open enrollment – the process of choosing benefits – is dedicated to benefits-related education for employees.
Nayya emphasises that its findings should serve as a tool for HR teams and business leaders to utilise benefits packages not only to improve employees’ physical, mental and financial wellbeing but also to hire and retain their most important resource – their people.
Generating employee confidence around workplace benefits through increased education and personalisation could become a prominent part of an organisation’s planning for 2023, and could potentially help lead the way out of today’s challenging employment landscape.
On a similar note, EquityBee has put forward the receiving of stock options as a potentially effective method to stalling the Great Resignation, whilst data from Onbe suggests that the hiring of freelancers could be the key.
“Our survey found a significant disconnect between how organisations view their healthcare and benefits plans and the way their employees perceive the value of those same offerings. In this fragile period, the numbers show that these offerings and the experience associated with benefits decisions are simply not meeting the moment,” said Sina Chehrazi, CEO and co-founder of Nayya.
“Benefits can be the single most important financial decision made by Americans, and when it comes to the Great Resignation, benefits programming has a major impact on attracting and retaining top talent. This key fix has been long overlooked – but won’t be much longer.”
