Are your Benefit Offerings Ready for a New Decade?e roaring twenties?
Family first:
While this certainly isn’t a new benefit request for 2020, it is one that is continuing to grow in importance for your workers. In numerous studies, employees have indicated that having a flexible work environment – in the form of flexible hours, work-from-home opportunities, or simply having childcare or exercise options close to the office – is imperative to their mental and physical health. Therefore, benefit offerings that promise to help achieve the elusive work-life balance for your employees should be front and center in your new year’s benefits roster.
Brain benefits:
In the past few years, the importance of mental health in the workplace has moved to the forefront. In 2020, it is expected that offering access to mental health services will continue to be a popular benefit, but increasingly, more will be asked of employers to promote mental health during work hours. This may include taking steps to create a less stressful work environment – such as adding more natural light or promoting relaxation breaks during the work day – or even training managers to look out for the early signs of anxiety and depression and funnel employees towards available resources.
A focus on financial health:
Economists have begun speculating that following years of healthy economic expansion in the US, we could be heading towards a recession in the not-too-distant future (although to be fair, many predicted last year that 2019 would be the year of the great economic downturn). Regardless, all this chatter means that employees are growing even more antsy about their financial standing and will welcome benefit offerings that seek to promote financial security. These offerings include tuition reimbursement, student loan repayment, 401(K) contributions, and any other programs that promote savings. Another potential avenue? Hosting talks with finance experts about how employees can make their money work harder for them.
Tailor made:
With several different generations in the workforce, it would be unrealistic to believe that you can please every worker. However, in 2020, employers are going to increasingly rise to the challenge by offering a diverse array of offerings that workers can pick. While paternity leave will be a real boon to your generation X employees, they’d hold no water with your millennials, who would much rather have hotel discounts so that they can travel on their down-time or other leisure time discounts. For most small businesses, being able to provide a host of offerings seems unrealistic, but if you partner with a PEO such as Abel HR, you can diversify your roster of benefits without going broke by leveraging their combined purchasing power.
Automate it all:
Another benefits trend for 2020 that doesn’t necessarily pertain to the actual offerings, but is nonetheless important, is automating more of the process. Online HR platforms are expected to continue to gain traction in the new year, with more companies opting to automate as much of the enrollment and even usage process as possible. These online programs can help employees not only pick the benefits that are right for them during open enrollment but can also be leveraged throughout the year to check up on vacation availability, benefits usage, and other important metrics. Further, by putting it all online, your beleaguered HR manager will save hours in the form of paperwork and employee check-ins, meaning that they can focus on what matters most to your business.
Learn more about how Abel HR’s can become essential to your business. Contact us at (800) 400-1968 or via email at [email protected].
