BenefitsEmployee Experience

What Today’s Talent Wants

New workers are seeking employers with updated, tailored policies.

By Zee Johnson

HR teams all over are focusing in on how they can differentiate their companies to attract the talent they need. And when it comes to attracting the post-pandemic workforce, the talent pool is seeking an employer that can meet them -and their requests – where they are.

Flexibility has become paramount for both employees and organizations alike, and if HR wants to strengthen their appeal, they should embrace what workers want. The biggest challenge with this? Being able to adjust previous policies that don’t just work in employees’ favor, but keeps business productivity in mind, as well. For this to happen, organizations need to be realistic about what’s desired, what’s possible, and how it can work.

One example of this desired flexibility, for instance, is access to telehealth for all. Mercer’s new report, Win with Empathy, finds that more than half (56%) of U.S. companies plan to offer increased access to remote health and benefits options, as compared to 47% of their global peers. While many are pushing forward with digitizing their systems, HR should keep a close eye on app fatigue, the volume of health options available, and the overlapping of services.

Quality telehealth options will help companies meet employees’ new expectations, but many aren’t moving swiftly. The Mercer report finds only 38% of U.S. companies plan to increase the use of global benefits management to enhance the employee experience, a number lower than the global average that stands at 50%.

Switching to hybrid work models and creating adept work practices is the “easy” part the test will be making sure these news practices stick. Luckily, accelerating these missions are main priorities for HR leaders and thanks to COVID, digitalization has encouraged HR to be forward thinking.

The overall employee experience has evolved in myriad ways and organizations need to continue being proactive in their approach. Respondents feel flexible working (74%), managing virtual workers (70%), and onboarding methods (68%) are some of the biggest changes to the employee experience since COVID, and organizations need to follow suit.

Tags: Benefits, Employee Experience

Related Articles