The evolving role of wellbeing, flexibility, and other perks in a compelling workforce value proposition
A one-sided war for talent that favors the candidate rages on, as prospective employers in the US battle to secure their share of the best candidates a hot employment market. With less than one qualified candidate per open position in the US[1], it is a seller’s market for sure. Employers that are not evolving their rewards and workforce experience offerings to keep pace with the needs and preferences of today’s workers risk being left behind.
In this environment, employer programs such as worker wellbeing offerings, work schedule and location flexibility, and next-generation perks are rapidly becoming table stakes for attracting talent. While there may still be some early-mover advantage left for organizations that add or improve such offerings, the window is rapidly closing, and leading organizations are living up to their name in this regard.
Wellness to wellbeing
A generation ago, rewards were as simple as a weekly paycheck and a set of basic health and welfare benefits. Today that definition has expanded to include direct compensation, variable pay, and an increasingly broad and comprehensive array of benefits offerings.
Early employer wellness offerings were narrowly focused on physical wellbeing and perceived by many as thinly veiled attempts by employers to reduce health insurance claims costs. But today’s high-performing organizations look beyond traditional programs to include holistic wellbeing offerings that support a person’s overall welfare — not just physical, but mental, social, and financial. These types of support are delivered through a combination of apps, platforms, coaching, education, events, and many other resources.
Bersin’s High-Impact Rewards research found that high-performing organizations were 11 times more likely to have a broad employee wellbeing strategy than low-performing organizations.[2]
In addition to increased demand from workers, the popularity of wellbeing programs is also being buoyed by a rising tide of employer sentiment. Employers who once focused their attention — and skepticism — on the hard dollar return on investment (ROI) of physical wellness programs are now increasingly viewing wellbeing as both a responsibility to workers and a sound business strategy.
In Deloitte’s 2018 Global Human Capital Trends survey, only 23 percent of respondents told us that their wellbeing program was designed to reduce insurance costs. In contrast, 43 percent believed that wellbeing reinforces their organization’s mission and vision, 60 percent reported that it improves employee retention, and 61 percent said that it improves employee productivity and bottom-line business results.[3]
Flexibility by design
In much the same way that narrow physical wellness efforts have morphed into holistic wellbeing offerings, so too have workplace flexibility arrangements evolved from one-off exceptions into comprehensive efforts around work location, timing, and design.
Bersin’s High-Impact Workforce Experience research found nearly two thirds of the organizations surveyed globally reported seeking to “provide a workplace that is flexible, collaborative, humane, and inclusive, with benefits and programs that allow work to fit into employees’ lifestyles”[4]
This is a far cry from a generation ago, when a mentality of “if they’re not here, they can’t be working” dominated many organizational landscapes. But modern workers seeking improved work-life integration in an always-on digital culture have brought new preferences and expectations, and organizations are responding with increased flexibility as well as changes to the physical workspace — for example, a shift away from rows upon rows of indistinguishable cubicles. Many organizations have adopted strategically designed office environments that provide workers greater choices for collaboration while often leveraging the benefits of natural light, improved acoustics, and enhanced air quality.
Beyond where and when work is done, leading employers are displaying flexibility around the design of work itself. They have begun shifting toward a worker-centric mindset and placing a higher value on worker input around changes to work design. Purposefully incorporating worker input offers employers direct insights from the front lines and enables employees themselves to drive change and remove roadblocks to getting work done.
Bersin’s High-Impact Workforce Experience research shows that 93 percent of high-performing organizations use a worker-centric approach in crafting workforce experience, bringing individuals into the design of work in an agile manner.[5]
Perks 2.0
Employee perks have also undergone their own evolution in recent years. At one time, broad-based employee perks (as opposed to oft-maligned executive perks) were commonly one-size-fits-all, designed to provide at least lukewarm general workforce appeal. Such perks — for example, corporate events, discount programs, game rooms, pizza in the office — tended to have fleeting extrinsic value and minimal impact on workers’ professional or home lives.
In contrast, offerings from leading organizations today confer greater personal and intrinsic value than the perks of old. This approach is consistent with the notion of work-life integration, in which the elements individuals value outside of work can reinforce success within work. Workplaces and ways of working can acknowledge or even accentuate the humanity of individual workers.[6]
Describing such offerings as “perks” may be reductive to what they actually provide workers and, as such, it may be time to start thinking of them simply as thoughtfully curated voluntary benefits. And while the specific offerings vary widely, the impactful ones have one thing in common: They are developed based on an understanding of actual worker wants and needs and are on-brand with the organization’s overarching objectives and culture. Examples might include pet insurance, student debt repayment options, elder care resources, recognition programs, or child care services — offerings that target broader life circumstances with impact that lasts longer than office pizza heartburn or a twisted ankle from the company softball game.
Bersin’s High-Impact Rewards research uncovered that high-performing organizations were six times more likely to use data and analysis to understand employee preferences than low-performing organizations.[7]
And when leading organizations use an understanding of their workforce to select and deploy such programs, they don’t stop there. Many go even further by leveraging these offerings as part of their brand in the marketplace for talent.
Bersin’s High-Impact Rewards research found that high-performing organizations were 12 times more likely than low-performing organizations to identify specific rewards offerings as competitive differentiators and highlight them in their rewards brand.[8]
Looking ahead
The world of work has changed. In many cases, programs and practices that were once luxuries have become virtual necessities. Employers that seek to understand the needs and preferences of their workers, acknowledge their humanity, and respond with personalized and optimized working arrangements and rewards offerings can enjoy differentiated employment brands and superior workforce experiences. In doing so, they can enjoy tangible benefits, including improved financial performance, increased individual worker growth and development, and an enhanced ability to adapt to change[9].
Written by: Pete DeBellis, Research Leader, Total Rewards, Bersin™, Deloitte Consulting LLP and Matthew Deruntz, Senior Research Analyst, Bersin™, Deloitte Consulting LLP
About Deloitte
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the “Deloitte” name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.
[1] https://www.bls.gov/web/jolts/jlt_labstatgraphs.pdf
[2] Seven Top Findings for Redefining Total Rewards, in the High-Impact Total Rewards series, Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP / Pete DeBellis and Anna Steinhage, PhD, 2018.
[3] “Well-being: A strategy and a responsibility,” in 2018 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends: The rise of the social enterprise, Deloitte Consulting LLP and Deloitte Insights, 2018 https://hctrendsapp.deloitte.com/reports/2018/well-being.html
[4] High-Impact Workforce Experience research, Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP, 2018.
[5] Five Top Findings for Elevating Workforce Experience, Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP / Christina Rasieleski and Matthew Deruntz, 2019.
[6] It’s Time to Go Beyond Work-Life Balance, Thrive Global, Arianna Huffington and Jen Fisher, October 14, 2019, https://thriveglobal.com/stories/beyond-work-life-balance-integration/
[7] Seven Top Findings for Redefining Total Rewards, in the High-Impact Total Rewards series, Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP / Pete DeBellis and Anna Steinhage, PhD, 2018.
[8] Ibid
[9] The Workforce Experience Maturity Model, Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP / Christina Rasieleski and Matthew Deruntz, 2019.
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