Welp MagazineCOVID-19 has disrupted almost all areas of our lives, including our work environment. From how we communicate with others to what constitutes “workplace.” The pandemic has even altered our perceptions of death and grief, with the pandemic’s high death rate causing even the young to acknowledge their mortality.
Even if vaccinations have provided us with a way – a chance – out of the pandemic, companies will continue to adapt to these developments and adjust their employee workplace benefits in the coming year to address these changing demands and concerns.
As a result, delivering health and fitness benefits should no longer be considered a “tick box” exercise; it must now be at the centre of business agendas. Employers must act now to ensure that their incentives are relevant to their workers’ concerns. To do this, they must first understand how exactly COVID has impacted workers’ attitudes towards employee benefits.
Impact of COVID on Attitudes Towards Workplace Benefits
Employee attitudes toward employment benefits in the United Kingdom changed dramatically in 2021. For example, ‘enhanced leave,’ which was ranked eighth most valuable benefit in 2018, has risen to first place in 2021. In 2018, social media was ranked second, but it is now ranked eighth.
In 2021, flexible working hours were classified as an essential employee benefit, perhaps reflecting the fact that certain workers prefer to work from home or have control over their work schedules so that they can attend to other obligations. Employees enjoyed and took advantage of benefits in 2018 that revolved around being physically present at work, such as travel loans, social activities, and so on.
Priorities have changed in 2021 as a result of lockdowns and remote jobs, as one would imagine. Employees are at risk of burning out and leaving the workforce if adequate intervention is not given. More than half of staff currently report they are experiencing burnout, and those who are experiencing burnout are four times more likely to abandon their companies than those who are not.
Flexible working hours and more vacation days are already on the wish list with other benefits that can help employees deal with current stresses. Personal growth opportunities, such as career promotion, are also in greater demand. Workplace get-togethers and gym memberships, which were once popular, have become exceedingly scarce.
What Can Employers Do to Make Workplace Benefits More Relevant During COVID?
Meeting employee demands now necessitates a shift away from conventional architecture and toward a compensation approach geared to a more remote and decentralized population.
Provide Relevant Benefits to workers.
We can no longer focus on special gym memberships or on-site fitness screenings for a growing number of employers working with fragmented workforces. Employees demand value-added fitness services. Because of COVID-19’s implications, certain systems would need to be more adaptable than ever.
Consider not tying services to a certain location. A revamped benefits plan could have virtual treatment as a key feature. This isn’t something that should be taken lightly or viewed as a basic checkbox choice. Companies should aim to have an employee benefits experience that makes telemedicine and therapeutic teletherapy more available and effective. These healthcare updates boost staff happiness, performance, and lower healthcare costs.
Employers cater to workers in a constantly evolving and highly challenging job climate by selecting a forward-thinking program concept and pairing it with a convincing experience to carry the design to life and ensure use.
Medical Strategy Alone Won’t Cut it
Employees deserve a more comprehensive approach to insurance that reaches beyond high-deductible health policies. They need robust strategies that facilitate mental stability, social wellbeing, and work-life balance for their workers. It’s time to rethink the choices and distribution system if you didn’t sell these before the COVID-19 crisis or predicted low consumption year after year as the status quo before the pandemic.
Working from home increases loneliness and the challenges of maintaining a work-life balance. Forward-thinking employers can use this as an incentive to fix a possible cost-driver by delivering constructive assistance to workers. This could include expanding mental support services or offering a child care stipend.
Change Collaboration and Communication Methods
The way we handle insurance should adjust as more workers function remotely. The best strategy is to offer a holistic, digital benefits experience that is easy to use. For one thing, in-person benefits and open-enrollment education meetings may rapidly become a thing of the past, and HR must adapt.
Whatever choice you make, consider whether workers might use this service to get answers to their questions about benefits from anywhere in the world. HR leaders could find themselves constantly bombarded with benefit questions if employees don’t have an office to walk into. HR teams need to develop the big-picture thinking we need right now so they can deliver an easy-to-use, supportive benefits experience.
