Employees’ Top-Wanted Benefits to Promote During Enrollment | Boost Engagement and Retention 

Benefits are one of the top reasons employees stay—or leave—a company. Enrollment is your opportunity to put the best benefits front and center for employees.  

Benefits are crucial for an organization. Not only do they help you attract and retain top talent, they’re also one of the top ways an employer can show empathy for the employees.  

According to our State of Workplace Empathy report mental health benefits and financial support sit among employees’ must-have benefits. However, an average 70-point gap exists between the benefits employees want most versus what they’re using.  

Understanding benefits, finances, lack of visibility or access are all factors that cause the gap. With the right tools, communication plan, and insights, HR can help close this gap and support their employees in having access to the right benefits at the right time.  

What benefits do employees want most?  

The right benefits package can be a game-changer for employees. According to our data, 47% of employees would feel panicked about an unexpected medical expense and 1 in 2 employees have experienced a mental health issue in the past year.  

Understanding which benefits employees want most is the first step in building a strong and competitive total rewards program. In the last two years, employees’ benefits expectations have expanded to include more holistic options, like financial wellness and mental health.  

Here are the top benefits employees want:  

• Paid leave: Employees ranked parental leave and PTO in their top empathetic benefits they want from an employer 

• Family benefits: IVF, fertility support, adoption assistance, and surrogacy resources are quickly rising in popularity as employees look to build their families. 

• Mental health benefits: Employee assistance programs, access to counseling resources, and mental health benefits at enrollment are at the top of employees’ lists of must-have mental health benefits.  

• Financial support: 58% of employees say financial anxiety has made it difficult to focus at work. But benefits such as tuition assistance, pre-tax savings accounts, and even financial coaching can help alleviate this.  

Check out our Benefits Pulse episode featuring Shelby Gartner from IdentityForce about how financial coaching should be a part of your total rewards program.  

How empathetic benefits administration can boost enrollment and engagement 

On average, 84% of employees are confused about their benefits. But when the right technology and personalization is in place, 80% say that they feel confident in their benefit election choices despite that confusion.  

Employees don’t need to be benefits experts, but their benefits should be accessible, easy to understand, and tailored to their needs.  

Here’s how you can use empathy to promote benefits at enrollment and beyond: 

• Decision support tools can help take the stress out of enrolling in the right-fit-for-me benefits by guiding employees through the enrollment process using thoughtful questions to understand their health needs, risk tolerance, and financial situation. 

• Personalized reminders make it easier for employees to use the right benefits at the right time or know that employer-sponsored support (like that EAP) is just a click away. Our clients see an average 19% increase in benefits engagement when they use our AI-powered benefit reminders. 

• Easy to find and understand information using familiar search tools and AI-summarization to help employees find what they need and understand the value of the benefit. 

• Year-round communication is key to keeping benefits info front and center for employees. Our clients see an average 44% email open rate for benefits-related emails out of our system. That’s nearly twice that of the average marketing email open rate! 

• Mobile apps simplify access to benefits information and tools. Thanks to 24/7 benefits access in the palm of their hands, 25% of all benefits activations happen through the MyChoice^® Mobile App. 

Employee benefits are a critical factor in retention and satisfaction. By understanding what employees want, adopting an empathetic approach, and using marketing strategies, HR teams can significantly improve benefits engagement. Now is the time to make your benefits package shine and show your employees that you genuinely care about their well-being. 

Are you ready to elevate your benefits game? Learn more about how an empathetic approach can drive real results for your benefits program in our empathy study, A Game Plan for Putting Empathy Into Action.