Dissatisfaction on a global scale.
As we all know, the events of the last three years have shaken up the working world and drastically shifted employees’ priorities around why they join, and remain within, a business. Employees now seek more. They want to feel valued and meaningfully supported by their employer as they navigate a climate more challenging than ever.
2023 has seen heightened talent flight risks on a global scale. Data released from PwC predicts 23% of employees will leave their role in the next 12 months, up 5% from 2022, due to workplace dissatisfaction. Between June 2022 and June 2023, employee happiness fell 15x faster than the previous two years combined. These figures show that whilst employee perspectives are changing, and drastically, many businesses remain slow in evolving their People strategies to keep up.
A changed world requires new approaches.
Tick-box approaches to addressing the changed needs of the workforce are no longer feasible. To get the best from and retain their teams, employers need to now turn their words into deeds to deliver proactive and meaningful support.
Of course, salary and compensation will continue in the lead for many, but increasingly, employees seek holistic support in all areas of their wellbeing. As a result, benefits now play a more vital role than ever in delivering on this. Recent statistics show 66% of employees believe the benefits available to them hold equal or more importance to their salary, and 75% say they’re more likely to stay within their organisation due to the perks package on offer.
With the needs across a multi-generational workforce becoming ever more diverse, strategic investment in employee benefits has become a commercially viable route for businesses to support these under tightening budget restrictions. Yet despite this, the gap only seems to widen with what many employers are bringing to the table. Employee satisfaction with benefits is at its lowest in 10 years, and 82% believe their organisation doesn’t understand their needs.
As employers plan their 2024 People plans, this is a blind spot many can no longer afford to ignore.
The changemaker generation.
Millennial and Gen Z employees are predicted to represent 58% of the global workforce by 2030. Entering the post-pandemic workforce whilst tackling rising inflation has led to a particularly profound appetite for modernised perks that genuinely support them, creating even greater urgency for businesses to reassess their offer to attract and retain their future leaders.
Deloitte’s 2023 Gen Z and Millennial Survey highlights the top priorities and expectations from this changemaker generation:
- Financial wellbeing – The cost of living is a primary concern for Millennials and Gen Z, who place, alongside salary, significant focus on access to better, more comprehensive tools to increase their spending power.
- Flexibility – 75% of Millennials and Gen Zs who currently work under a remote or hybrid model would seek a new role if required to return to on-site work full-time.
- Corporate social responsibility – Less than half of emerging talent believe their employer makes proactive strides in driving positive change for wider society, and they seek tangible examples of those putting this into practice.
- Sustainability – 70% of Millennials and Gen Z say they take conscious action to minimise their impact on the environment and prioritise employers that enable them to make more sustainable life choices.
- Mental health and wellbeing – 46% of Gen Zs and 39% of Millennials report feeling stressed or anxious at work and believe the support being offered by employers remains far too limited.
Why most benefits are missing the mark.
In today’s landscape, the focus should no longer be on whether businesses have a benefits offer in place, but instead on how authentically this supports the diversity of needs across all generations within their workforce. Most perks packages miss the mark due to four crucially overlooked elements:
- First and foremost, benefits need to be personalised to the unique needs of each business, incorporating those of emerging talent, working parents, mature staff and diverse groups. But to do this effectively, their needs must first be understood. Regular feedback loops are crucial for investing in an offer that authentically resonates with employees. Plus, this must remain agile and evolve in line with workforce demographics.
- Another trick commonly missed is how the benefits package is communicated across the business. Even with a cutting-edge offer, if this isn’t showcased consistently, aligned with internal comms strategies, and echoed at all levels, employees will lack knowledge and buy-in of what’s on offer to them.
- Perks that remain static and unchanging will only gather dust. Employees seek perks that reflect the current market and their changing needs, making regular market research key for modernising packages and benchmarking this against the competition.
- In the modern world, accessibility is the cornerstone of an effective strategy. Whether teams are in-office, remote, frontline or international, mobile access is critical for enhancing adoption and engagement.
The Benefits Matrix for 2024.
Businesses now need to move away from blanket approaches and tailor benefits that effectively meets the unique needs of their workforce. To help, Rippl’s Benefits Matrix enables HR leaders to:
- Create a feedback framework to understand the needs of your workforce through employee ideation and market research, with helpful prompts to get the ball rolling.
- Tailor a package to the needs of your people, scored on strategic objectives including wellbeing focus, generational audience, industry desirability and urgency for your business.
- Identify the success measures to evidence both short- and long-term programme success.
- Recognise the features and capabilities you’re looking for in your programme to help identify the best software.
Find the Benefits Matrix inside Rippl’s Ultimate Guide to Employee Benefits to discover a strategy blueprint that delivers a real difference to every corner of your workforce. If you’d like to chat further, discover more: www.rippl.work
