Just as food marketers try to tap into unmet physical and emotional needs, and retail marketers consider the customer experience as much as the products on the shelves, the purveyors of jobs—HR professionals—are starting to recognize that employers need to actively market their company to current and prospective employees. One way HR leaders can set their company apart is to offer—and promote—a competitive benefits package.
Our Future of Benefits report, which summarizes the findings of our survey of 500 HR leaders, confirmed this emerging trend.
- A whopping 96% of our respondents said that they pay attention to competitors’ benefit packages, with 66% indicating that they pay significant attention.
- 56% said that their competitors’ offerings impact their own strategy.
- Eighty-two percent of employers say they are impacted by employee attrition, hiring challenges, and escalating salary requirements, with 48% reporting a very significant impact.
Designing and promoting benefit plans that appeal to both ages and life stages (the two are not synonymous) is becoming increasingly important in the war for talent.
Age is no longer a proxy for life stage, and multigenerational workforces are composed of people with a wide range of caregiver needs and responsibilities. One of the primary approaches that HR leaders are taking to stay competitive is tailoring benefits for specific life stages (selected by 52% of respondents). Our survey takers said they are adding and expanding child care, senior care, and mental health benefits for workers in every life stage.
Not only does this strategy provide benefit equity to a diverse workforce, but it recognizes employees’ whole selves—who they are in their personal life as well as their professional life. And as any marketer will tell you, making people feel understood, valued, and appreciated is key to winning their loyalty.
To learn more about how employers perceive and plan to use benefit strategies to support key business objectives (such as boosting recruitment and retention, enhancing productivity, and supporting DEI efforts), download the full Future of Benefits report.
