Canadian benefit plan sponsors are going to have to be flexible and personalize those benefits if they want to keep up with the changing needs of today’s workforce, according to a new survey of plan sponsors by Aon.
According to the poll, nearly two-thirds of sponsors think their benefit plans meet current workforce diversity needs, nearly 90% say employee expectations have changed and three-quarters believe the need to improve is ongoing.
Can’t stay the same
“A static benefits strategy will no longer suffice,” said John Gerbrecht, vice-president and Vancouver practice leader, Health Solutions, at Aon. “Evolving employee expectations – driven by demographics, a focus on diversity and inclusion and technology – mean employers have to be agile and open to more flexibility and personalization in benefits plans.”
A good benefits plan attracts and keeps good talent, but the plan can’t be a one-size-fits-all solution, said Gerbrecht. Those who want to keep traditional plans might well find themselves unable to meet plans from competitors who offer more flexible and varied plan offerings.
Employees want flexibility
The survey also notes that compared with past expectations, employees today expect more flexible work hours (84%), support to achieve work/life balance (79%), a clear approach to employee mental health (78%), more agile home/work options (77%), a high degree of benefits personalization (56%), and an emphasis on diversity and inclusion (51%).
Emerging benefit areas include gender affirmation, fertility and family planning, and virtual medical care.
Sponsor primary objectives revolve around the best market price, service and coverage (65%), improved employee satisfaction (62%), cost management (61%) and improved employee understanding of coverage (61%). But in the next three years, almost two-thirds of sponsors (62%) see plan harmonization growing in importance, followed by planning for future demography (43%) and addressing preferences influenced by employee age and gender (43%).
