Employees care about
MetLife research found that eight out of 10 employees want more employer support in their personal lives. They also want a break from
Kristina Welke, VP and head of strategy, solutions, and marketing at New York Life Group Benefit Solutions, recommends three areas of focus: Offering benefits that will close healthcare gaps and cover more of life's events and stages; doubling down on consistent benefits communication; and continuous assessments of what benefits are working versus what can get cut.
"First, rising costs of benefits is top of mind," she says. "Second, [we're] starting to see employers wanting to provide broad support to employees. Lastly, benefits have gotten more complex, which means more communication, education and planning is needed."
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Welke explains where employers should be putting their energy in 2025.
Closing gaps and covering more
Figuring out what benefits a workforce actually wants is an essential part of building an impactful plan. Welke notes that things like high deductible health plans and supplemental health products are ways employers can reduce out-of-pocket expenses and close gaps in care for employees.
When it comes to which benefits to choose, looking at employee needs during different life stages can help. For example, New York Life data shows that while 77% of Gen X and 84% of baby boomers ranked an employer match on a 401(k) or other retirement savings plan as a top benefit, Gen Z and millennials hold it in lower regard, at 61% and 73%, respectively.
Welke also encourages employers to look at how they can round out benefits to ease life stressors in general, such as with expanded mental health coverage, and by life stage or event, where things like bereavement offerings and focused financial wellness support can be greatly helpful.
"We're seeing a lot of clients getting requests from their employees tied to financial wellness specifically," she says. "[Clients are] getting asked questions that they historically haven't, like, 'How do I buy a home? What should I do about my student loan debt?' We're seeing employers think about how to bring in different services, whether that be student loan consolidation or broader financial wellness programs. There's no one size fits all, but [think] about how to bring in those different programs to meet your employee population needs."
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Increasing benefits understanding
Along with deciding what to offer, employers should prioritize benefits communication — and not just during open enrollment, Welke says. Various methods of delivering information should be explored — the more digestible, the better — and tech is a great asset, she says.
"It's not a once and done thing — it's ongoing," Welke says. "The secret to success is figuring out how to make insurance and these services simple for employees to understand. We've leveraged technology in a few different ways: We've had a lot of success with one to two-minute videos that provide the highlights versus [long, written out] benefits guide."
For example, to assist its members, New York Life Group Benefit Solutions launched myLeadGuide last year, a "planning tool for individuals going out on pregnancy or for maternity or paternity leave." It helps parents-to-be figure out the program details available based on their employer, geographic location, and other details.
They also rolled out an interactive benefits assistant as part of their voluntary benefits portfolio and a Balance Wellbeing digital tool that offers suggestions about which offerings to choose based on members' answers to a series of questions.
"It's around leveraging technology to meet the need you're seeing [within] your employee population, and getting creative about how to communicate it so people leverage those tools," she says.
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Assessing benefits efficacy
Smart spending is at the core of every benefits decision, and programs should be continually assessed for necessary updates. Don't just add — evaluate, Welke says. Seeking consistent employee feedback is one way to keep benefits fresh.
"Take a step back, look at your work environment results, do huddles, do different forums that get you that feedback," says Welke. "It might vary based on the demographics you have now versus what you had in the past, and you might be surprised by what people are really needing and what is valuable to them. Before you just continue to add, say, 'What do we have? What is the utilization? And is it a communication challenge — if we communicated more, would people use it, or is there a need to shift it?' We need to evolve the programs that we offer."
To take some of the burden off of HR, Welke reminds employers that consulting external benefits experts can make the evaluation of plans easier. From presenting more options to sharing what has and hasn't worked for other organizations, this can save time and money.
"It's important for employers to know they're not alone — there are [many] struggling with the same challenges," she says. "And that's where a broker, consultant, carrier or vendor partner can bring those perspectives forward, [saying] 'Here's how we've seen other client employers struggling with these challenges close the gap,' and give you alternatives. I always encourage clients to leverage the vendor partners, the carriers they work with, or their consultants, because they're going to have that broad perspective."
