Employers need to ‘cross-pollinate’ their benefits to maximize utilization

As employers constantly roll out more benefits, employees can become exhausted as they navigate the plethora of offerings on the table.

Thirty-five percent of employees do not understand the benefits available to them, according to a survey by Voya Financial. Yet employees consider their benefits package to be a critical part of their workplace satisfaction: 30% of employees are planning to leave their current employer for an organization with better benefits, according to data by Randstad.

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There is a greater need for benefits that address workers’ overall well-being. Employers should think more strategically about how benefits that address mental health, financial wellness and family planning, among other needs, can integrate with each other to maximize the employee experience, says Matthew Watson, co-founder of Origin, a financial wellness benefit platform.

“There's a massive wave of turnover coming in the next six to 12 months as people take stock of how their employer is thinking about the employee experience,” Watson says. “Companies want to keep people happy and engaged and then make themselves attractive to new people who want to work at a place that takes holistic benefits seriously.”

Origin integrates with other benefit programs offered by employers. The platform “cross-pollinates” with other available offerings to address common stressors and pain points, Watson says.

“We're dynamically recommending benefits to the employee,” Watson says. “If they indicate they want to start a family, we know the company has a fertility benefit we can recommend to them.”

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All of these benefits have a financial wellness component, Watson says. By integrating financial wellness with other highly-prioritized benefits, employers will see greater engagement and a higher return on investment for the employees they have now, and the ones they want to recruit in the future.

Origin is continuing to expand its platform with a new financial wellness tool that helps employees navigate equity decisions. Equity Manager provides resources for employees to understand their equity and make informed decisions about their financial well-being with the help of financial professionals.

“Equity can be an attractive benefit to employees, and Origin can help them realize the full value of their equity and be more confident in their financial health,” Watson says. “Benefits are transitioning from the ping pong tables and in-office snacks, to benefits that help people in their daily lives.”