HR leaders often believe that for a company to be an employer that is superior to its peers, it needs to offer competitive benefits ranging from skills training and pet insurance to foosball. New research finds this view outdated:Employee engagement and retention are not entirely positively correlated with benefits rewards. Employees have begun to focus on conditions beyond material well-being and assess how they feel about the company, so companies need to take different ways to satisfy employees.
Fortune 500 companies are spending more on employee benefits than ever before, averaging about $2,500 per employee per year. But a study by Gartner, a research consultancy that included 5,000 employees and more than 150 HR leaders around the world, shows that employee engagement has remained unchanged since 2016.
For example, only 31% of employees say their company offers special benefits. Only 23% of HR leaders expect the majority of employees to stay with the company after the pandemic ends.
Companies are always competing to offer the best benefits," said the authors of the study.
1. Carolina Valencia, Gartner's vice president of human resources, said, "But once basic needs are met, people are more receptive to emotional incentives than material well-being." Today's employees want to be treated as individuals, not just working machines. ”
At the same time, the researchers say that this does not mean that companies should give up all employee benefits, and what is needed now is a change in focus:Rather than just increasing benefits, company benefits leaders should focus on "human care" so that employees feel cared for in their pay, physically, and emotionally. In a survey conducted by Gartner in January 2021, 47% of employees said the current pressure is unprecedented, and only 37% believe that employers understand their needs in their personal lives and families.
In this regard, employers can provide personal care and make employees feel valued and supported by:
Make connections to employee life outside of work
Companies often shy away from non-work-related issues due to privacy concerns, but researchers believe those lines have blurred during the pandemic, and employees are no longer willing to pretend that work and life are separate. More than 60% of employees say it's important for companies to take into account their employees' concerns about their families and communities.
"Employees want managers to understand their role in life and make job adjustments when possible. ”Dion Love, vice president of human resources at Gartner and one of the study's authors, said, "Trust is key. ”
Recognizing this reality, AT&T designed an employee trust survey to help managers understand the extent to which employees are willing to share personal information, and then the results were discussed between employees and managers to find ways to strengthen trust in areas where trust was lacking.
Ensure autonomy
Many employers allow employees to work remotely at least part of the time. But that's not enough, we need to pursue "radical flexibility", where employees decide with whom, what and how much work they want to do. Of course, it's impossible to make this happen for all positions, but even non-white-collar workers can, and they should be given more time control, the researchers said.
At Novartis, a pharmaceutical company, each team can decide for themselves which working model is most effective and set their own boundaries for flexible working. Rentoxil, a pesticide company, shares its successful solutions for flexible working across the company. Gartner found that instead of providing shelter for idle employees, Gartner found that aggressive flexibility increased the number of high-performing employees by 40 percent.
Promote personal growth
Most employers offer courses that promote professional development, but more than half of employees also want opportunities for personal growth, whether it's career coaching, community service, or even language courses.
At EY, employees have learning opportunities and can take advantage of the employee experience**. One of the few requirements is that employees must be willing to help others take advantage of this opportunity as well. Broadening the definition of "development" in this way can increase employee performance and retention by 6%. "Learning something new, even if it's not work-related, is a good learning for employees," Valencia said, "and it's good for employers." ”
Deliver a common goal
Employees want to feel involved in the company's goals, including the way employers interact with the outside world. Some 53 percent of employees say they want company leaders to take a stand on the social issues they care about, rather than just making occasional statements. What many employees don't know is that there are already leaders who have done so: about 66% of HR leaders say the company has taken action on social issues, but only 32% of employees approve of this. Leaders' reluctance to emphasize actions taken by the company may be due to fear of alienating employees who disagree with their views, but this is not the case. 70% of employees said that the company would feel a sense of belonging if they took a position that they agreed with; And 68% of employees said they felt a sense of belonging even if they didn't agree.
"Don't shy away from these questions,"Dion Love suggested,"Face them head-on. ”Companies can organize regular meetings to discuss new issues, establish a framework to decide if and how to address them, and publicly share the results across the company. Some companies also urge employees to take action on their own.
Griffith Foods employees develop a personalized "goal plan" to understand the company's goals and identify intersections with personal goals. Employees are also encouraged to take action in areas where their personal goals overlap with those of the company, such as learning about sustainable agriculture and volunteering at local food donors.
Provide comprehensive benefits and help employees use them
Most large companies offer a variety of benefits programs, but only a few employees take advantage of them. This is a tricky question, and companies must first recognize that the needs of employees vary from person to person and from time to time. For example, Mashreq, a major financial institution in the Middle East, encourages employees to assess happiness in six areas, such as family happiness and financial well-being, and develop a plan to use company benefits to improve happiness. Leaders can also be upfront about mental health issues and provide managers with a list of do's and don'ts, such as asking employees about how they are and directing them to resources when needed, rather than trying to be their advisor.
The researchers emphasizedEmployees want to be seen as whole individuals and feel deeply connected to the company. Today's tight labor market is likely to prompt businesses to pay more attention to these issues. But it would be a mistake to see it as a short-term trend. "Gone are the days when you went to work just to get paid and benefits," Love said, "and the pandemic has exposed the limits of this transactional relationship, and large corporations will respond accordingly." Jia Huijuan |Translated by Jiang Huirong |School Sun Yan |Edit.
About the study Reinventing the Employee Value Proposition: The Human Deal, Gartner, 2021.
True leadership is equal to "affinity + ability".
At the end of the year, it is said that those who are ready to resign will have these behaviors.
Click to enter the Chinese website of Harbin Review to get more high-quality content.