Canadians were given the equivalent of $1.6 billion a week in benefits in 2015
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Over 60% of employers agree that they have a responsibility to look after the health and wellbeing of their employees. And, considering Canadians were given the equivalent of $1.6 billion a week in benefits in 2015 – it’s obvious workers are just as keen on their perks.
But having a successful benefits plan is easier said than done – implementation can be a killer. To shed some much-needed light on this issue, we spoke to Gisela Carere, president of Benchmark Benefit Solutions and speaker at our upcoming webinar: Multi-generational benefits: Implementing a hyper-personalized benefit program.
“This is an issue which arises every time I talk to my clients. It’s the fact that employers, for the most part, don’t understand their employees’ needs. Employers actually have a wealth of information at their fingertips to craft an effective employee benefits plan. A perks package is the gateway to understanding your workers, though often it’s overlooked as simply an unnecessary expense.
“When we come in, we try to make the employers look through the data they have, so they that can understand what it is that their employees and members are claiming. From there, it’s important to assess the patterns, so that you can analyse and enact all aspects prior to revamping your plan.”
Gisela makes an excellent case. There’s really little point in employers trying to make-over their benefits plans without first speaking to their employees. Afterall, how do you expect to be able to give the workers what they want when you’ve not even entered into a conversation with them?
So, from here, what would Gisela suggest for an organization looking to build an award-winning benefits plan? Well, she promotes the notion of going back to the very core of HR – get to know your staff.
“Understand their needs,” she told HRD. “I really cannot emphasize this enough. If you don’t understand your demographics, the people that are working for you, how can you possibly meet their needs? You also need to understand your competitors if you want to attract and retain your top talent. Ask yourself; are your benefits at par to what your competitors are rolling out? Are you losing your leading employees because your benefits plans aren’t measuring up?”
Just as important, Gisela tells us, is not to be afraid to evolve and improve your plans along the way. The needs and wants of your employees will shift continually – so it’s vital you don’t remain stagnant.
“It really is an ever-evolving process,” added Gisela. “You should never stay at the status quo. Look to adapt and transform as you go along.”