Benefits have never been so important – and in a post-pandemic world, they're an essential weapon against the Great Resignation
HRD Canada is proud to present this year's 5-Star Benefit Programs winners, who proved how employers and their teams can thrive amid higher expectations around employee perks. These winners were able to satisfy increasing employee demands in a post-pandemic world, navigating remote work, overnight digitization, and inflation worries with ease. Our winners this year include:
- ADP Canada
- Blue Ocean Dental Group
- Hyundai Auto Canada
- Niagara Casinos
- Purolator
Kate Interisano, compensation and benefits manager at Niagara Casinos, told HRD the pandemic forced them to make some changes in their benefits plans to ensure coverage is heightened while costs are reduced.
"We also saw the pandemic take a toll on our associates and their dependents' mental health," added Interisano. "While we have always focused on providing our associates with benefit coverage and resources, the pandemic further highlighted the need to expand our coverage to provide access to more practitioners."
The changing nature of benefits since the pandemic meant an increased focus on DEI, with Canadian organizations placing more onus on inclusivity-related perks in their ranks. This is the case for Hyundai Auto Canada, which is offering gender affirmation coverage, surrogacy and fertility plans, as well as parental leave top-up for the birthing individual or their partner.
"Most benefits are based on traditional family structures and that leaves a lot of people out — especially those from the queer community," Kirk Merrett, director of human resources and administration at Hyundai, told HRD.
Whether you’re a smaller start up or an industry giant, your benefits plans are an integral part of your overall employee experience strategy – intrinsically linked to retention and talent attraction. And remember, if you’re not pushing your perks out there, if you’re not promoting them to your people, then there’s little point in having them in the first place.
"The more benefits you offer, the more important it is to continue to communicate and educate associates on these options," said Jill Doucette, senior manager, benefits. "Many employers communicate during recruitment, onboarding, and annual enrolment time. At ADP, benefits communication and education occurs at those times but also regularly throughout the year to ensure that associates remember the wide array of benefits available."
Once again, congratulations to this year's winners! Find the full list of winners here.
