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By Lauren Commander
Gone are the days where employee benefit plans consist only of the mundane but important healthcare plans long tied to employment. Today's workforce covets choice in benefit packages, wellness opportunities and flexible working arrangements.
Experts say companies should respond accordingly: At Visa, for example, employees choose whether their health plan covers extras like surrogacy and adoption; each year, they can tap into wellness initiatives like 16 hours to volunteer and a dozen confidential coaching and therapy sessions; and they can access financial assistance for biking or driving to work, as 90% of the roles are now hybrid.
"Benefits are more important than ever, specifically around the retention and attraction of employees," said Maribel Diz (DBA '21, MSHRM '07), Visa's senior vice president, People Team. "As employers, we need to take a proactive approach in designing benefit programs that align to employee needs."
Indeed, according to the 2024 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey conducted by WTW, nearly half of the employees at medium and large private sector employers chose their current employers because of their benefit packages. More than half credit these packages for keeping them there
Firms seeking to remain attractive to employees may see benefits as a cost-effective option, say experts. "Employers are very hesitant to increase their cost basis through permanent wage increases. Benefits, on the other hand, sometimes can provide perceived value to the employee for a cost that is relatively small compared to the cost of a wage increase," said Marc Weinstein, clinical professor of global leadership and management at FIU Business.
Company leaders, Weinstein advised, should gather information from employees about which new benefits they would most value. "Then engage in strategic thinking about how to communicate the value of this benefit in discussions about total compensation," he said.
Giving choice in their benefits package doesn't necessarily cost the company more and is highly desirable to workers. "Before, when you would join a company, they would say, ‘This is our benefit program, take it or leave it,'" Diz said. "Now, the more choices you give, the more satisfied the employees will be."
When it comes to wellness initiatives, companies have doubled down on choices and gotten creative, aiming to stem the mental health crisis consuming workers. At Visa, soccer and cycling clubs aim to help employees exercise and spend time outdoors. A concierge service helps plan vacations and, for a small fee, runs errands. Experts will develop a senior care plan for aging parents and secure emergency childcare. Working moms who are breastfeeding can ship their milk home while on business trips, all expenses paid. Such perks mean a lot to employees but don't cost the company much.
"Before, when you would join a company, they would say, ‘This is our benefit program, take it or leave it.' Now, the more choices you give, the more satisfied the employees will be."
– Maribel Diz
Perhaps the most sought-after benefit these days is the flexibility to work remotely, noted Ravi Gajendran, FIU Business professor of global leadership and management, who conducts research on flexible work arrangements. "Employers should stop treating hybrid or remote work as a family-friendly employee benefit and instead recognize that it is increasingly a standard work arrangement that benefits employers and employees," Gajendran said. "Companies also need to do a better job of communicating the value of people showing up at work."
When Dell implemented a return-to-office policy in 2024, telling employees they wouldn't be eligible for a promotion if they chose to work remotely, nearly half its workforce shrugged. At Visa, where hybrid roles bring most into the office a few days a week, the employees get four weeks annually to work from anywhere. Employers also are enticing workers with perks like free lunch because during the pandemic, they grew accustomed to saving on such expenses. "No one used to ask for lunch money for coming into the office," Gajendran said. "The companies paid a salary and expected employees to figure out their lunch. Now, people are having to budget for these things again and it seems like an added expense, so companies are offering things like free food to get people back to work."
Nathan Hiller, professor of global leadership and management at FIU Business, cautioned that just because a company offers a benefit doesn't mean employees can easily or practically use it. "Sometimes, employers may advertise a benefit, but jumping through the hoops to actually use that benefit can be a nightmare, making it practically useless."
Company culture also plays a big role in what happens to careers when employees do use certain benefits. "Does a company marginalize people who have taken extended parental leave?" Hiller asked.
Companies utilizing benefits rather than wage increases to attract and retain employees is a long-held practice with roots dating back to the 1920s as companies sought to humanize work that assembly lines had dehumanized a decade earlier. When the Great Depression struck, these benefits evaporated because employers simply couldn't afford them. The lesson? "These benefits can go away as easily as they've been introduced," Weinstein said. "Benefits are easier to take away, comparatively speaking, than wages. It's easier to say we've changed health insurance policies and will no longer offer X than to roll back wages."
Hiller pointed to Google, a company once known for its afternoon tea cart, incredible food and massages. "The benefits arms race for these very rich tech companies has finally pulled back a bit," he said. "They needed to be able to tell shareholders that costs and excessive spending were being scrutinized."
At Visa, the company is looking into future offerings and is considering menopause support. Momentum for this has been building as companies look to be more inclusive of all phases of their employees' lives, with a recent Bank of America report finding that 64% of American working women want menopausespecific benefits. Time will tell if this and other such benefits will continue to pick up steam.
