Insight One

Employers are improving benefits to retain employees, despite of economic and labor market volatility.

Similar to 2022, most organizations are offering new benefits or improving current benefits to attract or retain employees.

However, small businesses of less than 100 employees are less likely to have improved benefits. While employee attraction and retention is the top driver for offering improved benefits, more than half of organizations are also responding to employee demands.

Reasons for new and improved benefits

Attract and retain employees

Employee demand

Budget

Broker recommendation

of organizations have improved benefits in the past 12 months

of organizations improved base salary and bonuses

Especially in organizations over 1,000 employees

What have organizations improved?

Base salary	69%
Bonuses	68%
Paid time off	66%
Healthcare coverage	64%
Wellness benefits	61%
Professional development	58%
Sick leave	57%
Remote and flexible work	57%
401(k) matching	54%
Health Savings Accounts	39%
FSA or HRA	38%
Commuter benefits	36%
Emergency Savings Accounts	35%
Medical Travel Accounts	32%
Lifestyle Spending Accounts	31%

Which benefits are most impactful for employee attraction and retention according to HR leaders?

PTO	90%
Healthcare coverage	89%
Bonuses	88%
Base salary	88%
401(k) matching	85%
Wellness benefits	85%
Sick leave	85%
Remote and flexible work	85%
Commuter benefits	82%
Professional development	82%
Emergency Savings Accounts	81%
Medical Travel Accounts	80%
Health Savings Accounts	79%
COBRA	77%
Lifestyle Spending Accounts	75%
Pet Insurance	73%
ICHRA or QSEHRA	71%
FSA or HRA	70%

of HR leaders rate paid time off and healthcare coverage as the most important benefits for retaining employees.

However, 70% say that all benefits are impactful for retention and attraction.

Action items for employers and brokers

For HR leaders

Regularly survey employees to understand what’s working and what they want and need.
Conduct a salary audit within your company and industry to understand how your salaries compare to industry standards and if they are equitable across your company.
Connect with industry colleagues and experts to learn what benefits they are offering their employees and share strategies for increasing employee satisfaction.
Review benefits utilization data with your broker to understand what benefits are being used and where there is room for improvement.

For brokers

Check in with your clients to assess their current levels of satisfaction with their benefits.
Assist your clients in developing a benefits survey so you can get the data you need to help improve their offering.
Discuss what types of benefits are gaining popularity among your clients to ensure that their benefits packages remain competitive.
Review benefits utilization data with your clients to understand what benefits are being used and where there is room for improvement.
Ensure that you offer clients benefits that are easy-to-use and offer robust reporting to support benefits utilization and analysis.

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