6 Wellness Perks and Benefits That Employees Care About

There’s a lot of research that connects employee wellbeing to business performance. Health issues, including mental health is the leading cause for employees taking sick days. On the other hand, mounting evidence suggests that organizations investing in employee wellness have experienced exceptional performance outcomes.

No wonder more and more organizations are taking responsibility for their employees’ health and embracing several innovative approaches to uphold a culture of health.

In this post, we will share top wellness benefits organizations can introduce to positively contribute to employee wellness.

1. Flexible Working Hours

A survey reveals that 95% of working professionals desire flexible working hours over other employee perks. Smart employers understand that flexibility at workplace not just benefits employees but also gives the organization an edge when recruiting the best talent in the industry.

Flexible work hours allow employees to balance their professional and personal lives, thereby reducing the stress and burnout at work.

Thus, making workplace flexibility a priority can improve employee wellbeing. Several organizations are proposing a four-day work week or allowing employees to clock in at work as per their convenience.

Here are a few tips to help HR leaders keep everything on track besides flexible schedules.

• Train Mid-Level Managers: Encourage managers to embrace employee autonomy and avoid micromanaging. This will instill trust between employees and managers.

• Set Clear Goals: Discuss the daily tasks of each team member. Involve managers in the process of goal setting and encourage them to work on realistic goals.

• Promote a Culture of Measuring Success: Empower managers with tools that can help track employee progress with no hassles. For instance, ask the managers what tools they use to measure employee progress. Understand whether their tech stack is efficient enough to measure the KPIs and goals.

If not, request the management to deploy advanced project management tools, such as Trello and Zoho. These cloud-based project management tools can help managers assign tasks, collaborate with the team, and track success metrics and KPIs while removing the sweat from the process.

• Help Employees Perform Better: Join employee review sessions with the manager. This will help you understand each employee's performance and the challenges they face when managing work and personal life.

2. Healthcare Plans

Ignoring employee wellness and healthcare can become a pressing issue. Besides hampering their personal life, deteriorated employee health can impact your organization. For instance, it can lead to chronic absenteeism, missed targets, and poor productivity.

Reports state that over 50% of professionals suffer from back pain. Another report reveals that hectic work life can lead to work anxiety and depression.

Considering these sitting diseases, providing a basic healthcare plan may not suffice.

No wonder, firms like GoDaddy, Kimley-Horn and Associates, and SmartBrief offer to pay 100% of employee health insurance premiums.

Get inspired by these companies and offer beneficial healthcare policies.

Here are a few healthcare plans to consider.

• Healthcare Cost Reimbursements: This coverage offers reimbursement of employee medical expenses within a fixed timeline. However, unused healthcare funds can be rolled over to succeeding years.

• Private Health Insurance: This key employee health benefit package is offered by various firms. It reduces the waiting time to access medical facilities.

• Family Health Insurance Plan: This can be a valuable tool to attract and retain the best talent. The reason? Employees won't need to worry about their family's health.

• Paid Self-Care Days: The pandemic pushed mental health issues and work-related stress into the spotlight. So, allowing employees to take time off for mental health can be a game changer. Besides, you can permit a 15-minute power nap every day. This can boost their productivity while reducing work-related stress.

This AI-powered employee wellness platform can help HR professionals to:

• Create and host employee wellness programs.

• Provide instant incentivization to proactive and fit employees.

• Track employee activities with seamless integration with wearable devices.

• Manage and customize workplace wellness campaigns with an admin dashboard.

Here's what Michelle (Shaw) Metivier, HR leader at SRS Medical, says:

Vantage Fit provided a smooth experience for us with its virtual and cost-effective nature. The fact that our employees could easily download the application on their phones and sync it with their fitness wearables motivated them to participate in the program.

So, implement this app to help your employees stay healthy and productive.

3. Retirement Plan or Pension

At several firms, retirement plans are a central part of workplace wellness programs because they address an employee’s financial needs. These plans help employees better manage their immediate needs, thereby improving their wellness and overall quality of life.

A study by Morgan Stanley reveals that 93% of working professionals opt for a company that provides retirement planning assistance. This is one of their top priorities.

Given economic uncertainty and inflation, this stat is not at all surprising.

Working professionals are more conscious about finance management than ever.

Here's how you can help -

Offer a 401(k) retirement plan to secure your team's future. It is a retirement-savings plan that most top leaders offer to their employees.

In this retirement plan, employers contribute a certain amount while the rest is deducted from the employee's salary. Most employers pay half the amount while the employees pay the rest.

For instance, if the employee pays 50 dollars, the employer will add 50 as a 401(k) contribution. The employees can withdraw the final amount on their retirement. However, in emergencies, the employees can pull money at any given time.

4. Mental Health Benefits

A recent report by Health and Safety Executive reveals that employees often develop mental health issues, such as stress, depression, and anxiety at workplaces. In fact, a recent Gallup Emotions survey reveals that nearly half of the workforce is stressed and feels frustrated at work.

In such a case, offering a corporate mental health wellness program can help the workforce thrive, boosting productivity and employee engagement. Many firms are adding mental health benefits to their corporate wellness package to help their employees relieve stress, burnout, and other mental health issues.

Mental health benefits usually include a comprehensive health insurance plan that covers counseling or therapy. It could also be a Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that aims at solving employee issues related to finances, stress, or other non-work conflicts.

5. Parental Leaves (Family Wellbeing)

Parental leave allows working professionals to take off on several child-related events. For instance, they can take leaves following childbirth, an adoption event, or when the child needs parental care.

Although the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) states that employers should offer unpaid leave for childcare, the decision stays with the employer.

According to a survey, 86% of companies have policies that include parental leave. The ratio has significantly increased from 65% in 2021. The key highlight is that 43% of employees appreciate and find such policies helpful.

What's more? Google announced 18 to 24 weeks of parental leave on 27th January 2022. The policy states that new parents can avail of 24 weeks of parental leave. On the other hand, adopting and surrogate parents can take 18 weeks of parental leave.

According to a report, Microsoft US provides new dads with 12 weeks of parental leave. The best part is that the firm offers $10,000 for adoption.

So, include parental leave policy in employee benefits. This can help retain employees, thus ensuring your firm's long-term success.

6. Women's Health

A recent Harvard Business Review report reveals that companies offering women’s health benefits stand a higher chance of retaining top female talent and boosting productivity. Between 2020 and 2022, nearly 1.1 million women left the workplace because of health-related concerns.

To attract and retain female employees, several firms are introducing policies that support women’s health needs. For instance, there are health plans for maternal health and conditions like diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, and pregnancy-induced conditions like hypertension.

Furthermore, companies are also helping women manage their behavioral health issues, including anxiety and depression, by building a flexible working environment.

Conclusion

The wellness perks and benefits a company offers reflect its values and culture. If you want to go the extra mile and promote health, happiness, and productivity, it’s time you introduce these wellness perks. This will help you build an engaging and wellness-centric environment in your workplace.