Are there gaps in your benefits strategy? While salary remains top-of-mind for Canadian employees, a robust benefits package can significantly impact employee retention and candidate attraction. Studies have revealed that “wanting better benefits” is one of the top reasons employees seek new employment, making your offerings critical in your overall talent strategy.

In this article, we look at how you can identify and resolve gaps in your benefits packages and provide the types of benefits that today’s employees want.

Are gaps in your employee benefits affecting retention?

As workforce needs constantly evolve, company benefit plans don’t always keep pace. Core benefits such as paid time off, medical and dental coverage, a prescription drug plan, and a retirement plan or RRSP with employer matching can be essential. But today’s employees are looking for more. In a survey of Canadian workers, 37.5% of respondents said they would leave their current role to work for an employer offering better benefits.

And the market is responding. One recent survey showed that 39% of Canadian employers actively add new perks and benefits to support their talent attraction and retention efforts better. Another way employers can respond to changing employee needs is through a flexible employee benefits plan. Flexible benefits allow individuals to choose the coverages they want or allocate spending toward particular areas. Offering a flexible plan can enable employers to meet the needs of a diverse workforce and avoid gaps in their benefits strategy.

Choosing benefits that today’s employees value

What types of benefits do employees want? Some new and in-demand benefit options include:

  • Digital health services: Due to the pandemic, digital health care options, such as telehealth, online health assessments, and other virtual care services, have become more widely available. Virtual offerings don’t typically break the bank and can increase access to care, especially for employees with limited mobility or demanding schedules. Online health services are also particularly appealing to Gen Z workers.
  • Mental health support: Indeed’s research shows that one in ten Canadians currently consider mental health a barrier in their work. Mental health benefits can include coverage for psychologists, therapists, and other service providers, in-person or virtually. You might also consider diagnostic services and programs, such as resilience training. While approximately two-thirds of employees in Canada have access to some mental health support through their employer, 80% of study respondents indicated that their current coverage was inadequate for their needs.
  • Caregiver support: With an aging population, there may be more to caregiving responsibilities than childcare. Consider providing additional benefits such as temporary or permanent care for a senior or disabled parent, spouse, or other family member on top of child care.
  • Reproductive care: Reproductive benefits include coverage for infertility diagnostics, fertility support, in vitro fertilization (IVF), and egg freezing. Comprehensive reproductive health care coverage can be a significant attraction and retention factor for particular demographics. A Canadian study in 2020 revealed that only 5% of Canadian employers offered coverage for both fertility drugs and procedures. A related gap is extending coverage to include adoption and surrogacy, which less than 10% of Canadian employers currently support.
  • Financial wellness: Employer-supported financial planning goes beyond retirement savings. Financial wellness plans that provide financial coaching and develop financial literacy can reduce employee stress and improve wellbeing. One survey showed that Canadians are particularly interested in investing advice (23%), how to offset inflation (19%), retirement planning (19%), and managing the cost of living (15%).

How to resolve gaps in your employee benefits

When considering strategies for identifying and resolving gaps in your benefits offerings, we recommend a five-step process:

  1. Understand your employees’ needs. To effectively fill gaps in your benefits strategy, survey your employees to understand what benefits they most desire. Discover their unmet needs and areas where they feel a void in coverage. You may also want to survey the landscape to identify what your competitors offer and emerging trends in total compensation.
  2. Choose offerings within your budget. Providing a responsive employee benefits package doesn’t have to break the bank. Determine how to allocate your budget to obtain the most significant impact while responding to employee needs. In addition to more extensive offerings, consider less expensive options that can boost employee morale and workplace wellbeing, such as extra time off or greater flexibility.
  3. Communicate benefits changes to employees. An impressive benefits package can't deliver value if it’s unknown, misunderstood, or unused. As you introduce new benefits, share this information with your employees in various ways, such as e-mail announcements, quarterly newsletters, and on internal websites.
  4. Monitor and assess. Keep track of which benefits offerings employees use and conduct follow-up surveys to understand the ones they value. Remember that employees may only use some benefits in specific situations, so low usage doesn’t always mean low value.
  5. Educate. Regularly educate and update employees on your full benefits package. Needs can change over an individual’s term of employment, and employees may not realize they have access to benefits relevant to their new circumstances. Make talking about your offerings a part of your employee communication strategy, and integrate key information into your employer branding on your company page.

A strong benefits strategy helps break down barriers for employees

A good benefits package can help employees address physical and mental health concerns, reduce stress, tackle financial challenges, and build resilience—all of which can break down barriers to create a happier, more productive workforce. With an ongoing commitment to ensuring that your benefits meet your employees’ actual and varied needs, you can help overcome this common workplace barrier.Interested in better understanding other workplace barriers that could affect your employees?

Download our full report for more insights.