What are advantages of flexible benefits?
Events of recent years have forced employers to reassess and adjust their benefit plans to meet the changing priorities and conditions of their employees. The new normal deepened the connection people have with technology due to the need to minimise face-to-face interaction, alongside the acceleration of digitalisation and workplace transformation. These changing times call for employers to be bold and innovative when it comes to their benefit programs – to support their diverse (multigenerational and multicultural) workforces in different situations and drive a strong employee experience. Show Flexible benefits enable employees to personalise their benefit package using employer-provided options that are most relevant to them. Aside from providing a core level of benefits, employers can provide varied offerings and bring more valuable benefit options to their employees. For example, a young employee caring for elderly parents may opt for a benefit package with additional medical services, while an employee with school-age children may prefer more vacation leave or childcare benefits. Employees see greater value when offered more flexible choice for their benefits. Employees see greater value when offered more flexible choice for their benefits (Figure 1).1 Flexible benefits give employees more control, which can help them to feel more positive about their benefits and increase their understanding and usage of the benefit plan. This can be an effective differentiator for branding, talent attraction and retention, and engagement as it assures employees that the organisation cares about their specific circumstances in life. Employers can also optimise costs and better budget for benefit offerings by focusing more on benefits that matter to their workforce. Focus areas for designing flexible benefitsAcross Asia Pacific, nearly one-third of organisations are already offering choice and customisation in their benefit offerings. In the next two years, a further 49% plan to introduce flexibility or broaden their benefit packages (Figure 2)2. For employers planning to offer flexible benefits, there are three areas of focus:
Employers can identify employees’ actual needs and wants by developing effective listening strategies to create an appropriate and robust list of relevant and targeted benefit choices. Starting points for employers considering flexible benefitsOffering a flexible range of benefits does not have to be overwhelming. There are three things that organisations can consider when designing a flexible benefit plan geared to meeting employee needs and employer objectives:
Giving employees the ability to choose what matters to them and their loved ones, is one step towards building a better employee experience. Transforming benefits to offer more choice and flexibility comes with many advantages for employers and employees. Today’s workforce increasingly want employers to take a more active role in protecting their health and wellbeing, and employers have shown they are willing to step up. Giving employees the ability to choose what matters to them and their loved ones, is one step towards building a better employee experience. Stay tuned for the next article in our series on benefits and the employee experience, where we tackle the impact of burnout. SourcesWhat are the advantages and disadvantages of a flexible benefits plan?Flexible benefits allow employees to choose the benefits they value most, which is great for employee recruitment and retention. The disadvantages of offering a flex benefits package pertain to time, resources, communication and cost.
What is a major disadvantage of flexible benefit plans?Potential to Lose Money. Some flex plans do not allow for employees to save the money that they do not spend over the year. This would mean that employees would be putting in a certain amount of money each month for their plan and not being able to recoup that money if they do not use their benefits.
What is flexible benefit?A benefit program that offers employees a choice between various benefits including cash, life insurance, health insurance, vacations, retirement plans, and child care.
How can flexible benefits motivate employees?Flexible benefits can motivate employees further by helping solve problems that may have already been inhibiting motivation. It could be financial worries or health worries for example, which flexible benefits can help solve.
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