Learn the 5Ws of Lifestyle Benefits

People don’t want a job where they just work, collect a paycheck, and leave. They want to perform work that is meaningful, and they want to feel valued by their employer. This isn’t as hard to achieve as it may sound. In fact, a 2019 poll of 8,664 professionals in the U.S. found 85 percent of respondents were either somewhat or very satisfied with their jobs. What contributed the most to their satisfaction? No surprise here—doing meaningful work, feeling valued, and having a healthy work-life balance.

How can employers achieve this level of employee satisfaction? One way to make employees feel valued is by supporting their overall wellness and health by adding lifestyle benefits to your benefits package. Lifestyle benefits go beyond traditional health care benefits offerings, as they focus on supporting employees in meeting their personal goals and needs through things like fitness memberships, financial services, and tuition reimbursement. Essentially, lifestyle benefits are designed to make life outside the workplace more enjoyable, affordable, and balanced.

In this article, we explore the 5 “Ws”—Who, What, When, Where, and Why—of lifestyle benefits to explain how you can use this tool to improve your benefits package and show your investment in your employees as valued individuals in the workplace!

As an employer or broker, you can offer a variety of lifestyle benefits options to employees as part of a well-rounded benefits package designed to meet the needs and interests of a diverse workforce. This can help set you apart from the competition when you are looking to hire new talent in a competitive market. Lifestyle benefits not only allow you to attract the best people to your company, but also to keep them around longer as they enjoy the perks and support afforded to them through these benefits.

This is different than employee “perks” like having a nice café/restaurant or laundry service onsite, as it really helps people reach important life goals like healthier living, financial planning, educational pursuits, and supporting family needs. These programs can be tailored exactly to your organization’s specifications. In the increasingly competitive job market, this really sets employers apart because it demonstrates a vested interest on the part of the employer to provide opportunities for personal, as well as professional, growth.

Employers commonly deal with traditional health care benefits, but it’s just as easy to set up an account that covers a gym membership or financial planning services. Lifestyle benefits can be customized to meet many different types of needs. For instance, an employee might be sending their child to college for the first time. If they want advisors or financial planners, a lifestyle benefits account can cover it. Or what if an employee is adopting a child into their family? An employer can help support this big decision by helping the employee offset the costs of the process through an adoption assistance program. Or what if an employee wants to take advantage of a meditation app that costs $1.99? This could also be covered through a lifestyle benefits program. Everyone benefits from a calm, happy, and valued employee!

These are other examples of offerings you can include in a lifestyle benefits program:

You should consider adding lifestyle benefits when you feel that your current benefits options aren’t meeting the needs of the organization or employees. If you aren’t attracting the talent you want for open roles at your organization, or you’re losing your best people to other companies with better benefits packages, then it may be time to consider how lifestyle benefits might give you that boost your organization needs. For brokers, lifestyle benefits might be a solution to offer clients who are looking for new ways to support employees and help them offset their costs.

If you already have lifestyle benefits available, do employees know about them and how to access these accounts? Do you have educational resources and initiatives dedicated to informing employees about their options and how lifestyle benefits work? Do you mention these benefits in your job descriptions when seeking new talent?

Really the answer to the question of when should you offer lifestyle benefits is—now! Now is the right time to make the most of lifestyle benefits by setting them up or ensuring your employees are aware of their perks.

The answer is anywhere. Lifestyle benefits can be customized according to the needs of your organization and employees based on regional, local, or other factors. For example, if your workforce is fully remote and located across the U.S., you can still offer lifestyle benefits as part of your compensation since you can set it to whatever stipulations you want—for gym memberships, continuing education, or to help cover groceries and utilities. These benefits are not tied to a region, state, or industry. This is a benefit that can be tailored exactly to your workplace and your workforce.

Now that so many jobs aren’t tied to a physical location, employers have to work harder than ever to make sure to fill positions with the right people—and keep them there. The pandemic pushed many companies to adopt remote work policies for safety. As of December 2020, nearly 42% of the American workforce was working remotely according to a study conducted by the work marketplace company Upwork. They estimate that by 2025, as much as 22 percent of the workforce will be working remotely, which is an 87 percent increase from before the pandemic!

There are so many reasons to provide lifestyle benefits at your organization, and they boil down to one thing: employee satisfaction. Remember what we discussed in the beginning about employees wanting to feel valued by their employers? If this can be achieved by helping employees to afford the lifestyle they enjoy and envision for themselves, then let’s get this party started! By offering lifestyle benefits, your organization can support people in their pursuit of a happier, healthier, more fulfilling life both in and outside of the workplace.

According to a Glassdoor survey, 60 percent of employees say benefit offerings are a significant factor in their decision to take a new job or stay put. Having lifestyle benefits as an option keeps the workplace fresh. These benefits aren’t going away. In fact, they’re likely going to increase in popularity as they become more standard and younger people enter the workforce expecting these benefits as a staple rather than a perk in their compensation package. Better to jump on the lifestyle benefits train now before it leaves the station!

Thankfully, Lifestyle Benefits offerings can adapt to what people need. It’s completely open and flexible in order to meet employee needs. Set your mind—and your reimbursement dollars—free!