What is the ‘magic trifecta’ of employee benefits?

Author: Ginger Christ in HR Dive

Original Article here.

Dive Brief:

• Nearly half of U.S. workers don’t have the benefits they need at work, according to the results of a survey by Perceptyx, an employee experience company. Of the 1,500 full-time employees surveyed, 59% said they had “benefits envy” of friends’ and family members’ healthcare coverage.
• When it comes to benefits equity, the survey found that medical, maternity and mental health are the “magic trifecta,” Emily Killham, senior director of people analytics, research and insights at Perceptyx, said. “When employees have access to all three, women and men feel equally that their needs are met.”
• Yet 53% of those surveyed said they don’t have mental health coverage, 51% don’t have maternity leave, and 25% don’t have any medical benefits, per the results.

Dive Insight:

Men were 1.5 times more likely than women to say their benefits met their needs, the survey found. 

“Despite major strides, workplace benefits are still not aligned with women’s needs,” Killham said. “To attract and retain female employees, employers should make sure their benefits package is serving the workforce they have today — and want to have tomorrow.”

Those women who reported having the magic trifecta of benefits said they were more engaged in their work, more productive, performing better quality work and less likely to search for a job with better benefits, the survey found. 

Incomplete benefits packages can “rob” workplaces of women’s talent, according to survey results published in summer 2023 by the British Standards Institute. Women surveyed said they would be more likely to be able to remain in the workforce if they had better support for maternity and their return to work, perimenopause or menopause and flexibility on when and where they work, per the survey.