Surprise! Employees Want To Be Treated Like Real People - Insurance News | InsuranceNewsNet

InsuranceNewsNet — Your Industry. One Source.™

Sign in
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Home Now reading Top Stories
Topics
    • Life Insurance News
    • Annuity News
    • Health/Employee Benefits
    • Property and Casualty
    • Advisor News
    • Washington Wire
    • Regulation News
    • Sponsored Articles
    • Monthly Focus
  • INN Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Webinars
  • Free Newsletters
Sign in or register to be an INNsider.
  • Exclusives
  • NewsWires
  • Magazine
  • Webinars
  • Free Newsletters
  • Insider Pro
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Staff
  • Contact
  • Newsletters

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Health/Employee Benefits News
Top Stories RSS Get our newsletter
Order Prints
May 10, 2018 Top Stories No comments
Share
Share
Tweet
Email

Surprise! Employees Want To Be Treated Like Real People

By Cyril Tuohy InsuranceNewsNet

As barriers between work and life dissolve, employees want benefit choices that reflect more flexibility and customization, a new survey has found.

In many cases, employees are willing to pay more for the convenience, MetLife’s annual U.S. Employee Benefits Trends Survey revealed.

  • 87 percent of workers whose employer enables them to manage life in and outside of work are more loyal and satisfied, the survey found.
  • 72 percent say that having the option to work remotely is important to work/life balance.
  • 60 percent of employees (69 percent of millennials) are willing to pay more to have benefits choices that meet their needs.

“People are saying ‘Treat me like a person, not a job description,'” said Todd Katz, executive vice president, Group Benefits at MetLife. “Employees want a say in how, when and where they work – and they are prepared to reward the organizations that deliver with hard work, performance and loyalty.”

Divergence Around Financial Wellness

Employees already have many choices in every other aspect of their lives, from food stores to retail shopping to streaming media.

Employers that provide benefits choices and opportunities that allow employees a work-life balance and professional development are best positioned to retain and attract qualified employees in a blending – and blended – workforce at or near full employment.

But in the realm of financial wellness, one of the most requested benefits, few employers offer the kind of help employees are looking for, the survey found.

  • 84 percent of employees want or need financial wellness programs to help with financial planning, education and budgeting,
  • Only 18 percent of employers offer financial wellness programs, the survey found.
  • 43 percent of workers believe their employers understand the financial pressures employees are under, down from 54 percent last year.

Employees need help with their financial affairs “and are trying to figure out what to do,” Katz said.

The Two-Edged Sword Of Automation

While automating benefits processes holds the key to blending work and life by making flexibility and customization easier, many employees worry about eroding human connections in the workplace, the survey found.

The very tools that allow employees to blend work and life risk turning automation into a world ruled by computers, mouse clicks and algorithms – or automatons.

“While automation is the next workplace frontier, the biggest fear is that work is losing its human touch, likely due to unmet needs for personalization and recognition,” Katz said.

The survey found that 46 percent of employees and 51 percent of employers worry about the workplace becoming “less human.”

“For employees to feel connected and loyal in this era of automation, a positive employee experience is essential,” Katz said.

Data for MetLife’s 16th Annual U.S. EBTS survey was collected in December and January by research firm ORC International.

ORC conducted 2,501 interviews with benefits executives at companies with at least two employees, and 2,653 interviews with full-time employees, ages 21 and older, at companies with at least two employees.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Writer Cyril Tuohy has covered the financial services industry for more than 15 years. Cyril may be reached at [email protected]

© Entire contents copyright 2018 by InsuranceNewsNet.com Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted without the expressed written consent from InsuranceNewsNet.com.

Older

Unum Offers Employer-Paid Plan For Out-Of-Pocket Hospital Costs

Newer

NAIC Veteran Regulator ‘Concerned’ About SEC Best Interest Rule

Advisor News

  • Helping clients navigate difficult estate-planning conversations
  • How to enhance your client’s retirement plan through the SECURE 2.0 Act
  • Creating financially fearless female investors
  • Todd Shea: Have your clients considered putting their property into a trust?
  • Fed’s Barr acknowledges oversight lapses before SVB failure
More Advisor News

Annuity News

  • Commentary: Why Monte Carlo simulations can sell retirement investors short
  • Rethinking a 2023 rebalance as rate hikes remain
  • Why MYGAs are enjoying a renaissance
  • Nationwide and Fidelity Investments establish distribution relationship
  • Conning: Growing demand for in-plan annuities creates opportunity for insurers
More Annuity News

Health/Employee Benefits News

  • Coalition aims to keep people covered as Medicaid unwinding begins
  • State informing nearly 1 million New Mexicans that Medicaid enrollment no long automatic
  • Nevada's Rosen opposes changes to Medicare Advantage funding formula
  • Newtown psychologist admits to $79K Medicaid fraud
  • Obamacare’s good Rx: Republican-leaning states wake up to the value of expanding Medicaid eligibility
More Health/Employee Benefits News

Life Insurance News

  • AM Best will be ‘all over’ life insurers if high-risk assets escalate
  • Life insurance industry sales focus change cited in falling policy counts
  • State insurance regulators pursue more data on industry use of AI
  • Modern Life announces distribution partnership with Symetra
  • LIMRA: Life insurance premium expected to maintain record levels through 2024
More Life Insurance News

- Presented By -

Top Read Stories

  • Life insurance illustration rules on the clock as full rework looms
  • State insurance regulators pursue more data on industry use of AI
  • Commentary: Why Monte Carlo simulations can sell retirement investors short
  • State insurance regulators resume effort to clean up misleading health ads
  • Investors, regulators, legislators anxious as banking system faces another shaky week
More Top Read Stories >

Press Releases

  • Insurity Partners with Attestiv to Provide AI-Powered Automation and Enhanced Fraud Protection for P&C Insurance Carriers
  • Insurity’s Annual Event, Excellence in Insurance, Set to Attract the Largest Number of Carriers & MGAs Using Cloud-Based Software
  • RFP #T01523
  • Senior Market Sales Enters Under-65 Individual Health Insurance Market With Acquisition of O’Neill Marketing
  • RFP #T01723
More Press Releases > Add Your Press Release >

How to Write For InsuranceNewsNet

Find out how you can submit content for publishing on our website.
View Guidelines

Topics

  • Life Insurance News
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits
  • Property and Casualty
  • Advisor News
  • Washington Wire
  • Regulation News
  • Sponsored Articles
  • Monthly Focus

Top Sections

  • Life Insurance News
  • Annuity News
  • Health/Employee Benefits News
  • Property and Casualty News
  • AdvisorNews
  • Washington Wire
  • Insurance Webinars

Our Company

  • About
  • Editorial Staff
  • Magazine
  • Write for INN
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Sign up for our FREE e-Newsletter!

Get breaking news, exclusive stories, and money- making insights straight into your inbox.

select Newsletter Options
Facebook Linkedin Twitter
© 2023 InsuranceNewsNet.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • AdvisorNews

Sign in with your Insider Pro Account

Not registered? Become an Insider Pro.