Many employers already deploy surveys to monitor employee engagement with their organization, but there remains an important opportunity for advisers to help clients understand the role benefits play in that engagement.
To seize that opportunity, advisers can learn from vendors that are leading the research. One such effort, for example, is the Guardian Workplace Benefits Study, launched last month by Guardian Life Insurance Company.
The study, designed to measure the perceived value of employee benefits among working Americans, contains views from 1,667 benefit plan participants, as well as 1,071 employers, captured in separate online surveys. The resulting Benefits Value Index reveals that workers, on average, have a score of 6.8 (based on a scale of 1 to 10). This suggests that while employees do value their benefits, there is significant room for improvement and understanding.
The Index reflects the level of belief employees have that their benefits are meeting their needs, are reasonably priced and contribute to their health and their financial security, as well as how successfully their employers are communicating their offerings.
