Beyond Compliance: Innovative Benefits and Policies for Today’s Workforce in Practice
As November comes to a close, so does open enrollment for employees throughout the country. And while staff are choosing their individual policies, we have been exploring the benefits and policies that are meaningfully enhancing staff experiences and making a difference for organizations. I shared a few interesting innovations in my blog earlier this month in Beyond Compliance: 5 Innovative Benefits and Policies for Today's Workforce.
Then, in this month's co-mmunity webinar, we heard directly from leaders who have spent significant time working to create healthy, people-centered workplaces using policies and benefits as culture catalysts. I am excited to share just a few of the insights and perspectives we heard during that conversation.
Jennifer Svendsen Principal, Edgility Consulting
Why Innovative Policies Matter
Jennifer Svendsen, Edgility Consulting, started us off with the important reminder that, “Innovative and equitable benefits are key to attracting and retaining a high performing workforce.” Today’s workforce expects and deserves a workplace that is investing in the needs of the whole person. Healthy workplaces must meaningfully support collective and individual wellbeing. And an important investment in your people are innovative and equitable benefits and policies.
Courtney Tungate co-founder The Equity Project
Where Does a Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Belonging and Inclusion Fit into Benefits and Policy Development?
The Panel stressed that organizations should invest in equity because it has the power to align organizational values with dollars.
Courtney Tungate, The Equity Project, started us off by saying, “The answer is everywhere. If we aren’t intentional about diversity, equity and inclusion in our policies and benefits, we end up perpetuating the systems of oppression that are inherent in our society.” She went on to challenge us to center the voices of those historically marginalized, because when we focus there, everyone benefits.
Michelle Jarney ED, Learning & Strategy, Leadership Academy
Michelle Jarney of Leadership Academy shared that when they were tackling their handbook and benefits work this year, they began, “asking ourselves who benefits from the current policy and who doesn’t?” She went on to recommend engaging in an equity audit and giving staff an opportunity to be involved in the creation of the policies themselves. At Leadership Academy, they invested heavily not just in the benefits themselves, but the process to get there. Team members were important stakeholders along the way.
Sara-Kate Roberts, coLeaguer and independent consultant, went further to say, “You may have a staff that isn't super diverse right now, but that should not hold you back from thinking about a diverse workforce because you want to build a team where a diversity of folks can see themselves.” That continued focus on forward thinking, so that when someone does join your organization, you are ready to welcome them, makes potential employers much more attractive.
Getting Tactical: Policies That Have an Impact
Some specific policies the panel talked about:
Parental leave for all - thinking about what starting a family looks like for everyone, not just a mom giving birth to a child
Inclusive family-planning - supporting surrogacy, fertility treatments, adoption and other family planning and creation journeys can be incredibly important to those who identify as LGBTQ+ and to other staff members starting and growing families
Prioritizing mental and emotional health - ensure mental health services that specialize in the identities of your people and can be done virtually are covered in your benefits and policies and look for ways to move beyond insurance coverage to support staff members’ holistic health through financial allowances, personal leaves, and flexible work hours and locations
Account for inequitable travel burdens - ensure allowable travel expenses include all the ways that one might have to pay for what they typically do if not traveling such as pet boarding, supporting a caregiver to go along with the staff member, and elder or other family care
Align your organization’s language with its values - use inclusive pronouns, in the handbook and materials, rather than just focusing on binary and consistently interrogate organizational communications for opportunities to be more inclusive
Recognize the value of collective rest and recovery - close for periods of organization-wide respite
Making Trade-Offs When Thinking About Cost
This conversation had our guests wondering about cost. Most organizations have to make trade-offs when thinking about their benefits and policies - and some of the policies and benefits we discussed are expensive.
Sara-Kate Roberts
coLeaguer and independent consultant
Sara-Kate Roberts talked about prioritization. “It is where the rubber hits the road. Where you make a written commitment to actually uphold the things you care about by the policies you are putting in place.” She also said to be transparent with your team. “If you have to think about tough trade-offs, allow your team to help make those trade-offs, sharing out the results of the feedback you gather and making sure staff are clear on what you can and can’t tackle this year.”
Keep in mind that cost and impact isn’t linear - not all policies and benefits have to cost a lot to have a large impact. For example, Jen shared some low-cost strategies that had a big impact. “Office shut downs - there are no meetings happening, you are not coming back to an inbox with 200 emails, it means that you can truly take that time to rest and relax and rejuvenate.” She also talked about recognition. “One thing you can do everyday for your staff is recognize them, shout them out. Pull recognition into your culture. That will go a long way to building feelings of inclusion and belonging and building what you want, a culture of trust among your staff.”
It’s Not Just the Policy, It Is The Implementation
Finally, any work on talent systems and structures is change-management work. And strong change-management includes communication and training. As Michelle Jarney learned when rolling out their new policies, “you need to communicate five times more than I thought to make sure people are clear on the changes you are making and why you are making them.” The most innovative policies won’t make a difference if your people do not know about them. And sharing the why, how these policies connect to the values of the organization, is so critical to deepening your culture.
In addition to communication, you have to ensure your managers know how to implement the policies. As Courtney shared, “making sure your managers are implementing the policies equitably is critical.” As she noted, people work in organizations for their manager, and who wants to work with a manager that doesn’t believe in the company’s policy on flex time?
We often think about benefits and policies as a technical body of work. If we are going to center humanity and integrity in this work, it takes a very different approach in how you think about the right benefits and policies for your organization. The work starts with your people and seeking out the experts that can help you think about the right investments for your organization. Organizations that are staying at the leading edge of innovation here are seeing a stronger, healthier workforce. It’s time to start thinking about your next open enrollment.
