Dancing in the Dark on What Employees Need? Let Data Help! 

Bruce Springsteen is touring the US this spring and at least one of your bloggers has been revisiting his songs, many of which are about working hard for a paycheck. But the Boss started writing these songs 30 to 40 years ago, and the days of working only for a paycheck are in the rearview mirror.

Sometimes we hear corporate bosses start sentences with phrases like: “Early in my career, we…” Frankly, old thinking needs to be left in the past as it does not work for today’s workforce. Massive disruption caused by challenges such as the pandemic, social unrest, labor shortages and inflation has caused a seismic shift in what employees need from work.

Employers that have accepted these evolving workforce needs are incessantly on the hunt for ways to deliver value in employee rewards. And while broad brush results around generational needs or low- vs. high-paid employees are helpful directionally, as we have discussed in a prior post, each workforce is unique and made up of employee groups with unique characteristics.

Case Study: Diagnosing Needs in a Health System

One way to uncover what employees need is to ask them. One large health system recently conducted an “unmet needs” survey to identify the issues that keep their employees up at night. Perhaps not surprising given the challenges healthcare has faced in recent years, workload / life balance and mental / emotional health were identified as the two top concerns.

But an initial diagnosis sometimes requires further scans and tests to determine the optimal course of treatment.

In this case, we partnered with the health system to analyze these concerns. By looking more closely at how employee age and pay affected the responses, we discovered perhaps the initial diagnosis was simply the first, and that other issues might also need attention.

At this health system, work / life balance was a top concern at each age among the higher paid employees. But it didn’t even surface in the top two concerns among lower paid employees in any age group. Rather, job security and monthly expenses, along with mental health, were the more prominent concerns in the lower-paid personas. Moderate- to high-paid employees had higher response rates to the survey, which affected the overall results – so a deeper dive was needed to provide better understanding of all their employees.

Prioritizing Limited Resources

Work / life balance and mental health concerns might also be issues for the HR and Total Rewards colleagues who have been stretched thin in recent years as they struggle to adapt strategies for a changing workforce. Given capacity and financial limitations, prioritizing is key. We suggest HR professionals consider the following:

• Explore your population’s specific needs – Your organization may not mirror what you see in broad studies. In addition to “unmet needs” surveys, there are a number of great ways to incorporate the employee voice in your planning. Consider pulse or annual surveys, a wellbeing check-in survey, or (one of our favorites) digital focus groups in which real-time feedback from a broad group of employees coalesces in an engaging format.
• Maximize your value – Determine what will give your organization the most bang for its buck. In the health system example, perhaps an investment in low-cost mental health resources would most positively impact a broad spectrum of workers across the health system.
• Take a multi-dimensional view – Consider whether addressing a lower-ranked area of concern will positively influence a higher ranked item. For example, if you help employees to tie work to purpose, the workload may feel more manageable.

Wherever you are in the journey, take the next step forward! Develop a philosophy of addressing employees’ needs that is supported by business impact, talent needs and culture.