Announcing the 2021 State of the Benefits Experience Report

I’m thrilled to announce the launch of the 2021 State of the Benefits Experience Report.

With data gleaned from a survey sent to over 9,000 HR professionals around the country, across industries, and at every job level, the report presents a unique insight into the way HR is handling a particularly challenging plan year.

This is HealthJoy’s first benchmarking report, and it’s published at a time of considerable uncertainty for human resources departments around the country. The 2021 State of the Benefits Experience Survey ran for two weeks in July, while HR professionals were planning for open enrollment and dealing with unprecedented change related to the COVID-19 pandemic. By focusing on forward-looking questions, we uncovered what HR is struggling with right now and how they plan to solve those problems in 2021.

While they were dealing with the additional pressure of layoffs, budget cuts, furloughs, remote work, and employee mental health, HR professionals also had to plan to deliver employee benefits. Our survey results reflect this tension. Now, more than ever, we see HR asked to deliver better results, under increasing pressure, and without adding new solutions.

The survey revealed that:

• Eighty-nine percent reported placing more emphasis on virtual care as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic
• HR pros are mired in benefits questions. While they spend an average of 9 hours, they may spend 20, 30, or even 40 hours per week answering questions about how to find support contact information or explaining benefits basics.
• Eighty percent of companies won’t expand or reduce their benefits offerings next year.
• Companies are leaning on consumerism to save money in 2021, but they aren’t offering tools to make that easier for employees. Fifty-nine percent listed “creating better healthcare consumers” as their primary cost-containment strategy. The same number reported they don’t’ offer a solution.

The upcoming plan year will look like nothing we’ve seen before, and employees need more help than ever. Taking the pulse of the benefits at this juncture reveals exactly what HR is juggling in this unusual time. We hope this contribution helps our industry understand problems and innovate solutions that continue to put the employee experience first.

Download the full report here, and join me next week, on Sept. 30, as I host an exclusive webinar about our findings.

As we close on a year none of us could expect, we must focus on how benefits can best support employees. The 2021 State of the Benefits Experience Survey will offer unique insights to aid your decisions in the years to come.