Gympass, Calm and LearnLux share the benefits they want for their own employees

Even benefit company leaders struggle with deciding which benefits are best for their own employees.

At the annual HR Transform conference in Las Vegas, leaders from Gympass, Calm, LearnLux and Ethos shared how they choose benefits for their teams, and how they balance those choices with the company’s bottom line.

“It’s the hardest part — that we’re making sure we’re taking care of our employees while spending money the best way we can,” said Stephanie Hathaway, head of total rewards at Calm. “There isn’t an easy solution because it’s so fragmented.”

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Denis Hickey, head of benefits and compensation at Gympass, said he approaches benefits the way he approaches business — by looking for fair solutions. But that can get challenging with so many options on the market.

“Fairness is easy to think about in business, but in benefits, it’s difficult to achieve,” said Hickey. “Employees' personal needs are so different.”

Leaders also feel a strong sense of making sure their benefits align with the values of their organization. LearnLux provides financial education and financial planning benefits. The benefits they provide for their own workers should follow suit.

“There’s so much stress around money — 71% of people who have mental stress say it comes from a financial challenge,” said Rebecca Leibman, CEO and co-founder of LearnLux. “So it all needs to be tied together.”

Read more: How is financial stress impacting employees? 5 things to know

While these leaders spend a significant amount of time strategizing around benefits, getting employees to actually engage and use them is another hurdle. For many, it’s a lack of company-provided education with what’s available, said Abraham Awad, director of total rewards at Ethos, a life insurance benefit provider.

“Companies spend a lot of money on benefits but no one knows how they work,” Awad said. “Make it part of orientation and provide self-guided training, or offer one-on-one sessions. It’s about getting them involved in the beginning.”

And what works for the company’s population now may change, something benefit leaders need to be cognizant of, Hathaway said. At Calm, the team doesn't have many working parents, but as people’s lives change, the benefits need to change, too.

“We don’t have many employees that have children — but is that going to change?” she said. “We need to think about the next five years as well.”

Whether it’s in five months, or five years, benefits need to adapt if you want to keep your workforce happy and engaged, Hickey said.

“Benefits are a culture-shaper at companies now,” he said. “That’ll take us to a new place. It’s about recognizing that employees are holistic human beings, and not just about who shows up at the office.”