Employers can’t risk losing more employees. Here’s how to make sure they stay engaged

The last 18 months has taken a toll on the average American employee — and employers that recognized and addressed that stress are set up to reap the benefits of an engaged workforce.

Over half of U.S. employees reported feeling some level of stress in the last year, according to the recent Health on Demand survey conducted by asset management firm Mercer. But despite a decline in overall physical and fiscal well-being, 53% of workers also reported feeling supported by their employer. Now, those workers are poised to move forward with a sense of resiliency post-COVID, as well as feelings of loyalty to their workplace.

“It really depends on what you did as an employer during the pandemic as to whether or not some of this data is either a positive reinforcement or if it's a wake-up call,” says Kate Brown, leader at the Mercer center for health innovation in the U.S. health business. “But what this says to me is that if you did a lot to support your employees, they felt it.”

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Employees who say they received good support from their employers are much less likely to view their personal experience of the pandemic as mostly or entirely negative compared to those who received little or no support, the survey found. Almost half of those receiving good support say they are less likely to leave their job as a result.

Four million workers have already resigned from their jobs as of June 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That number is only anticipated to grow as restless employees look to new opportunities, a trend that is proving to be a major threat to companies that chose not to change their benefit strategy and just ‘weather the storm,’ according to Brown.

“For a lot of employers right now, the labor shortage is a major issue,” she says. “And so if you happen to not have done a lot during the pandemic, that's an issue that could have perhaps been addressed had you been more proactive with your benefits strategy.”

Changes employers have made to better accommodate their employee base include providing varied and valued benefits, enabling digital access to healthcare, finding ways to reduce employee stress and anxiety and tackle healthcare inequities.

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Those changes will create long-term value, the survey found. The ability to customize a package of benefits to meet individual needs is highly or extremely valued by 55% of employees; of employees who tried telemedicine for the first time during the pandemic, 72% intend to keep using it; and half of all U.S. employees say that programs that reduce the cost of mental health treatment are highly or extremely valuable.

Brown recognizes that not every company had the resources to implement these changes right away — and may not be in a position to play catch-up now— but more considered and personalized benefits will continue to be critical to the resilience of workforces as the pandemic lingers.

“There's more work to be done, but don't take it as if you have to do everything all at once,” she says. “It can be a progression and it can build upon itself.”