Leading organisations have long understood that employee benefits are a great way to attract and retain talent. However, today, not just any old benefits will do.
A brand-new study conducted by Purpose Pulse of Millennials and Generation Z reveals that 61% say it is important or very important that companies take a stance on issues that matter to them.
So, what issues are of most importance to today’s younger generations? Amnesty International’s Future of Humanity survey of over 10,000 18-25-year-olds across 22 countries reveals that 41% of respondents say global warming is the most important issue facing the world.
Unfortunately, as the Purpose Pulse survey shares, Millennials and Generation Z's general belief is that businesses have not done enough to combat climate change. In fact, only 24% think the action businesses have taken is sufficient. In the UK specifically, 67% believe that business leaders are important in tackling climate change, but just 24% think businesses are doing enough. 
You Need a Strategy
Simply put, organisations hoping to attract and retain younger generations to the workplace will need to show that such issues are not just important to the organisation but part of the organisation’s overall strategy. Additionally, employees will want to know that they have the opportunities to make a difference through their employment.
With the right efforts, initiatives, and employer brand, organisations have an incredible opportunity to attract Millennials and Generation Z. One way to do this is to offer sustainable benefits that resonate with them and help them combat climate change. However, to do this, a benefits strategy is most certainly required.
In the 2018 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends survey, only 8% of organisations said that their rewards program was “very effective” at creating a personalised, flexible solution.
As we share in the post, Why You Need a Benefits Strategy, employers that follow a benefits strategy have employees who are more satisfied with their benefits and more likely to see themselves as positive ambassadors for the organisation.
Reflecting Organisational Values
Any rewards and benefits strategy should reflect the organisation’s values. While ensuring your benefits offering is consistent with your employer brand, your strategy should also acknowledge the diversity of each individual and generation.
For organisational values to be seen as credible and not merely buzzwords to attract talent, they need to permeate throughout the entire organisation, including the benefits themselves. How are your organisation's views and sustainability efforts reflected in your benefits offering?
A Harvard Business Review article shares that every organisation's approach to climate change will depend on its particular business and should connect with its overall strategy. The article proposes that business leaders need to treat carbon emissions as costly, and organisations "need to assess and reduce their vulnerability to climate-related environmental and economic shocks. Every firm needs to get those basics right, as a matter of operational effectiveness."
Giving Employees the Choice
Employer-sponsored flexible benefits schemes allow employees to assemble and customise their own package of pre-tax benefits to match their needs and values and which are consistent with your organisation’s climate change goals.
Through simplified benefits management, employees can make their choices and enrol in benefits digitally through their cloud-based rewards and benefits platform on their computers or phones using an employee app.
For example, employers may offer their employees the ability to choose from various climate compensation benefits, sustainable mobility benefits, such as bicycles and carpooling, home cleaning help from companies using environmentally friendly products, or grocery deliveries that only use local and organic produce.
In conclusion, to attract and retain today’s talent, it’s vital that you enable your people to contribute and make a difference through a benefits strategy that’s aligned with your organisation’s own climate change goals.
To learn more about Benify’s sustainability goals and efforts, download Benify’s Sustainability Report.
Need help building a reward and benefits strategy that works? Download our free tips today.
