Four out of five employees say that their benefits are a critical reason for staying with their employer, according to the Guardian's 2015 Workplace Benefits Study®. With fiercer competition for talent, companies need to bring their benefits A-game and do everything they can to differentiate themselves using benefits offerings as a way to attract and retain talent.

2. The marketing is as important as the benefits themselves

You might have the best benefits package in the industry, but what if nobody knows about it? Your employees have to know what you offer and what's in it for them. People remember 80 percent of what they see and do, only 20 percent of what they read, and only 10 percent of what they hear. Companies are taking a multipronged approach to marketing their benefits utilizing video, infographics, mobile, gamification and “explainimation” (animations that explain) to get creative with messaging to keep employees engaged in their benefits decisions.

Related: Tech's role in demystifying health benefits

3. Thinking outside the traditional benefits box

Netflix® attracted a lot of media attention — and prospective employee attention — when they announced they were offering an enhanced benefit of 12 months of paid parental leave to employees. Starbucks® followed soon after when they made their own employee friendly benefits move, announcing that baristas could be entitled to tuition reimbursement. Supplemental benefits that go beyond health care are becoming more and more important, and different benefits packages appeal to different groups of employees. The 2016 American Student Assistance® “Life Delayed” Survey found that 76 percent of college graduates say that, all things being equal, their decision to take a job could depend on an employer's willingness to offer a student loan repayment program. Other employers are getting even more creative. The shopping startup Boxed Wholesale will pay up to $20,000 towards the wedding of any full-time employee. BitSol Solutions in Manchester, England is offering what they call “Paw-ternity leave,” paid time-off for new dog parents.

4. Chat rooms replacing exam rooms?

Imagine getting a medical diagnosis by just logging on to your computer or tablet. No, not just WebMD®, but rather, the increasingly popular trend of telemedicine. This is where doctors can consult with patients virtually, diagnosing issues via video call. Biometric wearable technologies are making these “visits” even more efficient. VitalConnect® is a wearable health patch that monitors a patient's biometric data and remotely provides it to the physician. Whenever a patient checks-in for a virtual visit, his or her health data is there for the doctor to see. The 2016 Mercer National Survey of Employer Sponsored Health Plans found that 44 percent of employers with more than 20,000 employees are considering offering telemedical options.

5. Data transparency clarifies benefit options

Everyone knows how Big Data is helping people make better decisions in their daily online shopping lives, but those concepts are now taking shape in the world of employee benefits. A well organized and robust data set can help form opinions, create conversations that matter and predict benefits needs on behalf of employees, helping them make smarter benefits choices. Data analytics can tell your employees whether they should pick a high deductible health insurance plan or if they should stick to a preferred provider organization (PPO). It can also provide them with insight on what “people like them” have chosen. Further, if an employee knows he needs knee surgery in the coming year, the technology can recommend doctors based on zip code and insurance plan, show the doctors' ratings, and explain what out-of-pocket cost will be for the procedure.

6. “Hey, Alexa. Tell me about my health care options.”

Virtual assistants like Apple's Siri® and Amazon's Alexa® have become household names. At ADP Meeting of the Minds, Roberto Masiero, senior vice president of ADP Innovation Labs, demonstrated live on stage how voice command technology will become your new personal benefits assistant. The technology uses the concepts of “mass personalization” to enhance the benefits shopping experience. Instead of mass enrollment emails, voice command technology can approach each employee at the ideal time and push a prompt to them, “Benefits enrollment season is coming up. Would you like me to tell you about your options?” 

Benefits are back! They are vital to the well-being of your current workforce, but they also speak to the culture, the reputation and the employment brand of your company. The HR thought leaders we met are excited about how innovations such as machine learning and data analytics are being used for benefits to engage and retain talent. They might just be the difference that brings in your next new hire!