How to boost discretionary effort and increase belonging

The Great Resignation is still raging on – quietly or loudly. A whopping 4 million Americans quit their jobs in August, and the trend isn’t expected to stop anytime soon.

Why are so many people still calling it quits? Why some know it as the Great Resignation, we believe it’s the Great Reprioritization. While each individual’s decision to leave their job is unique and personal, there is one key reason why so many employees are choosing to leave their jobs: They are reprioritizing their families.

That means to attract and retain talent today, organizations need to consider the needs of the whole employee — and offer benefits that meet those needs. According to a Willis Towers Watson survey, 77% of employers plan to increase family care benefits over the next three years.

Benefits play a big role in shaping the culture of an organization. For too long, many organizations have clung to the status quo when deciding which benefits to offer employees. But employee needs and expectations have changed dramatically in recent years. To remain competitive in the talent marketplace, companies today need to build desirable total rewards: benefits that provide employees with the support they truly need, that help forge closer ties among employees, and that are unified and streamlined for ease of use.

Let’s look at each of these in closer detail.

Boost discretionary effort by providing holistic family-friendly benefits

The pandemic showed us just how quickly responsibilities can change. Many of us saw our schedules upended as we suddenly devoted larger chunks of our day to caring for our stuck-at-home children or aging parents. Gartner research finds 26% of businesses gave employees paid time off (PTO) for childcare and 21% gave PTO for eldercare during the pandemic.

But employees’ family care needs have been rapidly evolving over the past decade. In 2014, Apple was one of the first major tech employers to cover egg-freezing. In 2022, over 60% of employers plan to cover fertility benefits. In 2017, Facebook offered employees up to 20 days of paid leave to grieve the death of an immediate family member, and 10 days for the death of an extended family member. A recent report from SHRM found that 90% of companies offer paid time off for bereavement leave.

While family care benefits consist of family forming, caregiving and bereavement support, most employers don’t offer much more than time off, paid or unpaid. Employees need adequate time and support to care for their loved ones — and grieve for those they’ve lost. According to the World Economic Forum, $942 billion of productivity and business growth has been directly affected by grief.

According to research by the Gartner HR Research Team, employers can boost discretionary effort by 21% by offering holistic support in addition to physical and financial wellbeing benefits.

Enhance belonging by fostering family-friendly peer communities & employee resource groups

A sense of belonging is critical to a strong company culture. Peer communities such as employee resource groups (ERGs) or employee resource organizations (EROs) can foster this sense of belonging by allowing employees with similar backgrounds, interests, or concerns to find and support each other.

Employee resource groups — including those focused on important life events, such as becoming a new parent or experiencing the loss of a parent — have been growing in popularity. According to a Sequoia report, 40% of companies offered employment resource groups in 2021 — a significant increase from the previous year. At Humana, the top company for employee resource groups, more than 30% of employees actively participate in at least one Network Resource Groups (NRGs).

Organizations can also support employees by connecting them to peer groups beyond the company — especially if the company is on the smaller side, making it more challenging to create niche groups internally. In such cases, benefit partners can be tremendously helpful. Maven Clinic, an employer-sponsored benefit that offers a telemedicine-based virtual clinic for women’s and family health, provides a community-based forum for members.

Increase utilization through enablement and communication

As HR leaders, we often work very hard to get our employees the benefits they need. We conduct surveys to assess employee needs, assess vendors to get the best package for our people, and convince the executive team that investments in benefits are worth the cost. But sometimes, after all that, employees end up not using those hard-earned benefits much. Why is that?

There are dozens of employee benefits that may not be interconnected and the only way to access is through a Wiki or Intranet. Usually, the onus is on the employee to figure out the exact type of help they need and which hoops to jump through to get that help.

For example, Lauri Armstrong, Carrot Fertility’s Senior Director of people, operations and total rewards, created a ‘Wellness Wednesday’ slack channel to regularly communicate new benefit programs and reminders.

HR teams need to find a way to provide employees the benefit information and care they need, exactly when they need it. Benefit administration platforms like – Bennie and New Benefits– can simplify and personalize benefits for each employee so that they are given easy, fast access to support.

Related: Proposed legislation from NCOIL would allow for paid family leave

Managers also need to be equipped with how and where to find resources for employees. For example, an employee who may have just received devastating, bereavement-related news might not have the time or energy to dig through a handbook or intranet for the right benefit information.

Organizations that support & invest in family care – fertility, caregiving, & bereavement care – will win in the post-pandemic war for talent.

Cara McCarty Abbott is the CEO at Betterleave, a leading bereavement care company. She is also an Advisor at the Founder Institute, Investor at The Fund Austin, and a Forbes HR Council Member.