Why your clients need to transform transactional HR moments into affirming employee experiences

If there was one word to describe the last three years, it would be “upheaval.” From where and how we work to continuing to deal with the fallout from the Great Resignation and mass layoffs, your clients have likely overturned just about everything they know about running a modern business.

A big piece of that puzzle? Reconsidering the employee-employer relationship. As the job market shifts and our workplaces evolve, employees are demanding more than ever from their employers. You’ve likely worked with your clients recently to respond to these new needs by expanding benefits packages, driving awareness around resources like mental health and telemedicine, and working to make health care as affordable as possible for everyone involved.

And as valuable as those efforts have been, it’s simply not enough. Because when we dig deeper to understand what employees are really seeking from you and your clients, it’s not just a shiny new benefits portal. Or another phone number they can call to receive a few free therapy sessions. Or a graph that explains how much they can expect to spend on health care this year.

What employees are really looking for is human connection. They want to feel like their work matters, and that the mission they spend most of their waking hours focusing on is a valuable one. They want a strong relationship with an employer who truly cares about them. Folks are looking beyond material offerings to evaluate how they feel about their employer.

Yes, it’s a tall order for your clients. With five generations in the workplace, the employee experience has become more diverse and dynamic than ever before. Some days, HR professionals may feel like they need an advanced degree in psychology to authentically meet the unique needs of each employee and their individual journeys.

But it’s also a chance for you and your clients to make a huge impact. By putting the “human” back in Human Resources, there’s an opportunity to form stronger ties with employees, boost engagement and retention, and improve your clients’ employer brand as they look to hire new talent.

So here are a few ideas you can share with your clients to transform transactional HR moments into affirming employee experiences. (You can even pass them off as your own — I don’t mind!)

What does an affirming employee experience look like?

An affirming experience means that you and your clients view employees as individual people with their own unique needs, and treat them as such. It means you provide human-first support through significant and regular milestones in an employee’s life, ensuring you match the tone and response to the situation and person.

In other words, it’s time for you and your clients to focus less on paperwork and more on people — by transitioning from generic, process-oriented HR tasks to relational, people-oriented interactions.

Where in the employee journey can we be more affirming?

Every time employees interact with their HR team, there are opportunities to make their experience more personal and meaningful.

For example, a survey about communication and learning preferences during the onboarding process can go a long way in making employees feel seen and heard when they first step foot in the door. Or during open enrollment, make sure your benefits information is available to spouses and family members outside of your clients’ organization who are also a part of the decision-making process. And during leaves of absence, set individual guidelines for how employees would like to communicate while they’re gone, and send a personalized “thinking of you” gift or host a welcome back lunch or party whenever appropriate.

These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg, so don’t stop here.

How can we scale this concept?

By now you might be thinking, “This all sounds nice, but my clients and I don’t have time to have individual conversations with employees every time they have a health need.” And you’re right. You can’t be everywhere at once. So how do we scale this concept of more affirming employee experiences?

While human-to-human interactions can’t be replaced, the right technology is an important supplement to ensure employees get the support they need, when they need it, on the platform they’re most likely to already use. For example, employees can use a benefits engagement tool to get personalized recommendations about sensitive health topics and their corresponding benefits, making them more comfortable before reaching out to their HR rep for further support. A benefits engagement tool can also save you and your clients’ time by handling many of the transactional logistics like open enrollment, benefits communications, and FAQs.

Read more: Essentials of an effective employee experience program

Benefits pros, we’ve reached a tipping point. Your clients cannot continue to operate at the status quo and expect employees to be just as engaged, productive and motivated as they were before. And supporting your clients by helping them reposition important HR moments as a chance to build stronger relationships with employees will set you apart as an invaluable partner. So this year, take the time to review your clients’ employee journeys, offer more personalized support, and put people first in every benefits interaction.

Keith Vallera serves as Jellyvision’s VP of Channel Sales.