Coury Hospitality

Elevating the Everyday Employee Experience

While payroll and benefits are often considered behind-the-scenes HR operations, these teams play a crucial role in shaping the everyday employee experience. With a rise in automation and technology, the functions have evolved, and employees expect more from payroll and benefits.

As employees’ needs change, every employer should commit to reviewing practices and programs to remain competitive. Payroll and benefits teams are uniquely positioned to shape the employee experience every day by connecting employees with valuable resources, promoting well-being, and delivering exceptional service when it matters most.

Making Existing Benefits Work Harder

Today’s workforce is looking for more than the most cost-effective benefit plan. With rising healthcare costs, now is the time to leverage existing partnerships with benefit brokers, benefit carriers and 401(k) providers to offer tools that can make employees’ lives better. Many benefit plans already include resources such as 24/7 telemedicine, mental health apps, counseling tools, employee assistance programs, wellness programs and financial wellness tools. Employers can create greater value by making sure employees know these resources are available and understand how to use them.

In payroll, the name of the game is reliability and accuracy. This team can support programs to get employees paid sooner and streamline processes through automation. This includes programs such as On-Demand Pay, which allows employees to access wages before payday. Leverage additional tools that may already be available through the organization’s HRIS System, such as a mobile app to view pay statements, submit changes, and request time off. If the organization uses manual expense reimbursement trackers, review and make a business case for whether this can be automated.

“From my experience, organizations with wellness goals observe improvements in retention and productivity.”

Finding the right means and media of communication is unique to each organization’s culture. The education campaigns should always reach the target audience in a way that is accessible to them, with a message they can clearly understand. Organizations may have incredible resources available, but without communication and education, low utilization could jeopardize the programs’ continuation.

Building Wellness around Employee Needs

Employers operating in the post-pandemic era recognize a shift in the prioritization of wellness. What was once a minor focus became an essential, if not a core strategy, for benefit teams. Some organizations may have budgeted wellness dollars to be used towards key initiatives. Others may leverage benefit carriers during renewal to get wellness dollars built into contracts. From my experience, organizations with wellness goals observe improvements in retention and productivity. Wellness initiatives are most effective when they reflect the needs of the employee population.

Employers can jump-start or strengthen a wellness program by negotiating wellness dollars as part of a benefits renewal and using that budget for physical or mental health resources such as gym memberships, fitness classes, counseling programs or meditation apps.

Quarterly wellness communications can keep employees informed through newsletters, benefits calls or recorded sessions. Employers should also promote the Employee Assistance Program and review utilization data from existing programs to guide future decisions.

Putting Human Connection into Employee Service

Payroll & Benefits are among the first to support employees during major life events. From celebrating life’s milestones, such as marriage, the birth or adoption of a child, relocation, promotions, and compensation changes, to navigating difficult transitions like the loss of a loved one, divorce, or termination, these moments shape the employee experience. Payroll & Benefits are uniquely suited to provide exemplary service, proactive support, and clear guidance on next steps for major life events. While many functions can be automated, nothing can replace human connection and empathy.

Another aspect of elevating the employee’s experience through payroll and benefits is through recovery. Mistakes are inevitable, even with sleek Human Capital Management systems; there is bound to be a mistake with an employee’s pay or benefits. Recovery is the process of building trust when a mistake has been made and resolving the issue quickly. Listening to employees’ concerns and addressing them with transparency and open communication can mean as much as resolving the issue itself. Payroll & Benefit professionals may not always think of themselves as service professionals. Still, in the tough moments, employees will remember how they were treated and the heart and service received.

Payroll and benefits teams have the power to elevate or undermine the employee experience. Whether it be once a year during Open Enrollment, or every other week on pay day. While technology and AI are sure to take these functions to new heights, it is up to employers to rise to the occasion. Let this be a challenge to elevate what may be two of the most overlooked functions of the employee experience.