When we think of HR, innovation isn’t always the first responsibility that comes to mind.

Be a stabilizing force for the company. Absolutely.
Identify and avoid legal risks. You bet.
Engage and reward employees? Definitely.

But pioneer and champion new, creative employee benefits? Think outside the box? That’s not a typical item on an HR manager’s to-do list.

However, with competitive benefits packages serving as means to attract and retain more top talent for longer, creative employee benefits are now a rising opportunity for HR to become first movers.

Here’s a look at how HR managers can help reimagine employee benefits for the modern workforce.

The HR Stereotype of Being Risk Averse

HR professionals are often held accountable for the potential pitfalls or legal implications of new policies or technologies. So, it’s no wonder why HR has developed a stereotype of being risk-averse.

In a crowd of dreamers and doers, there has to be at least one individual who keeps the company in touch with reality.

Most often, this responsibility falls on HR professionals, who maintain an encyclopedic knowledge of evolving state and federal employment laws and company budgets (it’s common to see finance shoulder a lot of this burden, too!).

While it’s easy to brainstorm new employee benefits packages, it’s far more challenging to allocate budget dollars, align with the company’s financial interests, and abide by compliance requirements.

The HR risk-averse stereotype is a testament to these challenges, but it doesn’t have to be the truth.

With the right approach, HR leaders can safely become the innovators in employee benefits.

Moving beyond employee benefits basics

Gone are the days of basic health and life insurance packages. With global inflation and pandemic repercussions continuing to impact the labor market, employee benefits have received a total overhaul to better attract and retain top talent.

This makes sense since employees value having more choices.

“We want to feel special. So, the choice is certainly a good thing for employees, and they’ve leaned into it,” says Sims Tillirson, Senior Vice president of Sales and Broker Partnerships at BLUE RAVEN Actuarial.

By and large, tech companies have led the charge.

Take Adobe, for instance.

Beyond medical benefits, Adobe’s lengthy roster of employee benefits includes:

• Commuter benefits
• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Discounts, social impact, and awards
• Legal insurance
• Long-term care insurance
• Pet services
• Relocation resources
• Travel support

But that’s not all. Adobe offers $10,000 per employee per year to cover tuition and books for eligible courses, certificates, and graduation programs to advance employees’ educational and career opportunities. They also provide each employee up to $5,000 pre-tax per year to accommodate either child day care or elder care for those with older family members needing assistance.

During the pandemic, Adobe launched a Disaster and Epidemic Time Off Policy, which expanded on the typical COVID-19 Policy to include up to 20 paid days off per year for employees caring for family members, experiencing vaccine side effects, or experiencing difficulties in war-stricken areas.

Why does it matter that they did this?

Well, because that same year, Adobe was voted No. 1 on Comparably’s Happiest Employees list and No. 47 on Forbes America’s Best Employers list.

Today, Adobe has climbed four spots on Forbes’ list, and while it’s dropped to No. 13 on Comparably, the company still has a 4.7/5 employee rating on Glassdoor.

What creative employee benefits matter most?

Aside from Adobe, tech companies like Apple and HubSpot are also innovating new employee perks.

Apple now provides employees with exclusive 25% discounts on all Apple products, plus 18-week maternity leave and six-week paternity leave with a full-time-pay four-week transition period. Hubspot matches employee 401K contributions at 12%, powering better retirement packages.

At a time when only 59% of employees believe their benefits meet their needs, your HR department has a significant opportunity to build impactful benefits packages that generate similar “Great Places to Work” recognition. Reimagined — and relevant — benefits can power:

• Improved employee satisfaction
• Higher employee retention rates
• Better brand recognition and reputation
• Easier and more profitable employee recruitment

As Sims Tillirson alludes to, we’re starting to see more companies add even more health and wellness benefits for employees.

On a recent Getting Personal podcast with us, he says, “We’re going to go deeper on mental health because we didn’t hit the mark over COVID and reproductive benefits. There’s also a very new push for menopausal benefits and holistic wellness is popping up more and more.”

Asking yourself the paramount question: “Are They Two Guys in a Garage?”

Though there are clear advantages of becoming a first mover in employee benefits, there are also implicit challenges to offering employees new or improved packages.

John Coleman, a senior consultant at Mercer says, “A lot of clients will say, ‘Hey John, this vendor reached out to me. Are they legit, or are they two guys in a garage?’ My common answer is, ‘They could be two guys in a garage, but I believe that’s how Apple and maybe Amazon started, right?

But ultimately, it’s like, hey, is there a new solution in the marketplace? And if this new solution is there, have they designed a better mousetrap that’s not necessarily just going to shift costs or make things complicated? And the real key is that it has to be whatever you do easy to explain to employees, right? You can’t talk in this HR or Finance jargon with all these acronyms. You’re going to lose your audience really, really quickly. You really got to go in and say,

‘Hey, employees, this is how it’s going to benefit you. This is why we’re doing the ultimate program.'”

While there are roadblocks to innovation, savvy HR leaders know how to overcome them. Here are a few scenarios:

1. Uncertainty About the Unknown

‘The unknown’ is a prominent fear of the risk-averse HR stereotype. It can often stifle innovation, reject new ideas, or lead to decisions made by committees, many of whom are not as educated in employment law as HR professionals. Without knowing how new employee benefits packages will pan out, there may be pushback on vendor selection, benefits options, and more.

For instance, it’s not uncommon for one member of the HR department to suggest a new perk, such as employee commuter benefits, and then have that suggestion flattened by a barrage of questions and concerns.

How to overcome the challenge:

One way to solve this challenge is to do your research beforehand. While it’s impossible to chart the exact trajectory of newfound benefits, HR professionals can research demand for similar benefits, assess which competitors offer them, and even shop around for potential price points. This will enable the department to conceptualize the risk and (hopefully) feel more comfortable taking one.

2. Implementation and Inclusivity Hurdles

One of the biggest thorns for new, creative employee benefits? The implementation itself. Implementation hurdles commonly plague the onset of new employee benefits packages. For perspective, just consider how many organizations had to pivot health plans when gaps in telemedicine made it difficult for remote employees to access medical care during the pandemic.

However, it’s not just implementation that can become tricky. By law, employees require inclusive benefits offerings. Internally, inclusivity fosters a feeling of inclusion.

How to overcome the challenge:

Insurers are rapidly expanding eligibility in these programs to be more inclusive. Employers — and HR leaders — must follow suit. Overcoming this challenge requires employers to seek health insurers with enhanced sociocultural awareness and a broader, more inclusive list of coverages.

3. Compliance Issues

Challenges in implementing inclusivity employee benefits packages can also trigger compliance hurdles for HR professionals. HR activities like benefits must be in line with countless laws and regulations that, according to company size, can cross state lines and international borders.

To remain in compliance, even the most creative employee benefits have to be aligned with current labor laws, individual employee contracts (and the applicable rules and regulations), and salary expectations. Employers found to be non-compliant can face tax, labor, employment, and even human rights penalties.

Imagine, for example, that a new hire agreed to a position under the stipulation they would receive health, vision, and dental insurance along with a stipend for childcare benefits up to $2,500. If the company were to then offer a discounted rate at a child daycare facility close to the office rather than the $2,500 stipend, the company could be found in violation of the employment agreement.

How to overcome the challenge:

To avoid such issues, it’s vital for HR professionals to first understand exactly what benefits current and potential employees have agreed to, then determine how those benefits could be enhanced. It’s also wise to remain up-to-date on evolving state and federal employment laws from quarter to quarter.

How to Become an Employee Benefits Leader for Your People

Despite the above challenges, it’s possible for HR managers to become leaders in employee benefits solutions that break the mold. Consider the following:

Conduct research on creative employee benefits

According to a Mercer report in 2024, nearly half of employees (46%) say they would forego a 10% pay increase in favor of more well-being benefits, a noticeable increase from the 32% of employees who said so in 2022. If you want to become an innovator of preferred benefits, start with who really matters: the employees.

For example, does your workforce demographic skew younger or older? Employee age can impact interest in reimagined retirement and 401K options.

While employees in their 50s might be more interested in the percentage you can match, younger employees just entering the workforce may prefer continued learning opportunities. Employees with children may prefer childcare benefits.

Conduct employee benefits surveys on what employees truly need to identify gaps in the benefits market. One way to do this is to conduct an anonymous survey via company email to gauge worker interest in various insurance and benefits options. Another way is to conduct market research to identify gaps.

For instance, let’s say you work in an industry like healthcare or finance, where advanced education is often a prerequisite for employment. Assess competitor and local benefits to determine if any are offering perks like educational assistance benefits, which can apply to past and current school fees.

Similarly, consider the geography of your company and how your benefits packages can better attract and retain top talent. If you operate in a major city like New York or San Francisco, your employee survey may reveal that workers would prefer commuter benefits to offset travel costs.

Assess feasibility in your organization

Even moderately risk-averse HR professionals will attest that before you implement a new employee benefits policy, you’ll need to assess its feasibility first. Becoming a first mover in employee benefits means taking a comprehensive look at what your company offers and who it employs.

This might be easier for larger organizations, but even SMBs can get creative with what they offer.

Sabrina Greenwood-Briggs, an independent consultant and strategist, adds,

Once you understand what’s of interest to your employees, consider how your internal budget can stack up. Compare multiple health insurance plans to find the best premiums for you and your employees. Similarly, consider how various benefits can contribute to financial feasibility.

For instance, offering preventative healthcare benefits is an additional cost; however, this practice can also help reduce the risk of employee absences due to sickness. Lowering those absences can also reduce health insurance premiums, lessening the impact of higher upfront benefits costs.

Gain internal team buy-in

As mentioned, a lack of understanding about how new employee benefits can impact the organization can result in pushback on vendor selection, benefits options, and more. For these reasons, gaining internal team buy-in is essential when crafting innovative benefits solutions.

Knowing that some in the department may be more risk averse, calculate the value new benefits can provide as realistically as possible.

For example, if commuter benefits are in high demand in your market, demonstrate how this new benefit can attract applicants and reduce recruitment costs.

Likewise, mention how upfront benefit costs can be mitigated once employees utilize them. Continuing with the preventative benefits example, demonstrate to stakeholders and other team members how limiting employee absences with wellness benefits can improve premium costs.

Unlock creative employee benefits with Compt

More than 40% of employees feel their current benefits don’t meet their needs, which makes it easy for employees to seek new opportunities.

By becoming a first mover in employee benefits, you can upgrade to more modern packages, where you spend less and get more for your people.

Ready to explore the new frontier of employee benefits? At Compt, we offer flexible, customizable LSA solutions. Request a demo today to see how Compt can help you create a workplace that excites and retains top talent.