Balancing autonomy over benefits With Mari Sifo 

We all love choices… when we’re the ones making those choices. For those of us in HR, opening things up is a little harder. How do you loosen the reins give employees the personalized programs they need? It all comes down to how you prioritize driving a people-driven benefits strategy.

I spoke about this topic with Mari Sifo, EVP & CHRO at Host Hotels, on our monthly HR podcast ‘Getting Personal,’ where we connect with people leaders who are doing what they can to make the workplace a little more human.

Host Hotels is a publicly owned real estate investment trust (REIT) with 150-200 employees.

“But how do you connect the dots between all of it to say, how am I impacting the organization; people’s lives; and the communities that we work and serve in? How am I making a bigger impact on the whole?,” Mari continues.

Whatever Sifo landed on, it’s clear her strategy works: The average tenure at Host Hotels & Resorts is 13 years of service. Read on to find out how to mimic Sifo’s benefit strategy and improve your retention rate. 

Read on for my favorite parts, or listen to the full podcast.

Listen to your employees

First things first: With such a wide range of benefits available to offer, I wanted to know how Sifo and her team figure out what people realistically want to create their people-driven benefits tactics. 

“Going directly to the people and asking them what’s important to them rather than guessing” was Sifo’s immediate response.

Sifo often does this through a benefit survey, asking employees if they’re getting what they need and what they’re missing as far as benefits are concerned. Last year, this simple curiosity revealed simple needs — like better coverage for eyeglasses or dental care. It wasn’t a significant cost to the company, Sifo explains — “it was just how we were packaging.” They were able to address the needs immediately. 

At Compt, we’re a big fan of employee surveys. Our top tips for conducting an employee benefits survey that gets you the information you want include:

• Cover everything that’s included in your current benefits program
• Keep business goals in mind as you decide what your survey questions are measuring
• Capture demographic information
• Consider keeping the survey anonymous so employees feel free to answer honestly
• Share the survey results (and don’t forget to take actions based on the feedback)

If you’re looking to learn what your employees really want, however, a formal survey isn’t always necessary. Sifo also touts the benefits of the “rumor mill.”

“I remember 20 years ago working in manufacturing, and the best source of knowledge was just walking around knowing what’s happening and keeping your pulse on things. You have your internal culture, the internal kind of noise that you may hear, things that are coming up.”

When does age matter?

For Sifo, this simple piece of ask-your-people advice has proven especially true when it comes to reconciling generational differences. I was curious about her opinion on the accuracy of the articles that flood my social media feeds with headlines like ‘This Is What Gen Z Wants in The Workplace’ or ‘How to Help Boomers Transitioning Out.’ Sifo says she takes them with a grain of salt.

“They’re nice to read. You always get some information,” she begins. “I’ll take it back to that population or group that they’re talking to and I say, what do you think? Is this what you want?”

Trending articles like these are certainly interesting reads, Sifo says. But you can’t take them as law: “Never take anything for granted. Just go and ask.”

And when she does, what has Sifo found out? Well, we’re getting closer to the individuals.

In these cases, she points out, a large, across-the-board program won’t always be the best fit. Her organization has to think outside the box to meet the needs of these employees. At the same time, however, Sifo also recognizes that she can’t realistically create programs for every single individual situation. 

“We’re privileged that our people share. They’ll tell us our stories, their stories, they’ll tell us what they’re facing, and sometimes it’s really, really hard to be able to support them through that even sometimes how you want to as a human being based on your own limitations and restrictions.”

The evolution of benefits

Sifo has been in the HR industry for over 15 years. I was curious about her take on how the landscape has changed over the years. From her viewpoint, Sifo says, it all boils down to one word: freedom.

Is that risk worth it? To Sifo, yes. The more choices people get to make, the better. People want to be safe and secure. They want to be able to take care of themselves, their families, and their homes. And that often requires the ability to pick what’s best for their situation. 

“Every individual has their own story. They have their own priorities in trying to find benefits, programs, [and] cultures that allow the person to thrive based on their current story,” Sifo explains. 

While employees do crave guidance from organizations, ultimately, she believes benefits will continue to be about choice. 

Simplify the choices

Giving employees autonomy over their benefits can feel scary. But remember, you’re giving them the opportunity to make a choice — not a thousand choices.

Think of it like this. Maybe you’re at a really nice restaurant and you’re looking forward to a delicious dinner — something savory and flavorful with high-quality ingredients, a relaxing evening of conversation with somebody you love. But when the menu comes out, it’s the length of a novel you would have skimmed through in high school English class. Everything looks great… but honestly, you almost wish the restaurant just served steak and fish. 

Sifo encourages HR leaders to think about people-driven benefits in the same way.

I’ve heard this from countless people myself. It doesn’t feel like a true benefit if I have to put work into figuring out what the benefit is. And science backs it up. Just look at The Jam Experiment, a well-known study from 2000 where consumers were offered either six varieties of jam or 24. People who were given 24 choices of jam were only one-tenth as likely to make a purchase as people who saw the smaller display. 

Sifo says that for people-driven benefits, it’s all about balance — allowing employees to choose the one option that’s most important to them. 

Consider your retention

At the end of the day, how can you tell whether you’re serving your people the best way that you can? Sifo told me it’s all about employee retention. 

This impact is always going to be broken out into both tangibles and intangibles. Tangible, measurable elements of your ROI might include things like:

• Higher rates of productivity and efficiency
• Improved processes and workflow 
• Better employee engagement 
• Quicker hires 

Other aspects of your return might be harder to translate into value. For managers, these elements might be based around productivity. For department heads, they could be about overall engagement and culture. Whatever the case, these intangibles are just as crucial for stakeholders to understand. 

“Do people stay?” she asks. “Our average year of service is 13. I think that says a lot about people wanting to be here and people being dedicated.”

I’d say so.

Looking for more stories from inspiring HR leaders?

Make your benefits more human with Compt 

At Compt, we’re all about making benefits more human. And Sifo’s final words to me echoed the same — that she views employee benefits as more of a human-to-human exchange, where it’s her responsibility to find the best situation for both the company and the employee.

“If you think about it from a basic human element… if I have access to information or knowledge and or tools that can help you solve a problem, then why wouldn’t I share those tools? Why wouldn’t I give you that knowledge?”

Whether you’re an SMB or an enterprise, we know that personalized lifestyle benefits designed by people who care are the fastest way to get you to a happier team and a better bottom line. And that’s exactly what we provide.

Compt’s 100% tax-compliant employee stipend software empowers HR teams to focus on that human element that we believe is key to people-driven benefits. Want to see how it works for yourself? Request a demo today.