America's Benefit Specialist April 2023

NOTEWORTHY

indicated lack of time and capacity (34%), disengaged em ployees (30%) and budget constraints (24%) were the biggest challenges to building stronger and deeper employer-em ployee connections. While budgets will remain tight for most organizations, it’s important to understand today’s employees expect much more than a paycheck from their employer. They choose to stay at an organization because of its culture and values and the emphasis placed on employee wellbeing. Accomplishing this, while authentically weaving purpose and meaning into internal communication, will allow organizations to over come challenges and reach their goals. RATE OF WORKERS ENROLLED IN HDHPs JUMPS FOR EIGHTH YEAR IN ROW Maine has the highest rate of private-sector workers enrolled in HDHPs, while Hawaii has the lowest rate. More than half (55.7%) of American private-sector workers were enrolled in HDHPs in 2021, the highest on record—dating to 2012—and the eighth straight yearly increase. Key findings: • Almost 56% of American private-sector workers were enrolled in HDHPs in 2021—the highest on record and the eighth straight yearly increase. That rate is up 5.3% from 2020, 14.5% from 2017 and 83.7% from the low in 2013. • Maine had the highest rate of private-sector workers en rolled in HDHPs in 2021. In Maine, 76.2% of these workers were enrolled in HDHPs—the only state above 70.0%. Be hind Maine were Tennessee (68.7%) and Nebraska (67.6%). None of these three states was among the top 10 in 2020. • Just 11.6% of private-sector workers in Hawaii were enrolled in HDHPs in 2021—the lowest in the nation. The next clos est states doubled (District of Columbia, 28.4%) and tripled (Alaska, 42.4%) that rate. Hawaii was also the lowest state in 2020 at 17.6%, with an almost identical gap with DC. • Since 2017, the rate of private-sector workers enrolled in HDHPs jumped the most in Arkansas. 58.0% of Arkansas workers were enrolled in HDHPs in 2021, a 60.8% jump from 36.1% in 2017. Louisiana (57.2% increase) and New Jersey (45.4%) were next. Only six states saw decreases in this period, led by the District of Columbia (13.8%), South Dakota (7.3%) and New Hampshire (5.8%). For more details, visit www.valuepenguin.com/high- deductible-health-plan-study.

topic in 2022. However, just four in 10 organizations admit to having a clearly defined DEI strategy, with another 38% still working on it. Even though many organizations are struggling to develop and execute on a DEI strategy, employers are deploying a range of tactics in an attempt to make positive strides. This includes awareness days or events (54%), employee resource groups or champions (48%), DEI training (45%) and a host of others. Leaders are looking to embed DEI throughout their communications, rather than through tactical siloed ap proaches. However, there’s still room for improvement. After another year of alarming climate change develop ments, the State of the Sector report explored how organi zations embed their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments into their employee experience. More than one-third of organizations (36%) don’t communicate ESG goals at all. Of those employers that do communicate ESG goals, the primary objectives are to inform employees of the organization’s ESG commitments and activities (26%) and encourage employees to support their local communities and charities (13%). Over the last three years, organizations have reflected, recalibrated, and redefined the employee experience, largely a result of Great Resignation when employee recruitment and retention consumed leadership teams. As the labor mar ket began to turn in 2022, 56% of employers said they were revisiting their employee value propositions (EVP). Where as EVPs have historically focused on talent attraction, the 2022/2023 State of the Sector report identified a shift toward talent retention through an emphasis on career wellbeing. To this point, many employers appear underwhelmed with their organizations’ efforts. In fact, only half of those surveyed (53%) rate their employees’ understanding of compensation, rewards and benefits packages messaging as either “excel lent” or “good.” Questions also remain about how employee feedback shapes organizations’ EVPs. The majority of respondents (84%) believe their organizations value employee feedback, and nearly two-thirds (65%) said their organizations do a good job learning from this input. A deeper dive into how organizations gather feedback found nine channels, such as surveys, email, and one-on-one interviews, were utilized by at least one-third of respondents. But the mere presence of channels does not necessarily mean they are fully utilized. Communication and HR leaders have faced countless obstacles since the onset of COVID-19. In 2023, respondents

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