THE CRITICAL ROLE FOR PEOS IN MAXIMIZING EMPLOYEE CARE

Amid an ever-shifting set of challenges — from rising costs to changing consumer preferences and generational shifts in the workplace — employers now face a “permacrisis.” The formerly unprecedented has become the norm, ramping up pressure on employers to devise new strategies to safeguard their talent and grow their business.

While midsize and large businesses typically have access to the HR capabilities and expertise they need to navigate these challenges, small business employers are tasked with providing “big business” HR with a fraction of the resources.

And, perhaps not surprisingly, many small business employers find themselves losing ground to larger competitors in the war for talent.

Small business employees are 11 percent less likely to be satisfied with their job than employees at mid-size and large organizations. Thirty percent of small business employees do not intend to be at their employer in the next 12 months, versus just 23 percent for employees at mid-size and large organizations.

Small Businesses Are Looking To Employee Care To Bolster Outcomes — And PEOs Help Them Deliver It.

Against this backdrop, small business employers have focused on employee care to help drive mutually beneficial outcomes for organizations and employees.

Employee care, first explored in our 2023 Employee Benefit Trends Study, requires taking genuine interest in employees’ well-being, both at work and outside of work, and enriching each element of the employee experience to cultivate a healthier, more satisfied and more loyal workforce.

This year’s research indicates that more small business employers are working to care for their workforce. However, these efforts may not yet resonate with employees — especially for small businesses who have yet to work with a PEO.

Nine in ten small business employers say their workers feel cared for, but just 59 percent of small business employees agree. However, PEO worksites are more likely to perform well across multiple aspects of care. They are more likely to increase employee pay, more likely to improve access to benefits at affordable price points, and more likely to improve accessibility to enroll in wellness programs (such as EAPs and financial wellness programs).

Delivering Care In The Moments That Matter Most

This year’s report builds on the MetLife care model, exploring strategies for PEOs to help worksites deliver care during pivotal moments in employees’ lives — including moments that may not be visible in the workplace.

To that end, we examined 55 work and life moments to identify those that have the greatest impact on employees — and how delivering care during these pivotal moments significantly boosts outcomes for employees and employers alike.

Small business employees’ top 10 most impactful moments across life and work:

1. Loss of family member / friend
2. Becoming primary income-earner
3. Growing your family
4. Significant unplanned financial stress/expense
5. Experience burnout
6. Pregnancy
7. Bereavement (including miscarriage)
8. Promotion
9. Caregiving responsibilities for adult family member / friend
10. Victim of cyber fraud (e.g., identity theft)

When employees feel cared for across any of the top ten most impactful work and life moments, they are more likely to be holistically healthy, more satisfied with their job, and more loyal to their employer compared to those who did not feel cared for. They are also more likely to feel valued at work, happier at work, and more successful.

PEOs Have An Opportunity To Maximize Outcomes By Closing Key Care Gaps

Although PEO worksites have a significant leg up when it comes to delivering employee care, the small business workforce craves more care during challenging work and life moments.

Work moments with the largest care gaps among small business employees are experiencing burnout at 30 percent, not getting a promotion at 27 percent, experiencing harassment or bullying at 27 percent, lack of appreciation at 21 percent, and health and safety concerns at 19 percent. Life moments with the largest care gaps among small business employees are financial planning at 26 percent, child commitments at 26 percent, growing our family at 25 percent, challenged with commuting to work at 24 percent, and pregnancy at 22 percent.

Closing these gaps requires having a network of resources in place to help employees access the support they need, when they need it — what we’ve dubbed “always-on care.”

Doing this well can have a transformative impact on key talent metrics, helping small businesses keep pace with larger competitors when it comes to attracting and retaining the talent they need to grow.

Learn About The How PEOs Can Help Worksites “Meet The Moment” And Provide Always-On Care In Our PEO Advantage Report

The looming permacrisis calls on employers to stay nimble and leverage HR best practices to safeguard their workforce — and PEOs play an invaluable role in providing the expertise and resources required to succeed.

The PEO Advantage report delves into how PEOs effect better outcomes for their worksites, bolstering co-employee well-being, satisfaction and loyalty. It also shares targeted strategies and best practices for PEOs to support worksites in providing always-on care — and help worksites reach their business goals as a result.

The PEO Advantage. PEO worksites overperform on employee satisfaction, scoring 42 percent higher than non-members, employee productivity, scoring 23 percent higher than non-members, and financial performance, scoring 42 percent higher than non-members.

You can learn more about the report at www.metlife.com/peo.