We’re kicking off the year with a bang, continuing our mission to inspire bold change through our Disruptive Dialogues series. Launched in 2024, this series is designed to dive into the most pressing health & well-being challenges facing progressive HR and benefits leaders today. Together, we’re uncovering meaningful opportunities to make a real impact and drive lasting change within the industry and workforce.
In today’s installment, we connected with Tom Ferraro, Vice President of Benefits at MetLife. Tom leads MetLife’s global Well-Being function and played an instrumental role in shaping the company’s Future Work strategy, ensuring employee safety and well-being during the pandemic. Today’s blog highlights three of the many important takeaways from our conversation with Tom shared (you can check out the full episode here).
Shifting demographics are reshaping the workforce – and its needs.
Shifting demographics are reshaping a diverse workforce with varying priorities and needs. Especially in the wake of the pandemic, it’s clearer than ever that our workforce is more multifaceted than before. Shares Tom, “Employees’ expectations have changed. The rise of Millennials and Gen Z in the workforce has brought a demand for things like more flexibility, purpose driven work, and personalized benefits. On the opposite end of that, the aging workforce has led to a greater focus on healthcare, retirement savings, and caregiver support.”
As employers continue to evaluate their health and wellbeing benefits offerings, it’s never been more important to consider the diverse needs of their workforce. It’s crucial that they address the broad spectrum of needs, from flexible work arrangements to enhanced caregiving support. By doing so, employers not only foster a more inclusive culture but also ensure they’re meeting the demands of an increasingly diverse and dynamic workforce. Health and wellbeing benefits like health coaching, for example, are invaluable because they’re built to adapt to the ever-changing needs of a dynamic workforce and can be a smart solution for employers looking to keep pace with change.
More employees than ever are balancing caregiving responsibilities.
More employees than ever have assumed some sort of caregiving role – which can look different for everyone. “Caregiving is an increasingly common role for employees now,” explains Tom. “They have to balance their professional responsibilities with caring for their kids, caring for their parents, caring for disabled family members. This can take a significant toll on people’s mental health but also their physical health, their financial well-being, and organizations like ours are starting to recognize that this is a target group that needs support.”
The stress of burnout, guilt, and time constraints can quickly lead to strains on an employee’s personal and professional life affecting their overall health and well-being even as they so diligently care for others’. Without the proper support, this can quickly become unmanageable. Solutions like health coaching have proven to be essential for caregivers to help them strategize ways to prioritize their health and manage for a better balance between personal and professional priorities.
Listen to your workforce and “thoughtfully adapt.”
When it comes to ensuring health and well-being benefits remain valuable – especially as workforces become increasingly more diverse – Tom stresses it’s important to listen, test and learn, and pivot when you need to. Explains Tom, “To meet employees’ needs effectively, benefit professionals like myself need to be informed on industry trends and tailor solutions to our unique workforce, because every workforce is different.” This can be achieved both qualitatively and quantitatively, through employee surveys, focus groups, benefit utilization data and benchmarking. “My goal is always to thoughtfully adapt to evolving needs while maintaining flexibility and scalability,” Tom adds.
Benefits like health coaching afford helpful flexibility and scalability, making them an ideal solution for employers looking to evaluate different offerings to see what works best for their employees. As needs evolve, health coaching can easily be tailored to provide personalized support or scaled to address broader organizational needs, allowing employees access to a wide range of benefits without being locked into a one-size-fits-all solution.
The landscape of employee benefits is rapidly changing and employers who remain attuned to these changes—and take proactive steps to offer tailored, inclusive solutions—will not only improve employee well-being but will also stay ahead of the curve. For example, health coaching serves as a prime example of a benefit that can evolve with the workforce while offering the personalized support employees require.
At YourCoach, we’ve seen the firsthand value REAL health coaching brings to employees everywhere – helping them achieve more optimal holistic health and wellbeing that’s perfectly tailored to their health goals and intended outcomes. Not only that, but we’re seeing an increased demand from employees for health coaching services and expect this only to increase. If you’re an employer who’s interested in learning more about how we can partner to bring impactful health coaching to your employees, the kind that moves the needle, send us a note to team@yourcoach.health.
A very special thanks to Tom and MetLife for joining us and sharing this important perspective!