Quiet quitting may be fading from the headlines, but retention risk is not. In 2025, keeping top performers requires more than just compensation. Employees want to know their employers have their backs. through moments of stress, growth, and change.
That’s where better benefits come in.
Smart companies are no longer treating benefits as a compliance box or static cost center. They’re using them as a proactive tool to boost loyalty, satisfaction, and productivity. According to The 2025 Benefits Divide, the companies winning on retention are the ones modernizing their benefit strategies to meet real-life needss.
The average cost to replace a salaried employee is between 1.5 and 2 times their annual salary. That figure only grows when you factor in productivity losses, onboarding time, and lost institutional knowledge. Strategic benefit design can dramatically reduce that risk, and save money in the long run.
Benefits like flexible schedules and mental health support used to be viewed as perks. Today, they are essential. As we know, understanding how to answer, “what is job satisfaction?”, means understanding that it’s deeply tied to whether employees feel their employer understands and supports their everyday needs.
Younger generations now make up the majority of the workforce, and they’re setting a new standard for what employee benefits should look like. Gen Z benefit expectations are different, their benefits to package to reflect their own values, equity, and everyday usability.
These employees expect more than an annual benefits booklet and a generic plan. They’re looking for:
They are also more likely to leave an employer if they feel their benefits are hard to use, don’t apply to their needs, or don’t reflect their values. Employers who meet these expectations are rewarded not just with higher retention, but with stronger advocacy, culture alignment, and employer brand equity.
Not all benefits are created equal. The ones that move the needle on retention tend to have three things in common: they’re accessible, easy to use, and actually aligned with employees’ real-life priorities.
Here are the top benefit categories that drive loyalty in today’s workforce:
Employees want more than a hotline. They expect access to therapy, on-demand mental health care, and support that goes beyond an EAP.
Mental health topped the list in our analysis of the top 10 care categories employees are searching. Offering talk therapy, virtual sessions, and 24/7 support has become table stakes.
Employees who understand their benefits are more likely to use them—and stay with their employer. Platforms with AI-driven tools improve literacy, reduce HR burden, and empower smarter decisions.
See how AI-driven healthcare navigation services increase clarity and satisfaction.
Employees are evaluating whether their employer supports them not just as professionals, but as people with families, goals, and changing health needs.
Comprehensive offerings that can signal to your workforce that you care about their full life journey include:
These benefits are powerful loyalty drivers across genders, generations, and roles. There’s more work to be done to make navigating pregnancy and maternal care easier, and improvement comes from employers and how they strategize their employee benefits package.
Benefits only retain employees when they’re visible and understood. Unfortunately, poor communication is one of the most common reasons for underutilization.
Check out Employee benefits communication: a guide for HR leaders to learn how year-round engagement keeps benefits top of mind. Tools like Healthee Connect make it easy to build campaigns that resonate.
Retention and cost control are not opposing goals. Rather, they can be achieved together through smarter benefits design. Preventive care offerings show employees that their employer values long-term well-being, not just crisis care.
Benefit services you might consider including can be:
Together, these offerings reduce the likelihood of high-cost claims while fostering a culture of proactive health.
These offerings also send a clear message: we want you to stay healthy, not just stay employed. To see how leading employers are managing these types of offerings more effectively, read our insights on managing pharmacy benefits costs.
Even well-intentioned benefits programs can fall short if they’re not thoughtfully delivered. Here are three of the most common pitfalls:
A single plan doesn’t work for everyone. Employees who are caregivers, parents, or early-career professionals may all need different levels of support.
The 2025 Benefits Divide showed that employees often choose suboptimal plans due to a lack of tailored guidance and clarity.
If your benefits only get attention during open enrollment, you’re missing key moments to connect. Life changes, role changes, and health concerns all deserve timely communication.
Poor communication can cause real damage. The hidden cost of benefits confusion breaks down just how costly misalignment can be for engagement and retention.
Switching between five different vendor portals to access care is a surefire way to create frustration and disengagement.
With point solution fatigue on the rise, unified platforms like Healthee Connect help simplify access and improve engagement across the board.
What makes a benefits program truly retention-driven? It’s not just what’s offered, it’s how it’s delivered, explained, and adapted over time.
Here’s how Healthee supports retention through smarter benefits delivery:
In today’s labor market, benefits are more than just a line item on your budget. They are a direct investment in your team’s happiness, health, and willingness to stay.
When employees feel supported, understood, and empowered to use their benefits, they stick around. And that makes the ROI of a thoughtful benefits strategy incredibly clear.
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