Hub’s Take on How Employers Can Improve Worker Engagement, Productivity, Retention

While employers desire to make thoughtful decisions about the employee benefits they provide, they may be missing the mark on their opportunities to do so.

According to Hub International Ltd.’s 2025 Workforce Vitality Gap Index, 75% of benefits decisionmakers rely on employee surveys to help inform their selection of benefits. Fewer than 50% use employee demographic analysis or external consultants, indicating they may be skipping chances to improve their insights.

“Surveys and benchmarks only tell part of the story. For starters, they are often backward-looking,” said Jim O’Shaughnessy, Hub Retirement and Private Wealth’s managing partner, in a statement. “As a result, the benefits employees care about most—like flexibility and solutions that support financial well-being, including retirement planning—are often overlooked.”

Hub generated the index by conducting a two-part survey, focused on companies with at least 250 employees. The first study surveyed 150 decisionmakers at U.S. companies that were either HR/benefits leaders at a director level who had decisionmaking authority or C-Suite decisionmakers across finance and operations. The second study surveyed 1,500 U.S.-based employees who were at least 18 years old and employed full-time across various industries.

The index found that 73% of decisionmakers reported they plan to make changes to their employee benefits and total rewards programs this year. Of those, 72% said they are looking to expand their current offerings, suggesting there is a chance to capitalize on what employees want.

Of employers surveyed, 40% identified employee retention as their top priority, followed by employee productivity and wellness (36%) and recruitment (15%). Employee responses indicated employee benefits were key to retention, too—73% said a comprehensive and personalized benefits program would increase the likelihood they would stay with their current employer.

In addition, 41% of employees ranked work-life balance and flexibility their top priority, ahead of such benefits as salary (18%). However, 47% of employers ranked compensation, benefits and total rewards programs as the No. 1 driver of employee satisfaction.

While flexibility was valued by all generations, it was particularly valued by those ages 35 to 44. The Hub report noted that even among employees 55 and older—typically thought to value traditional rewards like compensation and retirement benefits—37% prioritized work-life balance above all else. In its report, Hub called this a generational shift in workplace values that employers “cannot afford to ignore.”

Employee responses also suggested a gap in awareness, understanding and value of mental health support programs. Nearly one in four employees expressed mental health concerns, and of those respondents, fewer than one in four reported utilizing well-being programs related to mental health.

Recently, the Employee Benefits Research Institute revealed in its 2024 Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey that 39% of respondents were unsure whether mental health care services were covered in the same way as their other health care services. Eighty-three percent said such services should be covered, however.

Hub’s research found those ages 18 to 24 and 25 to 34 were most likely to express a need for mental health support, at 35% and 39%, respectively. Forty-five percent of the younger age group reported health issues affecting their productivity, and 42% of the older group reported the same. In contrast, employees ages 65 and older identified other health and dental benefits as most important to them.

Of employee respondents in Hub’s report, 41% said health concerns negatively impacted their attendance at work. Meanwhile, only 20% ­of employers said they believed health concerns were a top factor impacting productivity, indicating a potential disconnect between the benefits programs employers offered and those employees want or need.

“When it comes to the potential blind spot of workplace issues impacting productivity, employers need to dig deeper to determine if there are systemic workplace or company culture issues that are adversely impacting productivity,” Hub’s report stated. “These issues could be wide-ranging and may necessitate management or operational changes.”