The priority for most employers now isn't about adding more to the benefits package but enhancing what's already on offer, says WTW's Anne-Marie Nawar
A recent survey published by WTW has found that as benefit costs continue to climb, plan sponsors are having to pivot their strategy.
The priority for most employers now isn’t about adding more to the benefits package but enhancing what’s already on offer.
As Anne-Marie Nawar explained, that starts with a clear-eyed benchmarking process to assess whether offerings are aligned with workforce needs.
“I don't think it's about necessarily expanding coverage. It's about making sure you're offering the right things for your employees,” said Nawar, Canadian health and benefits insights and solutions leader at WTW.
While flexibility and choice have been long-standing themes in plan design, Nawar stressed that more isn't always better but rather ensuring there's enough flexibility for employees to tailor coverage to fit their individual circumstances.
Additionally, one of the biggest obstacles employers face right now is communication and simply making employees aware of the benefits already available to them. She believes that all too often, valuable offerings in benefits go unnoticed.
“I think that's a challenge, employers offer a lot of things that their employees may not be fully aware of,” she said, highlighting that sponsors are turning to technology that centralizes information and personalizes access based on individual needs or life events.
“The survey shows that the majority of employers have regular communication throughout the year, but technology solutions are emerging actions to enhance the employee experience, such as providing a single digital platform where employees can access all benefits and services, personalized online benefit portals and decision support tools,” she noted.
According to WTW’s 2025 Benefits Trends Survey, 35 per cent plan to offer regular communication on benefits throughout the year whereas 60 per cent already do. Fifty-one per cent, however, plan to increase technology solutions to enhance the employee experience compared to the 12 per cent surveyed.
Most employers surveyed plan to enhance use of online dashboards, increase their employee listening strategies, and enhance cost and risk forecasts, with 40 per cent planning to use an online dashboard(s) to provide benefit overview and 38 per cent planning to conduct regular surveys or focus groups of employees.
Employers should ultimately make it their goal to repackage benefits in a way that makes them more visible and relevant, adding that it’s also important to “make sure employees know that their benefits are competitive and that they align with market,” noted Nawar.
Cost pressures remain
Cost pressures are now the top concern for plan sponsors, overtaking even the war for talent, noted Nawar, attributing it as one of the main highlights of the survey.
“Not surprisingly, cost came through as the main concern for employers. This year, it's actually the top issue for employers in their benefit strategy, and it surpassed competition for talent."
She believes the change in ranking speaks volumes. For years, benefits strategies were built to attract and retain talent. That hasn't disappeared, Nawar said, but inflation and medical cost increases have brought value optimization into sharper focus.
In response, plan sponsors are re-evaluating how their benefits dollars are spent, questioning whether offerings align with employee needs and considering how to redirect resources for greater impact.
Employers are also increasingly focused on tightening administrative processes and vendor management to stretch the value of their benefit programs. That includes performance benchmarks, updated service-level agreements, and regular vendor marketing exercises to ensure competitive pricing and service delivery and to streamline operations “as much as they can,” said Nawar, emphasizing that neglected vendor reviews may be costing sponsors both time and money.
Analytics is another area evolving quickly. Instead of relying on basic dashboards, Nawar noted employers want to build data into strategic decision-making. That means going beyond surface metrics to identify cost drivers, forecast trends, and shape future design, adding that survey data shows sponsors plan to elevate their analytics capabilities moving forward.
On the financing side, she underscored that employers are exploring alternative risk arrangements to offset rising costs and assuming more risk where feasible in exchange for greater flexibility.
When it comes to improving employee experience, the answer often comes down to better communication. Regular feedback loops and clear messaging are key, Nawar said, especially when budgets are tight.
“One of the things employers are looking to do is really hearing what the employees are looking for,” she said. “The benefit strategy is still an important component of the competition for talent attraction and retention. It's a great opportunity to review everything you're doing, what you're offering, and use that into the total rewards strategy, making sure it aligns with everything else you're trying to do.”
Consequently, there's a continued focus on meeting employee expectations in critical areas like mental health and financial well-being - both of which have become increasingly important over the past few years.
Looking ahead, Nawar expects that over the next few years, employers will show clear progress in how they reallocate spending within benefit plans and refine their plan design strategies. She also anticipates significant changes in how organizations use data to manage and govern those plans.
“I think we'll definitely see evolution in the analytics space of how they're monitoring their plan and how they're governing their plans,” she said.
