‘Benefits are now central to the employee experience’

As AI continues to reshape how organizations hire, train and retain talent, recent findings from ADP Canada suggests Canadian workers are increasingly evaluating the overall value of work and benefits are notably playing a bigger role in that equation.

While 60 per cent of workers are satisfied with their benefits, extended health coverage (53 per cent), additional paid time off (PTO) (49 per cent) and retirement benefits or retirement savings plans (48 per cent) are the most valued offerings. Stacey Hummel emphasized these findings reinforce what areas of benefits employees are looking to get out of their employer.

What those three benefits have in common, in her view, is that they map directly onto what employees are now trying to build.

"Benefits are now central to the employee experience. Extended health coverage contributes to the employee’s health and well being needs. PTO contributes to an employee's balance and flexibility needs," noted Hummel, HR executive consultant at ADP Canada, before adding that retirement plans answer the need for financial security.

"I would say that employees are looking for a sustainable, balanced and secure lifestyle. They're not just looking for compensation anymore … It shows that employee priorities reflect a strong focus on well being, flexibility and long-term financial security. So while 60% of workers satisfied with their benefits, that means there's a meaningful portion that remain neutral or dissatisfied. To me, that means that organizations aren't fully meeting expectations,” she said.

“When we look at May's career advancement score, which is 6.3, it's up slightly from April, this suggests that organizations have a lot of room here to better integrate benefits with growth and development opportunities. I think there's an opportunity for employers to benefit from reframing the whole ‘What benefits do we offer?’ position to ‘How do our benefits shape how employees live and experience everyday work?’” Hummel added.

On PTO, Hummel acknowledged a concern that extends to a broader pattern, noting that many organizations across both provincial and federal jurisdictions treat statutory PTO minimums as a destination rather than a starting point. She traced this back to a government adjustment several years prior that raised minimum PTO to three weeks for workers hitting the five-year mark.

“Employers can be doing better than waiting for a governing body or legislative change to actually provide more [time-off] to people," she said.

Additional data also noted how only 43 per cent of Canadian workers are having regular growth conversations with their managers while one in five never have them at all. Hummel believes this explains why career advancement sits as the lowest-rated dimension in the index, at 6.2 out of 10 in April.

She believes career development is the thinner part of the picture as only 24 per cent of workers say their employer provides internal skills workshops, while 22 per cent report access to external training, and just 17 per cent have one-on-one coaching with a manager. She underscored the fix starts with reclassification of workplace benefits.

"Make development career development a core benefit category, not a separate HR program," she said.

When asked what that looks like in practice, Hummel described partnering with a provider that supplies both the platform and the course content and noted that consultants can help build and measure a training path. She acknowledged ADP is one such option among others, while noting there are many other strong providers in the space.

Managers play a key role

Hummel believes managers are the single greatest lever employers have. Rather than treating managers as administrators, organizations need to position them as architects of growth and employee experience, she suggests, pointing to one-on-one meetings, which most organizations are underusing.

“They need to be the champions. They need to have a better understanding of the benefits that organizations are offering their employees so they can speak to them in terms of their ease of use and their accessibility and they can normalize using them,” said Hummel.

She outlined a framework for making these meetings count – by holding them on a consistent schedule, biweekly at best and monthly at minimum, because regularity builds trust. She suggests shifting the focus from operational check-ins toward career aspirations and skill development — the kind of forward-looking conversation that could move the needle on career advancement. For Hummel, the dialogue needs to be employee-driven, giving workers space to set part of the agenda and claim ownership of their own growth.

Meetings should also yield concrete outcomes, including clear next steps, stretch assignments, opportunities to build skills. But she’s also cautious of managers who let commitments from previous conversations slip off their radar, leaving employees frustrated and skeptical.

She also pushed for a shift in manager posture, from directing to coaching and asking questions, offering perspective, and removing obstacles.

“Remember, 17 per cent report receiving coaching. This is a big opportunity for employers and managers, so ask questions, provide your perspective and remove obstacles where you can for your employees. I think that's probably the biggest opportunity that I really wanted to identify today in terms of how employers can really change that growth mindset first for employees,” said Hummel.