December 2024

• Employee Benefits | Reducing Burnout with Wellness Stipends
• Workplace Culture | Creating a Safe Space for Innovation
• Dear HR Manager | Building Better Beginnings

Reducing Burnout with Wellness Stipends
 
Younger employees are driving a shift in workplace expectations, making wellness a priority and refusing to accept burnout as the norm in their professional life. They want benefits that support their physical, mental, and emotional well-being, and personalized stipends are rising to meet this demand. These stipends allow employees to choose what matters most to them—whether it’s fitness memberships, mental health apps, ergonomic office equipment, or healthy meal subscriptions—offering a flexible, modern solution that resonates across generations.

Driving Engagement
Unlike conventional fringe benefits, which often see low usage rates of just 3% to 5%, personalized stipends are designed to meet diverse employee needs, increasing relevance and participation. For example, employees who use a mix of in-person and digital wellness tools are twice as engaged as those relying on only one method. By offering flexible options that meet employees where they are, stipends create a more inclusive and supportive workplace, leading to higher satisfaction and stronger connections.

Attracting and Retaining Top Talent
The competition for talent is fierce, and personalized stipends provide a significant edge. With 82% of employees at risk for burnout, stipends demonstrate a company’s commitment to its employees. This modern approach helps retain top performers while positioning organizations as desirable places to work for high-caliber candidates. By embracing stipends, companies address evolving employee expectations and strengthen their ability to build and maintain a thriving team.

 Workplace Culture 

Creating a Safe Space for Innovation

Psychological safety is more than just a buzzword—it’s the foundation of a thriving workplace. Employees must feel secure enough to share ideas, take risks, and collaborate without fear of judgment. However, a lack of psychological safety is still common, especially for younger employees. According to a recent study, nearly half of employees aged 18 to 25 feel their contributions aren’t valued by colleagues outside their age group. Building psychological safety can bridge this gap, unlocking innovation and collaboration across all levels.

Redefining Psychological Safety
A common misconception is that psychological safety means fostering a “speak-up culture.” While that’s part of the equation, it’s much broader. Psychological safety includes ensuring that employees feel comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work, engaging in constructive conflict, and being empowered to express ideas. Without it, workers—particularly younger ones—struggle to connect with peers and may feel undervalued or overlooked, hindering both individual growth and team dynamics.

Practical Strategies to Build Safety
Creating a psychologically safe environment starts with proactive, actionable steps.

Celebrate contributions across levels. Younger employees often feel undervalued. Highlight their skills and ideas during team meetings to bridge generational divides. Research shows that emphasizing collaboration across experience levels helps build inclusivity and trust.

Normalize mistakes as learning opportunities. A culture that embraces failure as a path to growth encourages innovation. Leaders can model this by sharing their own lessons learned, showing employees that mistakes are part of progress.

Invest in team development. Psychological safety isn’t just a mindset; it’s a skill. Equip teams with resources for effective communication, healthy conflict resolution, and self-awareness. According to the Psychological Safety Institute, organizations often fail to address these root causes of conflict, leading to interventions that miss the mark.

The Payoff of Psychological Safety
Psychological safety is essential for fostering workplace satisfaction, shaping not only how teams collaborate but also how employees perceive their own value within the organization. When employees feel their contributions are respected and acknowledged, 81% of employees are likely to recommend their workplace as a great place to work. By creating an environment where every voice is heard and valued, organizations not only strengthen team cohesion but also position themselves as employers of choice, attracting and retaining top talent.

---

Dear HR Manager

Bringing in new talent is an ongoing challenge for my team. How can we create an onboarding process that informs and inspires?
— Build Better Beginnings


​​Dear Build Better Beginnings,
Onboarding isn't just about introducing new hires to the job—it’s about setting them up for long-term success and making them feel welcome right from the start. Here are three ideas to help you create an onboarding process that truly makes an impact

Make It Personal
Start the onboarding experience even before their first day. Send a welcome kit reflecting your company’s culture—think branded merch, a handwritten note from the team, or even a trending book on your industry. If your team is big on sustainability, maybe include eco-friendly office supplies or a reusable water bottle. These small gestures show you care and set a positive tone.

Pair Them with a Mentor
Assign new hires a mentor who can guide them through the early days, answer their questions, and help them understand their role in the bigger picture. A structured mentorship program with regular check-ins—possibly once a week for the first three months—can make all the difference in helping them feel connected and supported.

Make Learning Fun and Interactive
Replace lengthy presentations with engaging, interactive experiences. For example, virtual reality (VR) tours of company facilities or gamified learning modules can make policies and processes easier to absorb. Incorporating quizzes or team-building activities into training sessions also helps keep new hires engaged while building camaraderie with their colleagues.

Focusing on these strategies can transform onboarding from a routine task into a meaningful experience. A personalized, supportive, and engaging process makes a strong first impression and sets the stage for
long-term success.

— HR Manager

---

About UBA
United Benefit Advisors® (UBA) is the nation's leading independent employee benefits advisory organization with more than 200 offices throughout the United States and Canada. UBA empowers 2,000+ advisors to maintain independence while capitalizing on each other's shared knowledge and market presence to provide best-in-class services and solutions.
​
The content contained in this website, including but not limited to all text, images, trademarks, and logos, is owned by United Benefit Advisors® (UBA) except as otherwise expressly stated or provided by third parties. 
 
UBA Partner Firms must keep all copyright, trademark, and copy intact. All others may link directly to the UBA website to share UBA copyrighted material; they may not duplicate, distribute, create derivative works, or otherwise use this site's content.

This information is general information and provided for educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal advice. You should not act on this information without consulting legal counsel or other knowledgeable advisors.