Personalized benefits

Employees increasingly expect a more personalized approach to benefit offerings that help them meet life’s everyday challenges, according to recent research from Prudential Financial. The third installment of the 2026 Benefits & Beyond study, The Future of Work: How benefits define culture and drive workforce loyalty, found that that relevance and personalization play a growing role in whether benefits foster workforce loyalty, improve employees’ confidence in making benefit decisions, and help strengthen company culture.

“Life is full of milestones, transitions, and unexpected moments, and benefits should be designed with that reality in mind,” said Michael Estep, president of Prudential Group Insurance at Prudential. “As people’s needs evolve, employers have an opportunity to provide benefits support that feels more relevant and, in return, build a more connected and loyal workforce.”

The study found the following:

• Benefits are a powerful signal of culture, but they must address real-life needs. While 89 percent of employers say their benefits package shows they care about employees, only 66 percent of employees agree. That gap narrows when employees believe their benefits help them meet their current challenges.
• The biggest risk to benefits value is not lack of coverage.It is cost, complexity, and misalignment with real-life needs. While 85 percent of employers believe their benefits package helps employees meet the challenges they face at any stage in life, just 64 percent of employees agree. Employees are looking for benefits that are relevant, affordable, and easier to navigate.
• Personalization isn’t just a feature. It’s how benefits scale across a diverse workforce. More than half of employees say they are very or extremely interested in benefit decision-support tools during enrollment, and the same percentage want benefits designed for specific household profiles.
• Employees want guidance tailored to their individual circumstances. With 20 percent of employees reporting they feel overwhelmed during benefits enrollment and only 38 percent describing themselves as confident, Prudential suggests that personalization and AI-enabled decision support may offer meaningful ways to help employees navigate benefits choices more effectively.

“Employees don’t necessarily want more benefits. They want help finding the benefits that matter most to them,” said Bianka Douglas, vice president and People Business Leader, Prudential Group Insurance. “When benefits feel more relevant and easier to navigate, employees are more confident in their decisions and more connected to their workplace.”

SOURCE: www.prudential.com

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