Dive Brief:

• Personalized wellness programs, combined with a variety of non-cash incentives like paid time off, would motivate 80% of employees to be more engaged in employer programming, according to the "Wellbeing Wake-Up Report" by Welltok. But the report also found that employers are missing this opportunity — 84% of employees in the survey said their company offers "one-size-fits-all" programs and 56% of employees said they have received irrelevant support.
• More than 60% of those surveyed said they want help from their employer for all facets of health, with financial health being their top priority. 
• The survey authors said employee turnover and burnout could be improved by "providing the right support to the right individual when and where it is needed." Most employees — 64% — reported they feel stressed at work, most of them women and middle-aged workers, but only a third of employees reported their employers offering stress management programs.

Dive Insight:

Research is continuing to reveal that personalization is an important factor of the employee experience. From wellness to recruiting to learning and development, HR may want to consider how they can personalize initiatives.

For the best recruiting experience, experts have said employers will give themselves an edge over competitors when they make applicants feel they're getting personalized, one-on-one treatment. Even when using tech like smartphone apps, virtual job fairs and webchats during the hiring process, a personalized approach is possible, and job seekers prefer it, according to research from ManpowerGroup Solutions.

With five generations in the workplace, personalized learning can be a challenge. Exceptions abound, but some leaders have said younger staff learn best digitally, while older generations are more used to face-to-face, classroom-style situations. Employers should allow, if possible, each learner to choose the path that best suits them by providing a variety of offerings — classroom-style, online platforms and mentorship, for example.

Even benefits are experiencing a demand for personalization. Flexible work schedules and personalized health benefits could entice many workers to leave their current jobs, a Yoh survey revealed.

It may not come as a surprise, then, that wellness seems to be next in line for the personalization trend. And with candidates saying that wellness programs matter — 73% of U.S. workers said that health and wellness programs are a consideration in deciding whether to work for a company — employers may want to take note.