Revisiting benefits design approaches: the strategic value of identity-based benefits

When designing benefit offerings, organizations often frame the task as a trade-off: should we follow the market (do what others do) or should we rather focus on our employees’ preferences (let them choose)? In this paper, we contend that framing the problem as a dichotomy underplays the strategic role of benefits and ignores alternative approaches that could be more meaningful and effective. In the past, using benefits to communicate strategic intentions has proven a challenge. Based on recent research applying anthropomorphism ideas to organizations, we suggest an additional approach, which considers an organization’s identity in designing benefit offerings. With stakeholders increasingly expecting companies to position themselves as distinct players within a complex societal and environmental context, the concept of identity-based benefits presents itself as a powerful tool for sensemaking about “who the organization is” and for creating a fruitful connection between the organization and its stakeholders.