I recently had the opportunity to spend some time in Angola. It may be a stretch for many to translate this African experience into a discussion on Canadian employee benefits plans, but, in some respects, the lessons learned from Angola could not be more relevant. Simply stated, it’s a matter of perspective.
Let’s start with a little background on Angola. Independence from Portugal in 1975 quickly dissolved into a bitter civil war that lasted until 2002. The war did inexplicable harm to the country, pushing back its development as a modern society by decades, if not generations. Even today, Angola has the most land mines of any country in the world. Huge tracts remain too dangerous to venture into until the land mines are cleared. The average income is less than $500 per month, and the majority of the population live in barrios with no electricity or running water. Think of any slum you’ve seen in North America or Mexico and multiply it by 1,000%. Angola’s people live in extreme poverty by any global standard.
But Angola also has the fastest growing GDP in the world, with plentiful oil and gas resources and some of the continent’s richest diamond mines. The Angolan government is spending money at a dizzying rate, seemingly trying to create a modern economy virtually overnight pumping much-needed investment in infrastructure and affordable housing. Building cranes are everywhere. Angola has a long way to go, but it is trying to catch up very fast.
Let me round out my Angola experience for you. I had the opportunity to visit a home in a barrio in a community called Benfica. The road was really a dirt path, hardly wide enough for our vehicle. With no sanitation, the stench was overwhelming. Our destination was a home made of concrete cinder blocks, and it was no more than 1,000 square feet in total size—less if you eliminated the outdoor courtyard. The house was home to three families, and I was immediately greeted by eight children all under the age of eight. They had no toys to play with—only one another—and, without question, they were the happiest children I have ever seen. The house, bursting at the seams—and despite the filth and stench that surrounded it—was truly a home. The families had everything they needed; they had safety and security, and they appeared to live life without being encumbered by the desire for something more.
It is hard not to be changed by such an experience. More than anything, it provides perspective. And it’s a perspective that is a useful context for how we approach many aspects of North American life—including employee benefits plans.
Value
Angolans would appear to understand the value of things that we in North America have long taken for granted: safety, security, freedom and family. In relentless pursuit for more, we have lost sight for what we have. Plan sponsors and providers have been focused primarily on price, not on the value delivered by these programs. For many, benefits have become a cost item to be managed, rather than a valuable component of compensation that can provide assistance and make a positive difference in the lives of those who need them.
Removing our filters
Through our filters, it would seem incomprehensible that Angolans could be content with the ways things are. But from their perspective, the country is in a far better place than it was 10 years ago. Our filters also shape our decision-making with respect to employee benefits—we see things from our own unique perspectives. Yet as the workforce becomes increasingly more diverse, long-held perspectives become less relevant. The challenge for all benefits managers is to remove their own sets of filters and to think in terms of the needs, wants and expectations of the various stakeholders to whom the benefits programs need to be held accountable.
Cultural diversity
The war for talent is global. Increasingly, the Canadian workforce will comprise employees whose perspectives will be shaped by cultural norms and experiences learned elsewhere. A benefit in the traditional Canadian context may not be a benefit to these new Canadians. Employers that truly want to win the war for talent—and retain and motivate that talent—will need to find ways to embrace this diversity in all aspects of their employment proposition, including employee benefits plan design.
Opportunity
It is impossible to escape daily reminders of the past, but Angola is also all about opportunity and moving forward. The government and private industry are making big bets on the future, acknowledging that there are significant risks along the way. It is hard not to be envious of this approach to risk-taking. In Canada, we jealously protect our past, which, in some respects, becomes a societal filter in embracing the “art of the possible.” Employee benefits plan sponsors are often anchored by the past and, as a consequence, we have seen relatively little innovation in this business. For those organizations willing to take the risk, there are tremendous opportunities to redefine our benefits promise to employees and to greatly enhance the overall employment proposition.
I am not suggesting that everyone needs to hop on a plane to Angola in order to gain perspective. Perspective can be gained from a number of sources, such as children, colleagues with different backgrounds, broad-based employee surveys or even focus groups. The challenge for many is to have the courage to consider these different perspectives and know when to set their own aside—and this is not an easy thing to do.