When Dervilla Lannon stepped into a new VP of people role in November 2020, she immediately began thinking through business initiatives, benefits and areas where the company could enhance its offerings for employees, she told HR Dive.
She found motivation in an unexpected place that ultimately resulted in the quick roll-out of a $10,000 fertility benefit.
Friends were struggling to conceive, Lannon told HR Dive, and in a way — because she did not have a partner — she was, too. “My philosophy was that I would have children if I met someone [that] I’d love to have children with,” but, she said, she hadn’t taken age into consideration. “I was operating naively until I turned 40, and then I began to think about how to preserve optionality in the future.”
Lannon herself went through a series of tests and monitoring related to this decision. “In my case, there weren't enough viable eggs to proceed,” but she said she hasn’t given up on the idea.
Her new role at cloud-based physical security company Verkada, she said, represented a chance to reimagine its HR team and really make an impact. So in December that year, she pitched company-wide fertility benefits to Verkada leadership and received overwhelming support.
“I came from a big organization where an implementation of this type would have taken probably a year,” but Verkada is a smaller, start-up organization, and “very pro-employee,” she said. The organization launched fertility benefits within a couple of weeks of that conversation.
For companies considering fertility benefits, Lannon offered encouragement and several tips to ensure success.
Prioritize communication
After implementation of fertility benefits at Verkada, employees clamored for more information. There's an education component for everyone about what fertility benefits entail, so “[d]on’t stop at just offering the benefits,” Lannon said — also make sure employees know how to use them. An FAQ document or a speaker series are good ways to address questions on subjects of egg freezing, in vitro fertilization and more, she said. Lannon also encouraged employers to use ERGs as a way to educate workers about the fertility journey. Be ready to ensure clarity for employees, she said.
Verkada, headquartered in San Mateo, California, has offices in cities across the U.S. and abroad in London, Sydney and in Taiwan. “Using an exchange of foreign currency, we applied the benefit across the world,” Lannon said, and her team also relayed related information in digestible ways to Verkada employees everywhere.
Personalize benefits
Lannon said HR pros have a responsibility to remain open-minded about the benefits employees need to lead healthy and fulfilling lives, both in and out of the office. To that end, she advised employers to look at the utility and value-add of potential benefit offerings. “Often, companies will expand or add benefits [that don’t] actually address the root issue or concern for employees,” she said.
For many employees, starting a family and becoming parents is often a big part of who they are, and they’re happier when they can bring their entire selves to work, Lannon said, where they can not only talk about these things but access the resources and support they need.
Verkada wanted fertility benefits that would be easy to understand, easy to use and that complemented existing coverage. While researching fertility benefits for employees, Lannon said she found coverage for testing and visits, but “fertility benefits were not widely offered and if they were they didn’t always provide adequate resources.”
The company determined that a fixed amount of money toward fertility treatment was most beneficial to employees, along with education and resources to help them understand how to use the $10,000 benefit, available to all employees and their partners.
Recognize the broader benefits
“We know that when employees feel supported by their employers, they are more likely to stay longer. In fact, 88% of job seekers give ‘some consideration’ or ‘heavy consideration’ to better health, dental and vision insurance benefits when choosing between a high-paying job and a lower-paying job with better benefits,” Lannon said, citing a 2016 Fractl survey.
Companies that prioritize their employees will have benefits that help promote overall emotional, physical and financial well-being, and support a more inclusive workforce, she said.
“Undergoing fertility challenges is financially, physically and mentally taxing,” Lannon said, stressing the importance of access for all to family planning benefits. “Our fertility benefit is another way we can help support our employees.” Policies at Verkada allow employees to take as much time away as they want or need, said Lannon.
As July 25, World IVF Day, approaches, Lannon said her hope is that fertility benefits become the norm, not the exception.
