Affordable Benefits Around the Corner
You’ve brought some great employees on board. Nice! But in the competitive job market, employees always have their eyes out for a better offer. And it’s no small cost to find and train even part-time and seasonal employees. So how do you keep them happy and loyal? One simple solution is a great benefits package. According to a 2015 Glassdoor survey, 4 out 5 surveyed workers would opt for a boost in their benefits over a pay raise.
It doesn’t have to level up to Google C-Suite benefits. Instead, it’s better to start with the Pareto Principle — what are the 20% of benefits that will garner 80% of the employee satisfaction?
This study surveyed 2,000 workers regarding 17 common workforce perks, and — surprise, surprise — the most in-demand consideration when assessing a job offer is healthcare related, including dental and vision benefits.
While offering health insurance is (currently) compulsory for businesses of 50 employees or more, for smaller businesses it often makes more sense — for both company and employee — to opt for a private policy. The important thing is to show concern for your workforce and work with them to make sure they can stay healthy without going broke. This is key to keeping them at your company.
A survey of Millennials done by Fit Small Business showed that even this demographic who so value their ping-pong tables chose affordable healthcare options as their number-one concern when it comes to employment.
Employee Benefit Adviser expounds on the topic of healthcare by pointing not just to how it helps employees, but the organization as a whole.
“By placing a focus on employee wellness, employers often report myriad benefits, from increased productivity to decreased healthcare expenses and even improved employee morale.”
Coming in at Second and Third are “More Flexible Work Hours” and “More Vacation Time,” respectively, which basically amounts to demanding a greater work-life balance.
Offering flexible work time is also a cheap way to maximize your employees’ best working hours. Your standard 9-5 or 10-6 is akin to handing out medium-sized t-shirts to everyone — it’s not always going to be a good fit. By allowing greater flexibility, you let Night Owls and Morning Larks thrive when they’re at their best.
And as for vacation, there are loads of information pointing to its crucial relationship to overall productivity and creativity. According to the Harvard Business Review, the average paid vacation Americans take has gone down by almost a week since 2000.
According to Project: Time Off, it’s not that Americans aren’t offered these days. They simply don’t take them, citing a stressful work culture that takes a neutral stance on vacation, which is pretty much equivalent to being actively discouraging.
“Project: Time Off’s new study found that 95% of people surveyed claimed that using their paid time off was very important. And yet for the first time in recorded history, more than half of Americans (55%) left vacation days unused, which equates to 658 million unused vacation days.”
In the same study, Project: Time Off included the following quote:
“Vacation is one of the few times, especially if someone has a full-time job, to be able to think deeply about a subject and create something new,” Bryan Mattimore, author of Idea Stormers: How to Lead and Inspire Creative Breakthroughs, told Forbes. “Because many things are new on a vacation, it naturally encourages people to transcend their perceptual thinking ruts… which can be great fodder for new ideas.”
A few examples of vacation-time creative breakthroughs include Instagram, Dropbox, Hamilton the musical, and Starbucks, all ideas stumbled upon during leisure hours.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you can’t afford competitive benefits. Even if you do skimp thinking that you’re getting a bottom-line boost, you’re chasing off your current and future talent and destroying your odds of future prosperity.
The good news is that you can offer your company a range of great benefits for as little as $10 per month, per employee.
Alliance Direct Benefits is a great way to complement and enhance your current benefits package or offer incentive to loyalty to part-time, contract, and seasonal workers. Alliance gives your employees a chance to save money on personal, professional, and healthcare costs. These include 24/7 doctor access through Teledoc; discounts on dental care, medical imaging, and pharmaceuticals; 24-hour emergency roadside assistance; and travel discounts on hotels, cruises, and rental cars.
Offering a great benefits package is just as much a statement of company values and culture as it is a way to help your employees, keep them happy, and keep them on board.