Deciding what benefits to offer employees can be overwhelming for a small business owner but the rewards are definitely worth the time and effort in coming up with offerings that make financial sense for the business while meeting the needs of your staff.
It can be done! And the financial gains often far outweigh the price tag in the long-run as top talent stay put in companies that value their well-being.
The essentials to offer according to workers?
1. Health insurance, including dental and vision
2. Life and disability isnurance
3. 401k/retirement plans
4. PTO/paid holidays
5. Commuter benefits (mostly in metropolitan areas)
This list of benefits is pretty standard for staying competitive in any given industry and most potential employees will not transition to a new employer without them. Since cost is the likely culprit for not offering benefits deemed important by workers, let’s look at how to keep cost down with ANY benefit package.
1. Have someone on staff with the TIME and KNOWLEDGE to handle all things related to benefits. Costly mistakes can happen when the responsibility is given to someone already consumed by other tasks, especially if that person doesn’t have comprehensive familiarity of the subject.
2. Don’t have an individual that fits the bill? This is where is it ESSENTIAL to outsource the task to a consultant! A consultant can walk you through all options, spell out your legal and financial obligations for each, and brainstorm other desirable perks that come to little or no cost to the business.
3. Avoid offering benefits your employees have little use for. An excellent way to identify their thoughts on current (or potential!) benefits is through a survey. If you see that a particular benefit is not met with much enthusiasm, it’s not worth the time nor money to keep investing in it. Let it go!
In the weeks to come we’ll break down the different avenues an employer can take for each of the above benefit options, as well as additional perks that cost less but are increasingly considered important to employees, such as flexible work hours.
Ready to make some benefit decisions? Have questions about a current benefit package you offer to employees? Eos HR has answers! We’ll help you through the process in solidifying a benefits package your employees, and yourself, will love!