Why you should offer employees better benefits
If you own a business but you currently don’t offer any employee benefits that are deemed worthy, then there’s every chance you have either a very high turnover or a high absenteeism rate. You could lose a lot of good people to competitors with strong benefits programs if you are not paying attention to the benefits that you’re offering your employees.
No, a salary is not enough to keep the talent where they’re supposed to be. You have to consider providing employee benefits that will match the expectations of the candidate in the marketplace. Employee benefits can help you to attract better candidates and that keeps workers happier and more productive. If you want your company to meet its goals, you need to keep its people happy. Employee benefits can be as big as a company car salary sacrifice program, or it can be as small as having a Friday where they can wear their own clothes. What really counts is the benefits that are going to matter the most to your people, and the best place to get that information is from the people themselves. If you’re still on the fence about whether or not you should be shelling out more money for employee benefits, let us take you through the reasons why you should be offering them without us telling you to do that.
- You are going to attract better talent. If you’re looking to hire the top talent to come onto your team, the only way you’re going to do that is with a strong magnet. And the magnet is the salary and benefits that you can offer. As passionate as people can be about their work, we are all driven by money and benefits to keep us interested in what we’re doing. Nobody wants to work a nine to five, but if you can work knowing that you don’t have to pay for your car, then why wouldn’t you do that? It’s a tight labour market and you have to consider the employee benefits when it comes to your recruitment strategy and how those employee benefits can evolve as people move through your company.
- You’re going to prevent people from leaving. Consider the situation when it comes to people leaving their job. Are they leaving because they have reached a ceiling? Sometimes. Are they leaving because they feel unappreciated? Always. People will not leave a good job with good benefits. They will leave a bad boss who doesn’t consider their benefits to be necessary. Turnover is expensive and you’re going to spend more money having to advertise and hire new people than you are having to keep the ones that you’ve already got. Nearly half of all workers are unhappy with their employee benefits package, and unless you’re asking your team, you’ll find that your people feel the same. Improving the current benefits can improve worker satisfaction and therefore reduce how many people are leaving you.
- You’re going to promote a healthier workforce. Higher levels of absenteeism means that you’re having a business with people constantly off sick. Healthier workers are happier workers. So if you’re offering dental and health insurance and insurance for eyeglasses, then you’re going to be able to make it easier for employees to take better care of themselves. Healthier employees are also more productive and happier to work within their jobs. So if you want to make sure that your team is happy, then make sure that you’re offering benefits that promote health. This can be anything from using company cars and a salary sacrifice program, or offering weekly massages or a gym membership.
- You could improve productivity in your staff. How do the right employee benefits impact productivity? Well, it’s going to improve it. People who enjoy their work and feel that they are treated well by their employer are always willing to work harder and are always more loyal. They’re working for the benefits and the compensation they receive, and as much as you would love to think people want to work for you because they have that loyalty, you have to give them a reason to be loyal.
- You create a culture of support. When you are offering your employees good benefits, you’re going to show them that you care about them. They would plan to stay with employers for at least three more years than usual because of the fact they feel cared for. A company leader often will claim that their employees are the best assets, but unless you’re reflecting that in the pay and benefits package, it’s all just empty words. You want to send the right message to your team, and that means ensuring that you’re giving them as many benefits as possible.