The beginning of April brings a lot of special days, like Easter, Passover, April Fool’s Day etc. But did you know that National Employee Benefits Day falls into that mix?
In honor of National Employee Benefits Day which was on April 2nd, we’re going to give employers some tips for putting together a benefits package that’s worthy of celebration.
Make the most of your benefits
Even if you have already selected your benefits plan and are confident that it works for your organization, it can’t hurt to take a closer look at how you can make the most out of them. You may even realize that a small addition or change could make the benefit experience even better for your employees.
For example, you may be one of the many organizations who have opted for a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) because of its lower cost to you. Have you considered ways to supplement that for your employees? Adding a Health Savings Account to offset your HDHP’s out-of-pocket costs gives your employees an additional avenue to pay for health expenses while also saving for retirement.
Sometimes selecting the best benefits for your organization starts with looking at what you already have.
Choose the right benefits for your employees’ needs
It may seem obvious that you would select benefits based on your employees’ needs -- after all, that’s the basic principle of employee benefits.
However, it’s important to realize that employee needs are constantly changing and evolving and differ from individual to individual, so it’s important to provide flexible benefits that can be personalized for different situations.
For example, you may cite childcare as a need of your employees and consider offering on-site child care. But you need to ask some questions: are all of your employees’ children daycare aged? Are employees responsible for providing care to family members other than children? Are there accommodations for special needs?
When you look at it from a situational perspective, you may realize that a flexible benefit like a Dependent Care Account is better suited for the situation because it can be used in a personalized way.
When you put yourself in your employees’ shoes to determine which benefits would be best, be sure to put on more than one pair!
Consider the details
As we previously stated, employee benefits are designed to meet employees’ needs. Understanding what shapes their unique circumstances and specific needs can help you select benefits accordingly.
Some of the details to consider include:
- Key demographics - is your workforce made up of mostly Millennials and Gen Z, or professional veterans? Do they have student loans or may be going back to school during their employment?
- Location - are you in an urban area where employees would benefit from commuter benefits plans, or are you a remote organization that could offer virtual workout classes.
- Industry - different industries lend themselves to different work environments and therefore create different needs. For example, essential and healthcare companies may want to invest in mental wellness programs in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Understand cost savings and ROI
As with any business decision, cost is a factor when it comes to selecting employee benefits for your organization. It makes sense to choose options that don’t place a tremendous burden on your bottom line, but it’s also important to truly understand cost savings and ROI.
There are some benefits that provide straightforward cost savings, like HDHPs and plans with lower employer contributions. But there’s another angle -- employee retention.
Putting together a unique and engaging benefits package keeps employees around. According to research from Gallup, replacing an individual employee costs an organization anywhere from 1.5-2 times that person’s salary over the course of a year. Preventing turnover is an often overlooked part of cost savings that can easily be remedied by offering benefits that employees really want.
So how do you know what employees want? Communication. Each enrollment period, ask for feedback and encourage one on one meetings between HR and employees to truly understand which benefits should be kept, which can be let go of and which could be added for an even stronger plan next year.
Sources:
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/247391/fixable-problem-costs-businesses-trillion.aspx
https://www.sodexoengage.com/blog/choosing-the-right-employee-benefits-for-your-team
