Think back to 10 years ago. What did “employee benefits” mean? Healthcare, probably a 401k, maybe a parking spot –– and that was about it. This was all before millennials entered the job market.
Flash forward to 2016. Google gives “20% time” to their employees to work on outside tasks, LinkedIn has its own stage for aspiring musicians, and Evernote gives their employees house cleaning twice a month and cash to use during their unlimited paid-time-off.
Things have changed!
It would be nice to shell out benefits that compete with those of Silicon Valley, but it’s not always realistic. But you can keep your employees happy by making their lives better––in a way that matches your unique company culture and vision.
Why Benefits Matter So Much Today
You don’t have to offer the “Silicon Valley package” to stay relevant with benefits––but it’s hard to deny that these radical perks help recruit and retain top talent. According to Care.com, 62% of employees would leave a job simply for better benefits. MetLife also cites that 50% of employees list benefits as an important reason they remain with their current employer.
The data says it all. Benefits are important. But great benefits don’t have to break the bank and can be cost effective while still helping retention rates. Finding what benefits fit your industry and workforce may be challenging, but the effects will be more than rewarding.
Below, we put together some of our tips on how to stay up-to-date with the employee benefits that might be a great fit for your company:
Listen to Your Workforce
Great employers need to listen and provide a benefit package that fits their company culture. Find out what complaints are common among the workforce and recognize them out loud. This simple process can help shape relevant benefits for your workforce as “employee problem + employer solution = happy and productive workforce.”
The best part about it all? The benefits implemented can help create a stronger culture and reinforce values across the companies. What’s better than happy, loyal, productive employees? Recruiting and retaining great employees!
Create Universally Appreciated Benefits
Not every benefit will be for everyone––but they should satisfy a good portion of your population. Avoid benefits that don’t make sense for your whole workforce.
For instance, a young workforce may appreciate free Uber rides, but an older workforce may not see the value. Older workforces may see better use in life or disability insurance, whereas younger workers won’t find it necessary.
Communicate the value of the benefits
Proving the value of the benefit is one of the most important steps when deciding what benefits to offer. If employees get an awesome benefit but don’t know how to use it, they won’t, which results in wasted time, effort and resources.
Consistently help them understand and utilize the benefit. Just like communicating the initial value of the benefit, continually educating your workforce on taking advantage of your great benefits is a key to success.
Here at First Stop Health we provide a high-value telemedicine benefit to our clients and their employees. Our client service team runs all the education and communications about telemedicine for the employer. This ensures that every employee knows how their telemedicine benefits work and lets us boast a 44% utilization rate.
In the end, the more people use your telemedicine benefits, the more savings in healthcare costs we can drive.
Offer Great Benefits and Don’t Break the Bank
Becoming the next Google may not be your business goal, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make smart benefit and healthcare decisions that attract top talent. Staying on top of employee benefits trends is becoming more and more important in a competitive marketplace.
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