What benefits do employees value most? That’s a question so many business owners and managers have asked themselves, knowing that these benefits come at a cost—a cost you cannot afford to trim.
As a result, you need to know the benefits employees want most, how to deploy those benefits, and how they impact your business. As you read further, remember that you can tailor these benefits to your operation. Every company is different, and you should build a benefits program (with our help) that speaks to the nature of your business, the team you’ve assembled, and their needs.
The Top 10 Most Important Benefits to Employees
What are the most popular employee benefits? This is such a popular question that employers often forget some of the most basic benefits—benefits that don’t cost a dime. Remember this list when you want to attract top talent, because they’re looking out for these perks of the job.
Insurance
Insurance is one of the big reasons why people take jobs on a W2–they want that employee-sponsored insurance. Remember, you can offer a range of insurance plans like:
- Health Insurance
- Dental and Vision
- Short-Term Disability
- Long-Term Disability
- AD&D
- Life Insurance
Again, your business should provide the sort of insurance package that speaks to your team. This means you’re offering what they want, contributing such that the prices are appropriate, and making the selections as diverse as possible.
Paid Time Off
PTO is something that people take for granted, but any freelancer will tell you that it’s not exciting to take off for Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. and not get paid.
In addition to paying for time off on federal holidays, offer your team paid time off that can handle personal leave, vacations, and sick days.
If you prefer, you can offer a certain amount of each—either for the whole year or accrued at a certain rate every month. For example, a company that offers 15 days of PTO each year allows its employees to accrue 1.25 days of PTO for every month worked.
Remote Work Options
If your staff can work remotely, let them. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us a valuable lesson—many jobs can be done from home. Trust your staff, let them stay home, work with them on meetings and calls, help them take care of their families, and engender a little loyalty that inflexibility will never earn.
Flexible Work Hours
To the best of your ability (while respecting the nature of your business,) allow your employees to work flexible hours. If they come in early and leave early, that should be ok. If they work different hours every day, that is fine. Encourage your team to communicate with you, keep track of the hours they work, and ask them to check in with you so you know what everyone is doing.
In the modern day, there’s no need for everyone to enter the office at 9 and leave at 5 on the dot.
Paid Family Leave
Federal law allows for 12 weeks of family leave that is job-protected but unpaid. Create a benefits budget that contributes to family leave and allows grieving team members, new parents, adoptive parents, etc. to take family leave for extended periods of time without losing their paycheck. Any extra (or paid) leave you offer is more than what the law allows, and that speaks volumes to your team.
A Reasonable Work Week
Some companies have moved to a four-day work week. Other companies operate on a schedule that makes sense for the industry, and you should adjust as needed. If you truly believe four days is enough to get all the work done, make the change. If you close on Monday, that should be a perk of the job. Listen to your employees and work diligently so that you aren’t running them ragged.
In certain industries, you might remove weekend hours due to high performance. In others, you might offering extra floating days off for said high performance. Whatever you do is more than what the competition offers, and it shows your team that you value them as people.
A Robust Breakroom
Stocking your breakroom is, by far, the cheapest benefit on this list. For a little petty cash, you can keep everyone happy, keep the coffee pot going, have some free food in the office a couple times a week, and make the office experience that much more pleasant.
Loan Assistance/Educational Support
While your employee benefits program is already quite robust, you may choose to offer student loan assistance or educational support. On the one hand, you might contribute to student loan payments as part of everyone’s compensation. Your business might also offer annual bonuses for that purpose.
On the other hand, you might provide educational support, pay for training, allow time off for certifications, etc. that make the team better.
Remember the old adage: “But sir, what happens if we invest in them and they leave?” and the old man said, “and what if we don’t invest in them and they stay?”
Wellness Options
Wellness programs are a perfect way to improve the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health of your team members. You can work with a therapist, bring in a yogi for free classes, offer nutritional support, meet once a week to discuss something other than business, or you might even pay for a massage therapist to visit the office once a week.
Some companies have a ready-made gym for their employees. The choice is yours.
There’s an option that makes sense for your team, and you simply need to uncover it.
The Most Desirable Employee Benefits: Flexibility and Value
Yes, health insurance, PTO, and items of the sort are extremely popular benefits plans that you should offer to your employees. However, the most desirable benefits are flexibility and value.
Health insurance plans need to be reasonably priced. If your employees can find better plans and lower prices elsewhere, why are you offering benefits in the first place? They might not tell you, but they’ll talk amongst themselves and you will start to see some turnover with “value” sitting at the top of the list.
The other important benefit is flexibility. Just…be flexible. Listen. Work with your team as much as you can. Make their benefits work for them instead of just providing a static program that hardly suits anyone’s needs.
How Important Are Benefits?
Employee benefits and salary (pay, compensation, whatever you would like to call it) are the top two things applicants are looking for. When you offer little to no extra benefits, applicants will go elsewhere, knowing that employee benefits programs are a hot topic in the 21st Century and they will find better options with other companies.
If your business is lagging behind the competition, you can be sure that recruiters are reaching out to your employees, hoping to pull them away with better benefits (on an otherwise lateral move.)
Contact Martinelli Benefits Advisors for Assistance With Your Benefits Program
Reach out to the benefits experts at Martinelli when you want to build a new plan for your team. We are happy to help you build a new benefits plan, review your existing employee benefits program, and help you understand the benefits employees want most.