There’s a consensus that employees are the most valuable assets for any company. A smart employer knows that a salary alone is not enough to retain and attract top talent. As the lines between personal life and work-life continue to blur, top talent becomes elusive to find.
Employees are leveraging their power as individuals and requesting more from their employers. Employee perks are a huge part of these demands and employee benefits consulting services are equally important. According to a recent study, 48% of employees compare innovative employee benefits in their decision to find their next employment.
1. Wellness Initiatives
The major selling point of every good wellness initiative is that it possesses the power to bring about meaningful behavior change. Wellness represents an exercise program and a healthy diet and its positive significance on mindfulness, mental health, sleep, financial wellness, stress management or leadership, and cultural behavior within the company.
This benefit can have a trickle-down impact on your employees. When your employees feel better, they are likely to contribute more, thus improving your company’s bottom line. Matt Schmidt with Diabetes Life Solutions notes ” in addition to helping employees live healthier lives, this may lead to discounted premiums on health and life insurance. Helping your employees save money on insurance plans helps them keep more money in their pockets.”
2. Sabbatical
Paying for employees to take a month off to explore life is an excellent way to support the whole human. A sabbatical rewards workers for hard work over a long period and accords them with a much-needed break.
Your employees can utilize this time however they see fit. Whether they opt for traveling, spending time with family, exploring new hobbies, or simply doing nothing for a change.
3. Parental Perks
The reason why parental-related perks are becoming a sought-after benefit is that millennials are now the largest generation in the workforce. Some of the superior parental perks entails Facebook’s Five Thousand Dollar baby cash benefit stipend for new parents, daycare stipends, overnight transportation of breast milk, fertility treatments, maternity concierge services, and support for college admissions.
4. Employee Perk Stipends
Employee stipends are also known as lifestyle accounts or perk allowances. Employees love this perk because they are flexible and put them in control of their benefits. Employers love it because they help lighten their administrative load, they are IRS compliant, track usage, and are good for employer branding strategies.
5. Coaching Services
Coaching is a benefit for your employees. They help your team members to learn the skills they need to succeed in an ever-evolving workplace. At times, you may view coaching as an expensive way to support employees but when you offer leadership coaching to your managers, you will achieve an increase in productivity.
6. Student Loan Assistance
To successfully attract and retain graduates, businesses are helping to reduce student loan debt and refinance student loan debt. One of the most desirable opportunities of adopting this employee benefit is increased worker loyalty among your younger employees. Especially those saddled with big student loans.
7. Flexibility (Work From Home)
According to a recent study, 96% of employees say they need flexibility, but only 47% have it. That is very important when it comes to employee satisfaction. A flexible schedule can prevent back and hip pain problems since continuous work for eight hours in a non-comfortable position can result in both. The importance of sleeping well cannot be overstated when it comes to employee productivity. Your employee can use a guide compiled by a mattress brand, Healthy Americans, to find the best mattress for their needs. This is important to keep in mind when you have remote employees.
Offering more flexibility in terms of working hours and location does not have to be difficult. Establish your program around the types of flexibility and then check frequently to see if it is performing as expected.
8. Having a Diversity Program
Employing for “cultural fit” has been embraced over the past years. This entails evaluating candidates for their skills and experiences and how well they might fit into the organization.
Many employers only hire individuals that fit perfectly well in terms of culture. A good practice is to always employ for “cultural contribution”. This requires you to audit your existing culture along with actively seeking out distinct points of view.
9. Tuition Reimbursement
Tuition costs have skyrocketed in the last decade. According to the College Board, tuition fees have increased by 26% for any four-year private institution and 40% for a four-year public college.
The beauty of having a tuition reimbursement benefit is to alleviate both the real and opportunity costs. Employees can go to school and work at the same time. This in turn allows them to save on opportunity costs of being unemployed as well as the tuition fees.
10. 401(K) Plan, Pension, or Retirement Plan
With many employees, peace of mind is invaluable. Almost all employees find personal finance and financial planning a bit challenging. When the employers help plan for the future of their employees, they get satisfied. Retirement plans and 401(K) are convenient and automatic ways to just do that. As an employer, you can subsidize employee savings by matching or partially matching the contributions that your employee pays into their retirements and by finding cost-effective ways to provide perks to your employees.
Final Thoughts
Today employees have been accustomed to being enticed with high-end benefits. While it may seem hard to keep up with the new demands in this sector, there are simpler ways to create an environment that even the most sought-after employees will appreciate.
