As businesses keep growing, managers are often bewildered by endless questions regarding employee benefits. Most common queries include: What kind of benefits should I offer to my employees? What benefits matter the most to them? How can I offer the best without hurting the company’s financial health?
Human capital is a key asset of every company’s sustainability. Both success and failure of a company, is greatly determined by the managers and employees’ efforts to work together towards the same business goals. Besides salary, sharing generous benefits should be your employee retention strategy to keep the best talent, while onboarding potential new hires at the same time.
However, here is the dilemma: if you offer lavish benefits, you might need to sacrifice on your profits. On the contrary, if you are penny-pinching over small benefits, you might end up losing your top employees. The best solution is to find balance. You need to make sure that every benefit you offer to the workforce is something they exactly need. Hence, your money will not go to waste.
See: Balancing the Power of ‘Carrot and Stick’
So how could you know what benefits matter the most for your employees? Here are three ways to tell.
While it sounds so simple, it always works anyway. Ask employees directly about what benefits they value the most and why. This method would save you from investing in benefits that your employees do not see as valuable to them.
Rather than following the latest trend of workplace benefits, you might learn from external information, it will be better to turn inside and find out for yourself. Their answers might surprise you. Meet the employees in person and ask them about the benefits and compensation that will prove helpful to improve their life.
Be prepared. Since everyone has their own priorities, the responses might be varied. You cannot please and fulfil everyone’s wishes. But as long as you can make the best decision that will be a win-win solution, it is great.
If you think that questioning employees directly is a time-consuming exercise, you can try an easier way out: conduct surveys and questionnaire. Not only finding the best benefits as required by your employees, this method also allows you to evaluate the success and usefulness of previous reimbursements you offer.
As times keep changing, so do employee needs. When you discover that the benefits offered in the past, is no longer useful in the future, then you should be prepared to offer new benefits that meet the timely need. You will need to conduct regular surveys to stay updated about the current employee necessities and requirements.
The most sought-after benefits for employees include medical insurance, dental care, retirement and wellness programs, paid time off, performance bonus, as well as workplace perks. While this list comprises of basic programs that is already run by your company, the practical level of usefulness might differ from one employee to another.
As stated earlier, everyone has their needs and priorities. For example, employee A might feel health care policy is more important than workplace perks, however for employee B, perks are far more important need to make him stay with the company.
No wonder, according to MetLife survey, 80 percent employees value more personalised benefits to meet their individual circumstances and age. Offering personalised benefits is not only advantageous, but also a cost-effective benefit strategy for growing companies.
As a leader, it is your responsibility to meet everyone’s expectations by offering suitable benefits to employees. While it is a challenge to find out what benefits matter the most to employees, offering great benefits is a tool to make your employees feel valued and appreciated.
When employees feel secured and satisfied, it will increase their loyalty and prevent voluntary turnover in the longer run.
Read also: Gift Your Employees Work-Life Balance this Year
