Employees today are interested in more than just their rate of pay. They are looking at the total wage and benefits package when making their employment decisions.
At a recent NationaLease meeting, James Taylor, CEO of Launchways, a company that provides strategic solutions for human resources, employee benefits and business insurance, cited a statistic that last year 34% of organizations improved their benefits packages. The Society of Human Resources Management statistics found that 72% of the companies said they did it as part of their effort to retain existing employees and 50% said they did it to attract talent to their organizations.
Which benefits are seen as most important? Results from a 2019 Jobvite survey show the benefits in which respondents are interested.
- Medical and dental insurance — 67%
- 401(k) — 55%
- The ability to work from home — 43%
- The ability to dress casually while at work — 36%
- Continuing education — 31%
- Signing bonus — 28%
- Paid time off — 25%
Of special note is that fact that for job seekers under the age of 30, student loan reimbursement is a factor in job selection, with 48% of job seekers under that age of 30 saying it is an important criterion.
To determine which benefits make the most sense in your market, start by understanding what you are competing against. What are other businesses in your market offering? What are businesses similar to yours providing for their employees? You can do much of this research online but also try to gather information from recent hires and current people in your job candidate pool.
Also ask your current employees what they think of your existing benefits package and what types of benefits they interest them. Evaluate every part of your offering and make changes where they make sense.
As with most things related to your employees, this is not a one-and-done. You must stay up-to-date on what is happening in your market and industry when it comes to employee benefits so that you will continue to attract and retain the most qualified people. Periodically review your benefits package and talk with existing employees and new hires to see what benefits rank highest with them.
