Giving your employees a benefits package is an excellent way to engage and motivate your employees and provide them with something extra of their pay for the work they undertake for your business.
If you are the owner of a small company, you’re probably wondering if offering your employees an incentive package is appropriate and is worth the expense to your business. It’s a simple answer: yes. There are many benefits when you provide your employees with employee benefits solutions that adds value to their lives and helps your business to grow. If you’re wondering what the benefits and drawbacks of employee benefits, follow this article to find out.
What are the benefits offered by employees?
Benefits for employees vary between companies. While some companies offer simply pay for holidays, pensions and a company vehicle if the job requires it, other companies may offer more extensive benefits packages and include:
Health insurance
Company loan schemes
Flexible working
Free gym membership
Childcare and child care services
The advantages of offering benefits
The benefits of the best employee benefits plan are many and, in order to put it into perspective, here are what we believe to be the top four reasons why you should consider offering the benefits package, if you don’t already:
1. Attract (and keep) the top talent
A well-designed employee benefits package is an important factor for many employees when considering a job change. Many companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises offer an employee benefits package, and they’ll be looking at it when applying for a new job.
Having a benefits package gives you an edge when hiring. You’re more likely to attract higher quality, motivated and committed employees if you demonstrate your dedication to your team by offering them an enhanced compensation package.
Remember that it’s not all about the compensation package. Employer benefits show that you trust in your business and its people and that you’re financially stable enough to afford such perks. This also proves that you trust in your employees and are willing to invest in them.
Furthermore, after you’ve found the perfect candidate benefits play a significant aspect in keeping them pleased. An employee who understands the value in the benefits you provide is much less likely to look elsewhere or be tempted by other job offers.
2. Improve morale, energy and productivity
If you can assist your employees in saving money on their everyday and larger purchases, and also provide them with the opportunity to participate in activities that bring them happiness, you’ll have an engaged and happier workforce.
A benefits package can significantly improve the morale of employees, since employees will feel valued and have their needs satisfied on many levels. This can lead to an increase in loyalty of employees, productivity, and overall satisfaction with you as their employer. It’s worth remembering that happy employees will be singing your praises outside of work, too which makes it easier to get the top potential candidates the next time you’re seeking to hire.
3. Healthy workers equal happy workers
Everyone is more productive when they feel their best. If your employee benefits offer the health insurance or wellness options, you’ll reap the benefits. The provision of dental, medical or any other health insurance benefits can help reduce the length of time that your employees must take off work by accessing the treatment more quickly privately, instead of having to wait until the NHS appointment.
Even offering paid sick leave is an added benefit that means that if a member of your team gets sick and is sick, they can focus on recuperating and getting better at home, not thinking about returning to work when they’re fully recovered enough to get paid. It’s also in favor of the entire team to provide paid sick days too. A single employee who is unwell could affect the entire team and lead to much more serious issues.
4. It can save both the employer and employee money.
When you offer and your employees opt for benefits through net pay or salary sacrifice reduction programs the employees and the company can gain tax deductions in these transactions. This doesn’t only apply to obvious benefits such as healthcare and pension plans. This also applies to other employee benefitslike the personal use of a car owned by the company tuition, mobile phones, cafeteria plans or cycles to work plans.
Do you have any disadvantages in providing employee benefits?
There is no doubt that the benefits of providing benefits to employees far surpass any disadvantages. But, there are a few crucial points to take into consideration when designing an employee benefits program that is a good idea for small businesses could be useful to look at:
Costs are rising
Year on year, the costs of medical and health insurance rises. Looking for a better offer and having to move your employees each year can be a hassle and cumbersome to manage.
Administration costs
The admin tasks associated with the administration of an employee benefits plan can again be time-consuming. How much administrative work they need will depend on how extensive your organization’s benefits package is, however, you can reduce the amount of time spent on benefits through a benefits tracking software.
In the end, if don’t offer your employees the best benefits package, you should think about it. In doing this, you’ll increase morale, loyalty and productivity amongst your existing team. In addition, if you are looking to grow your company, having the benefit program in place will help you find and keep top talent.
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