Six Reasons Why Your Business Should Offer Employee Benefits

Employees are at the heart of any business and one of the most important components of running a successful business is keeping employees happy.

Legislation and Regulations mean that in some cases you have to provide Employee Benefits but benefits in excess of the minimum requirements are more than just an add-on in today’s business world – they are an expected part of compensation and can be an essential part of building a workplace culture and providing support in a wide range of ways making the lives of both the employer and employee easier and more efficient.

While the cost of offering Employee Benefits may be seen as a barrier, particularly by small to medium businesses, these are often not as high as expected and the long-term advantages can greatly outweigh any spend and contribute to your overall success.

Here are 6 Reasons to Offer Employee Benefits:

1. Recruitment

A strong Employee Benefits package has significant power in attracting the best talent. Becoming an ‘Employer of Choice’ makes you stand out from the competition and increases the likelihood of securing qualified, skilled and dedicated employees.

2. Retention

Replacing employees who leave is expensive – not only are there recruitment costs but disruption and loss of continuity for co-workers and customers need to be considered.  A good benefits package is often enough to make employees stick around as depending on the type of benefits provided they can become an essential part of your employee’s lives with people relying on them and not wanting to leave them behind.

Where employees are aware of their ‘Total Reward’ (the full cost to their employer of providing the benefits) an employee is likely to consider their full package against more competitive salary offers.

3. Absence management

Access to benefits may lead to a healthier workforce and minimise out of office time. In addition;

• Benefit providers often offer rewards to employees for healthier lifestyle choices meaning less likelihood of health problems
• Health insurance can result in quicker diagnoses and speedier treatment
• Virtual GPs can result in decreased scheduling issues
• Rehabilitation services can assist with earlier returns to work following illnesses

4. Duty of Care

Plans that cover areas such as optical, dental and physio can help with preventative measures and nip potential long-term health problems in the bud. Services such as an Employee Assistance Programme can help employees deal with stress management for both work and life events expanding to areas such as Childcare and Eldercare which they may otherwise have had to take time off to resolve. Financial Education including assistance with debt management can greatly relieve the burden on staff.

5. Employee relations

Offering benefits, particularly those where employees can choose benefits best suited to their own needs shows your employees that you understand and respect them.

Benefits are highly emotive – providing staff with the ability to enjoy activities that are important to them, and/or help them save money in their personal lives shows how much they’re valued and shows their employer has a vested interest in them. This can be far more preferable to a cash bonus which would be taxed.

Benefits can make a real contribution to lifestyle choices or leisure activities and promoting work/life balance will provide a message that you care about your employees’ well-being and security. This in turn can help with your internal branding and result in more positive attitudes. Employees greatly value cover that can be extended to their dependents as it adds to the overall protection of the family unit at little cost to the employee.

6. Increased bottom lines

Offering benefits, especially those which would be expensive or difficult to obtain by employees if they were to try and purchase them themselves, gives your employees more reason to care about your business and remain loyal. As a result they should be willing to work harder, which can lead to increased productivity.

Already Offering Employee Benefits?

If you already offer Employee Benefits, you should consider:

• Evaluating current plans to ensure they are good value for money and competitive within market standards in your industry
• Whether there is room for improvement within your current benefit offerings by redesigning or adding benefits
• How aware your employees are of the benefits they receive including the monetary value of them and any additional services that are included that they may not be aware of
• Emphasizing your offerings in job ads and interview processes to aid with recruitment

Talk to Eppione Today About Employee Benefits for Your Workforce

Eppione are Employee Benefits consultants who help businesses to become a better workplace and for the employees to be the best they can be.

We can review existing Employee Benefits to ensure they are fit for purpose and value for money and our online HR and Employee Benefits platform can help your business to thrive by offering flexible benefits to your employees, enabling them to choose benefits that are best suited to their needs.