One of the biggest concerns of any business owner is the budget as it helps to ensure both you and your employees are taken care of, is a measure of growth and success, and is essential for business success. Often over 25% of a company’s budget dedicated to employee benefits. It can be easy to try to find ways to cut costs, but what if we told you that the core of what makes employees happy is not how much their employer spends or how good the benefits are? Studies by Watson Wyatt have shown the differentiator in employee’s satisfaction with benefits is effective communication, not how good the benefits are. Read on to learn how to stay on budget while maximizing employee satisfaction with the right benefits solutions.
The Secret to Satisfying Employee Benefits Solutions
While staying on budget is critical, we are not encouraging businesses to find only the cheapest benefits option. Remember, communication is the key to employee satisfaction. So, focus on finding the best and most reasonably priced options for your employees, and then work to develop a story behind those choices which creates employee buy-in. Own the narrative and communicate it effectively, and employee satisfaction will follow.
Go Beyond the Basics with Employee Benefits
Our approach to supporting our clients hinges ongoing beyond just insurance. To truly impact your employees’ lives, you need to find benefits packages that supports your employees both in and outside of work and build a company culture around that same goal. Below are just some benefits add-ons that we’ve helped clients to develop and implement:
- Discount programs for movies, theme parks, events, and more
- Flexible PTO policies which increase collaboration and satisfaction
- Legal services to help employees with various legal advice needs
- Travel assistance programs to help employees navigate unexpected travel issues both for work and for personal travel
- Automobile, cellphone, and meal allowances
- Tuition reimbursement and college loan repayment programs
- Continuing education and designation reimbursement programs
- Passion course reimbursement programs so employees can become certified in things they are passionate about outside of work
- Company events and workplace bonding activities
Ready for the best part? Most of these employee benefits add-ons are very low cost, but go a long way to show the employees that you care about them as an individual, not just a worker. And, creating that feeling of care increases employees’ satisfaction, loyalty, and resiliency in the workplace.
Want to learn more about how a variety of benefits options can help support your employees, your organization, and your goals? We support our clients in identifying, selecting, and implementing employee benefits solutions and communication strategies that maximize employee satisfaction. Reach out to any of our advisors – we’re here to help!
