In this day and age, employees are coming to terms with the fact that pay increases are few and far between. Still, hard work should not go unrecognized, so companies are looking for new and different ways to reward their top performers.
A good benefits package can go a long way toward keeping an employee motivated and engaged. It can also swing a prospective employee’s decision your way — an edge any company could use in today’s competitive job market. And today, employees are looking for more than the traditional medical and dental benefits.
But, you can’t just offer the traditional medical and dental benefits. Employees are looking for more, so it would behoove a company to find out what their employees want and need — and then give it to them.
“Offering attractive and affordable benefits in addition to traditional insurance keeps employees engaged,” says Melissa Hulsey, president and CEO of Ashton. “By creating a plan that suits your specific work environment, you end up with a happier, healthier and more productive staff.”
Smart Business spoke with Hulsey about implementing effective benefits programs.
Why are benefits so important to today’s work force?
The benefits package your company offers says a lot about the culture and personality of your business. It is important to consider three main factors when designing your plan — avoiding economic hardships for employees due to illness or disability, providing employees with some form of retirement income and creating a system of leave. Good talent demands more than a paycheck and if you do not offer a competitive benefits package, your competitors will.
What benefits are most important to today’s work force?
Even with recent legislative changes, access to health care is still the No. 1 benefit for employees. Vision, dental and disability are also highly desirable. Other standard and very popular benefits include life insurance, retirement plans, flexible compensation (cafeteria plans) and employee leave. Automating the enrollment process and ease of information regarding the benefit plan is very important to employees, as well. Offering an easy-to-use, Web-based system will bring added value to an existing benefits program.
Why is rewarding employees so important?
Rewarding and recognizing employees leads to retention. We all feel the need to be appreciated. Recognition of a job well done communicates that our work is valued and respected. This sends an important message to the recipient and other team members about job performance and a company’s ability and willingness to just say ‘thank you.’ A successful reward/recognition plan includes the ability to identify good performance by communicating expectations, immediately recognizing the performance and then giving meaningful rewards.
Rewards can be as simple as posting top performers in company newsletters or on bulletin boards. Hosting ice cream socials or having the boss serve lunch are other fun ways to reward employees. Reward wheels are also very popular. Items like a free day off, leaving early on Friday, free lunch, gift cards and free car washes are posted on a wheel that employees take turns spinning. Be creative with rewards — cash is always nice but sometimes simply appreciating the talent you have goes a long way in building employee loyalty.
