It may be time to reconsider the current benefits you’re offering to attract the talent. Check out these trendy benefits that may give your small business an advantage in hiring employees.
Be Transparent about Employee Benefits
First off, it’s essential for businesses to offer the foundational benefits of health, retirement, and paid time off. By going beyond these benefits, your business will stand out from other employers. No matter what your business offers, it is essential for your benefit information to be clear and accessible to employees and employee prospects.
Many companies offer competitive benefits; however, few companies offer educational resources or meetings on how to utilize these benefits. Consider hosting a meeting or creating an informational video describing what benefits you offer and how employees can use them. Share an up-to-date and accessible description of your company benefits. This transparent communication of your benefits may be the deciding factor on why they choose your business instead of competing employers.
These communications can intrigue employees depending on their lifestyle. It is valuable to both employers and employees when there are clear communications about benefits spanning from retirement plans to student loan repayment programs. There can also be benefit communications for employees throughout the year. For instance, a company may send reminders to employees about remaining sick days and paid time off availability. Your company can pursue endless amounts of opportunities by being transparent about benefits for both prospective and current employees. This transparency is an excellent way to attract the best employee talent.
Increased Mental Health Focus
It is a major concern of employers to keep their employees happy and healthy. A mental health benefit provision has been a significant demand of the workforce. This demand has only continued to increase as mental health issues rise among members of the workforce.
Many employers are offering mental health aids within their employee benefits package. These mental health benefits can range from a health insurance plan – including counseling – to offering employees the ability to take a day off for mental health. Each company may offer a different range of benefits. However, employees are desiring their current and future employers to offer some measure of mental health provisions. In order to recruit and retain the best talent, consider offering mental health benefits.
Childcare and Service Options
Thousands of dollars are misallocated every year due to the limited availability of quality childcare. Both parents and employers can lose money year after year trying to find a reliable and reputable childcare provider. Many parents spend upwards of thousands of dollars on childcare a year.
When childcare providers cancel or are unpredictably closed, parents may have to use unpaid time off to provide care for their child. This can potentially result in loss of a day’s wages or any variety of penalties for missing work. This lack of work negatively affects the employer as well as the employee. Businesses also lose billions every year because of the childcare challenges employees face, causing many employers to take action.
There are various indirect measures to help assist employees in managing their childcare. For example, increased education on current time-off benefits. This education allows parents to have a greater ability to plan for their child’s needs. There is also a wide range of direct efforts to assist employees in their childcare search. Some companies choose to offer their own personal childcare service at the office. These onsite childcare options prove to be an excellent means of attracting and retaining company talent. Other businesses may offer financial assistance for employees to afford reliable and quality childcare providers.
Businesses are even going beyond offering childcare. Some companies also provide tutoring services and test preparation. These benefits are becoming more popular with the use of remote learning.
Student Loan Repayment Systems
Student loan repayment systems are becoming more common among employee benefits. As college debt continues to rise, employees increasingly request employers to offer this benefit. Nevertheless, most businesses do not offer employees any form of student loan assistance. By offering this employee benefit, your business can stand out from competing employers.
There are multiple student loan repayment systems an employer can decide to offer. One option is contribution matching programs. Depending on what the employee contributes, an employer will match the contribution partially or as a whole.
An alternative loan repayment option allows employees to choose from a variety of company benefits. With this benefit, employees can choose a student loan repayment program, but are giving up a different benefit program offered. Alternatively, one of the simplest student loan benefit options is a monthly flat contribution. A company offering this program will contribute a set amount of money each month toward student loans – this amount can vary from $100 to upwards of $1,000.
Lastly, a common student loan benefits option is a 401(k) match program. This option is perfect for employees struggling to know when to save for retirement and when to pay off debt. This option aims to help employees allocate money to both. This program has employers contribute an equal amount of money to an employee’s student loans as they did for a 401(k).
As the demand rises for employers to offer student loan repayment benefits, there will be more program options available for employers to offer. Offering this benefit may cause employees to choose your company over your competition. In fact, a study by the research firm YouGov found that “nine out of ten college students with student loans are looking for a company with a student loan perk.” Furthermore, offering this benefit may increase the retention of talented employees.
YouGov also found “six in ten working adults with student loans would consider switching companies to gain a student debt employee benefit.” The recruitment and retention of valued employees can be challenging. By following these tips, it’s more likely you’ll attract quality employees for your business. After all, happier, healthier employees increase productivity.
NMLS #407985