If you run a company and have employees, making sure that you have employee benefits as part of your business is vital, whatever sector or industry you may be in. Recent studies show that only 2 out of 5 employees are happy with the employee benefits they receive.
But what exactly do employee benefits involve, and why are they important? We tell you everything you need to know about them in this guide.
Employee benefits explained
Employee benefits specifically refer to additional incentives that are provided by firms that are on top of a worker’s salary or wage.
The aim of having employee benefits, is to help promote overall employee wellbeing as well as work satisfaction. In terms of who can benefit from them, all employees regardless of their level or how long they have worked at the firm can be recipients of core benefits, but a larger benefits package could be given to more senior staff.
Some benefits (known as core benefits) are a legal obligation, but many others are simply provided to help promote staff morale.
Employee benefits may include any of the following:
- Discounts at various stores or outlets
- Childcare vouchers
- Sport: yoga or gym in the office building
- Bonuses
- Family leave support programmes
- Flexible working hours
- Employee referral bonus
- Dental health plans
- Free company events
- Generous pension schemes
Good for motivating staff
It is important for staff morale that they feel appreciated in your company for all their hard work. If employees feel routinely undervalued, it could encourage them to not put in their very best effort at work, which evidently is not good for your company.
By having good employee benefits, you can help to promote productivity within your workforce.
Important for staff retention
As briefly mentioned in the previous point, staff morale can have a huge impact on employee retention, and employee benefits can be one way to help retain the very best employees in your firm. Getting creative with this is vital. For example one less talked about benefit that can encourage your top talent to stay is a corporate relocation package. ARC Relocation, who helps facilitate such a service, note that this provides your employees with the opportunity to experience a different city or culture which may enhance their loyalty towards your company.
Reduces the need for recruiters
Having to constantly recruit new people for your firm is not only time-consuming, but expensive too – especially if you use the services of recruitment agencies.
This could become an issue for your firm if you do not have employee benefits in place: after all, with the majority of companies providing benefits to their employees, what is the incentive for your workers if they can get benefits elsewhere for doing the same job?
Reduce absences
If employees are able to maintain a better work-life balance thanks to the benefits that are implemented in your firm, then you can help to reduce the number of overall absences in your company.
Not only is this advantageous to your firm in terms of productivity, but it also will cost less for your company too in sick-days off.
In addition, if you provide the benefit of working from home to employees, this can also reduce absences (for example, if a parent needs to be at home on one working day due to an ill child).
Ultimately, having workplaces benefits for your employees is a win-win situation for everyone concerned.
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