Retain Your Top Talent: All About Employee Benefits and Perks

In a competitive labor market, businesses want to hold on to their biggest and brightest stars. Companies with the best benefits and perks have the upper hand when it comes to attracting talent.

Gone are the days of employees staying with a company for 30 or 40 years. Younger generations will not stick with their first employer through retirement.

Why is this? For some, climbing the career ladder with one company is just not appealing.

If employers want to hold onto talent, they need to create an environment that increases the likelihood of its employees sticking around longer.

Compensation packages are more important than ever. It’s time to start a market comparison to see where your company can improve.

Don’t lose your best employees because you’re not paying attention to what they need. Keep reading to learn what companies are doing to retain their talent pool.

Benefits and Perks That Keep Employees 

Work-from-home is growing in popularity. Many employees were able to experience it for the first time during the COVID-19 shutdowns.

Your business may not be able to allow employees to continue to work from home full-time. Turn it into one of your benefits and perks by allowing employees to earn work-from-home days.

The Importance of Benefits in Compensation Packages 

The best employee benefits are the ones they can use. You might be surprised to learn that paying an employee more money may not be as important as providing health insurance.

Being able to have a three-week vacation is more essential than employer contributions to a Flexible Spending Account. 

Get a clear understanding of what your employees want in a benefits package instead of going with business norms. It will save your company in the long run.

Salaries Aren’t Always the Deciding Factor

Yes, it’s true the cost of living is increasing, and everyone needs more money to keep up. In addition to a fair living wage, employees in skilled positions are looking for more.

To understand this concept, research company benefits and perks examples for your industry. Someone in the technology industry may want the opportunity to attend conferences and tradeshows. A customer service representative may be looking for on-the-job training.

The ability to learn more about their industry and preparation for advancement are perks a company can provide to keep employees.

Ask Employees What They Want

Engagement is crucial between employees and business owners. It’s not just about the employee coming to work and doing their job. Employee benefits and perks are what makes them excited about the places where they work.

Keep in mind employees spend a large part of their day on the job. You want them energetic and excited when they arrive and not too tired when they leave.

Company perks can include free coffee, discounts at local eateries, or the ability to set their own schedule. Work-life balance is a must-have for employees with families.

Provide Essential Training

Perks and benefits at work are not always about insurance and compensation. Sometimes it’s having an employer invested in their success.

If you operate a business in an industry that is constantly evolving, it’s imperative that you provide essential training to your employees. This can include onsite or offsite training courses—elevating employees to the role of subject matter experts.

You can offer employees tuition reimbursement for taking industry-related college courses. This not only benefits the employee, but it also helps the company keep knowledgeable team members.

Reward Success

Even as children, we responded to being rewarded for making good grades. Adults are no different. They want to be acknowledged for doing a good job.

Aside from annual pay increases and bonuses, employees can reward successes with simple acknowledgments.

Company benefits and perks to reward successes can include the following:

• Have employees nominate their coworkers for employee of the month
• Host a quarterly luncheon and recognize employees in different categories
• Attach compensation for employees exceeding their goals

You can even surprise the entire staff by closing the office early on a Friday to show your appreciation for all they do.

Stay Abreast of Current Technology

Working for a company that relies on technology but uses outdated equipment is a deal-breaker for many employees. It can also hurt your ability to maintain good employees if you refuse to adopt the technology that makes their job easier. 

Staying abreast of technology is investing in the latest software, updating computers, copiers, and printers. If you run a manufacturing business, it’s transitioning manual tasks that can be done by a machine.

Yes, these are considered perks because they improve the overall work experience. It also improves the way employees feel when trying to meet deadlines.

Moving from physical servers to cloud-based servers is definitely a benefit. It will allow you and certain staff members to stay connected to teams when out of the office on business. 

Focus on Creating Employee Advocates

Offering perks and benefits at work is a form of employee advocacy. Companies build advocates by doing many of the things we’ve listed in this article. It also goes beyond this.

Employee advocates are people who love where they work and do not mind telling others about your products and services. Employers reward their advocates with benefits and perks, such as representing the company at offsite events.

You can sponsor a company bowling league or softball team. Give employees branded merchandise that’s not for sale. Even enter them in a raffle to win a company-sponsored trip.

Employers also build advocacy by simply acknowledging that they know an employee is invested in the company’s overall success. 

Employees Matter

The benefits and perks you offer could be the difference between an employee staying or leaving. It’s also what attracts the best candidates to fill positions.

Don’t allow your business to suffer. Invest in your teams and their longevity.

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