When considering your company’s employee benefits package, it can be tempting to provide some standard options and call it a day. However, this practice can actually risk higher employee turnover and wasted resources.
Instead, consider offering personalized employee benefits. Doing so could be the attraction and retention tool that sets your workplace apart, improves employee engagement, and saves you money on benefit expenses overall.
Here, we explore the value of offering employee choice benefits and how your workplace might implement them.
Why Personalized Benefits Matter
No two employees are alike, and that’s why it’s so important to offer flexible benefit plans. Consider the fact that your team varies in age, gender, health concerns, and other factors. Your 50-year-old female employee will likely have far different benefit needs than her 30-year-old male colleague.
If your company wants to attract and retain top talent, it’s crucial to understand the positive impact tailored benefits can have. A whopping 73% of employees say having customized benefits make them more loyal to their employers. Moreover, 83% would take a small pay cut if it meant having better benefits options.
By assessing individual needs—including health, family status, or other factors—you can create a plan that truly meets your employees’ unique requirements and is tailored to fit them perfectly. Doing so illustrates the value your company places on employee satisfaction, leading to higher engagement and retention.
How to Offer Tailored Benefits
Now that you know offering personalized benefits is the key to attracting and retaining talent, you may want to offer many benefits options. However, offering too many options in a cafeteria-style benefits plan can actually overwhelm employees. Two-thirds (64%) of surveyed workers prefer a moderate number of benefit choices, reporting that while they are happy to choose from their tailored options, having too many is confusing.
With this in mind, your organization should think strategically about the most valuable benefits to offer. To uncover the benefits that will most appeal to your specific workforce, consider the following:
- Implement an employee survey. Receive straightforward answers from your workers on the benefits that would best work for them. Surveys can also be anonymous to encourage more robust answers.
- Hold group sessions. Meet with employees in a group setting to brainstorm benefits options and gather valuable feedback.
- Offer yearly check-ins. As your employees age and their circumstances evolve, continue to provide opportunities to discuss their benefits and what would work best for them.
- Cast a wide net. Offer a strategic variety of benefits, including retirement, affordability tiers, and family-building, to name a few.
Employer Takeaway
The promise of personalized benefits is that they allow employees to tailor their healthcare needs and costs to align with their own preferences, rather than locking them into a specific plan that may not be right for them.
Ultimately, employees want to feel that their needs matter to their employer. Providing a tailored benefits option does just that, while also ensuring your company doesn’t waste resources on benefits that won’t be valued by everyone.
To discuss a benefits strategy that will prove your business’ commitment to workers, contact Arista Consulting Group. As your partner, we’ll deliver the best options for your unique situation and team.
