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What's Your Employee Benefits Strategy?

Posted by Leslie Ruhland on Jul 25, 2018 6:45:00 AM
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Every employer knows that an employee benefits offering is an essential part of having workers. But not every employer approaches their benefits offerings as a strategic approach to getting and keeping great employees.

What's-Your-Employee-Benefits-Strategy?

Statistically, it is being seen that broader benefits packages are on the rise and the trend is growing. For example, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) conducted its annual survey of U.S. employers in early 2018. The survey determined, among other insights, that in just one year employers have increased benefits offerings in three times as many benefits as previously assessed.

In addition, the survey noted that more than one-third of the organizations surveyed had increased their overall benefits offering in just the previous 12 months. Most of these increases were seen in health-related, wellness, and employee programs and services benefits.

The Future of Employee Benefits Offerings

There are a number of aspects to structuring a benefits offerings package that entails more than simply providing required health care insurance. In addition to being a somewhat mandatory suite of perks that businesses need to offer employees, benefits offerings should be seen as strategic tools for attracting top level talent, for leveraging benefits costs, for retaining good employees, and for creating a more engaging and high performance workforce.

Here is an infographic that highlights some of the key findings in the recent SHRM survey.

the-future-of--Employee-Benefits-offerings-infographic

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While many employees tend to only think of 401Ks and health insurance, the range of employee benefits that can be, and increasingly are, being made available is quite broad.

For example, an abbreviated list of benefits categories might look like this:

  • Health care
  • Wellness
  • Paid leave
  • Retirement savings and planning 
  • Work-life and Convenience
  • Financial and Career
  • Professional and Career Development
  • Travel and Relocation 

Each of these categories can be further broken down into traditional sub-categories depending on the business.

The Rise in Benefits is a Sign of the Economy

With continually improving economic indicators, and the unemployment rate dropping by approximately 20 percent between 2015 and 2017, employers are responding with more generous benefits offerings. In fact, in 2017 approximately 14 states set record low unemployment numbers and organizations seem to be strategically leveraging their benefits to recruit and retain new talent.

Since organizations may experience more turnover as unemployment continues to decline, it is critically important for companies to identify what benefits are most important to their employees. Along with this is the need to ensure that their employees are using their benefits offerings and are happy with what they are getting from their employers.

This means knowing what your employees think. Over three-quarters of the organizations surveyed say they collect feedback regarding employee satisfaction with benefits, and almost half of these companies collect this information once per year at minimum. 

A Partner for Your Workforce Management

Along with a growing and demanding role in recruiting, hiring, and continually training employees, the HR staff is responsible for other functions such as payroll management, tax filings, employee records compliance, and managing employee benefits.

Considering alternatives such as outsourcing is increasingly becoming a cost-effective and strategic option. Accuchex can help you in managing your HR needs, payroll processes, and staying on top of compliance demands. Get your Free Download: Payroll Outsourcing Guide to help you make an informed decision or call Accuchex Payroll Management Services at 877-422-2824.

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Topics: health insurance, bonuses, workforce management, benefits, wellness

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