Just How Important are Employee Benefits
Why Employee Benefits Matter
It might seem difficult to justify the expense of employee benefits during this time of uncertainty. Still, many businesses do offer employee benefits, as many workers have come to expect them. Employee benefits are worth the cost and can help your business and your employees thrive. As Cloud Advisors points out, “A company’s benefit plan says a lot about their culture, and how they value and treat employees. As an indicator of company reputation, it can also affect long or short-term recruiting goals.”
Attracting employees
If the labour shortage makes it challenging to find talented workers, having an excellent employee benefits package is a great place to start. Employers need to be competitive and having an employee benefits package that stands out can help you attract top candidates. Employee benefits are a deciding factor for top candidates deciding which opportunity to accept.
Healthy employees
Health insurance and wellness benefits help you have a healthier, happier, more productive workforce. Healthy people work better. Employee benefits like paid sick days let employees recover when they are ill instead of struggling for days or weeks and potentially infecting the entire team. Employee benefits also allow employees to take care of a small problem before it turns into a larger one. For example, employees can take care of a cavity before a painful root canal forces them to take a few necessary days off. Furthermore, this preventative approach (versus reactive) ultimately saves the business on its bottom line by supporting their employees return to work faster if/when they become ill.
Mental Health
With mental health so prominent in today’s workforce, it has become an essential component of an employee benefits program. . A Harvard Business Review study of the U.S. and Canada found that 50 per cent of employees have left jobs for mental health reasons, a large increase from 34 per cent in 2019. During the pandemic, mental health has suffered, and many companies have not yet revised their employee benefits to reflect the need for mental health support. According to the Toronto Star, “Access to comprehensive mental health support as part of employee benefits is one of the most cost-effective and evidence-based ways to contribute to our shared recovery.
Retaining employees
Now that you have hired some top candidates, you need to make sure you keep them! Great employee benefits help minimize staff turnover, and a robust employee benefits program that meets staff needs will entice them to stay longer Retaining your staff means you will have a skilled and loyal workforce that can solve problems that new hires cannot. There is also a smaller chance of something falling through the cracks when staff leave and are replaced.
Better productivity
Illness, retirement, finances, and overall health, can be demotivating and negatively impact mental health yet, all can be addressed through employee benefits. Workers who are physically and mentally healthy are more productive and will stay longer. Productivity increases when employees remain long enough to develop efficient processes and workflow
Better morale
Superior employee benefits can improve morale in the workplace. Your staff will feel like you care about them, they will be able to take care of their needs, and employee loyalty and satisfaction will improve. Happy employees put in their best effort and speak highly of you, which will make it easier to run your business and recruit top talent in the future.
