When carving out your benefits strategy, the smallest of employee benefit mistakes can turn an incredible perk from a treat to a trick. (Oh yeah, we’re just getting started with these puns.)
On the surface, benefits are something employers offer to their employees that are either mandated or added on to an existing benefits program as part of an employee’s total compensation package.
What’s more, according to a recent report from Mercer, 85% of Human Resources leaders believe personalized benefits are a must. Jokes aside, your cookie-cutter approach to benefits just won’t work.
But to keep your benefits package from becoming a house of horrors, there are clear right and wrong ways to sweeten the (jack-o-lantern) pot.
Let’s go through a few:
1. Make your benefits heal, not haunt
Offering just the bare minimum when it comes to health insurance is a surefire way to scare qualified candidates away. Today, employees want choice and more options when it comes to their healthcare, which can include all aspects of well-being from physical to mental, financial, and everything in between.
With Compt’s health and wellness stipends, your people can choose what’s best for their well-being, from gym memberships to mental health support.
Health and Wellness consistently tops the list of Compt categories by spend, noting in our latest lifestyle benchmark report it accounted for 17% of overall spend (outnumbered only by Food, at 18%).
2. Don’t put your L&D program in the graveyard
Is your learning and development program wearing a mask, with employees not really understanding what’s available or how to access it?
Show your program’s true colors and make it easy for employees to understand and use the benefits available to them.
Don’t bury your L&D benefits in a graveyard — your people need better awareness and benefits they’ll actually use to help them advance in their career.
Courses, certifications, conferences … now that’s the right kind of candy to fuel professional development.
Psst. We’re developing something awesome for you L&D folks that your people will love. Get in touch with us to learn more!
3. Support zombie brains through comprehensive mental health programs
It’s a fact: Without mental health support, your employees could feel haunted by stress.
Findings from Deloitte report that 77% of respondents say they have experienced employee burnout at their current job, with more than half citing more than one occurrence.
Instead of directing your employees to a meditation app and ignoring their needs, why not offer them a wellness stipend that covers so much more?
Put mental health in the spotlight and give your employees an opportunity to reimburse what matters to them. We’re talking therapy, wellness retreats, or, hey, maybe some goat yoga?
4. Make your people feel Spook-tacular!
A thank you is a great start, but do your employees have an easy way to show that they appreciate all the hard work that goes into making a business succeed?
The same report cited previously from Deloitte names the top driver of employer burnout (nearly a third of respondents) as lack of support or recognition from leadership.
Show your people that they’re fang-tastic (oh yeah, we went there) with a dedicated recognition program. With Compt, you can even integrate a monetary or non-monetary reward and recognition program with often-used channels like Slack or Teams.
Doesn’t that sound purrrfect?
5. Don’t promote a bare-bones retirement program.
Could your retirement program use a little more meat on its bones? A barely-there retirement program doesn’t move the needle for financial support.
Consider adding onto that 3% with a better match plan or additional financial wellness stipends for retirement planning, financial advising, or budgeting tools.
Think outside the (jack-in-the) box when it comes to how you can boost your people’s financial wellness. Could you offer more support in high-cost areas like housing, food, or family? An all-inclusive stipend can help employees choose to reimburse funds for what they truly need.
Turn your benefits from a fright to a delight: Avoid employee benefit mistakes
While employers can’t be the ultimate Life Saver for their people, it’s important to give ‘em pumpkin to talk about.
In all seriousness, your benefits can be a stepping (head)stone to a company culture that attracts the very best employees. Isn’t it time you sliced out some time to give them another look?
