Bulking Up Benefits

Bulking Up Benefits

Employee retention has proven to be a common challenge across the majority of industries. For the most part, this isn’t an intentional act but something that is a result of the lack of attentiveness we may sometimes have for our organizations and employees. If employers are not making a conscious effort to elevate the employee experience and create a best-in-class workplace, they will likely lose their top talent. Part of that effort is creating and maintaining an impressive suite of employee benefits that makes them feel valued and increases their engagement.

How exactly can an employer begin bulking up benefits? Instating new benefit programs is no easy feat. However, by making small adjustments and opening up new opportunities, your organization will be able to produce positive results in no time.

Wellness Programs

Wellness programs have the potential of making one of the largest impacts for your organization. With wellness plans in place, not only does it make for a happier employee, it can also give them health benefits. Employee health improvements could also potentially lower the cost of your healthcare plans across your entire organization. With a progression into a digital era, it’s not unheard of for organizations to provide their employees with healthy lifestyle products such as pedometers, Fitbits, or Apple Watches. These products help employees set and reach health goals. These technological tools can also be taken a step further through gamification. For example, try challenging departments to a competition to see who walks the most steps. Or, if costly tech tools are not in the budget, get creative and implement a wellness program that costs nothing at all, like starting a Run Club after work.

Learning & Development

Millennials entering the workplace are continuously seeking opportunities to learn and develop. By offering your employees the opportunity to grow through a variety of initiatives, you’ll be able to foster well-rounded employees. Although it’s good to offer internal learning programs, many organizations don’t expand externally. By having employees attend conferences that correlate directly with their area of expertise, they can bring more knowledge of best practices into your organization.

Internal Promotions

There’s no better place to find the most qualified employees for a position than within your own organization. With the investment that your organization is or will be doing into your employee’s professional development, the end goal should be to utilize those newly acquired skill sets within your organization. With the knowledge that they have gained thanks to your organization, the transition into their new position with be as seamless as possible and will make for an overall greater experience.

These internal promotion initiatives also show your employees how valued they are to your organization. Business.com discussed a few of these key points, as well as how to tell when your employee may be ready for that promotion. These small steps in the right direction can help your organization develop and save financially, which could ultimately allow you to invest more in other areas of your organizational culture.

Time Off

Regardless of whether your organization allows your employees a certain amount of days off a year or has an open PTO system, encouraging employees to take time off is an essential piece to keeping them onboard. Employees need to take time for themselves, as well as their families, and having a management system that is fully supportive makes a difference. Most organizations biggest concern with this is properly managing time and attendance. However, with a strong system in place, requesting and taking time off can become much easier to oversee.

These four ideas for bulking up benefits can make a difference within your organization as you start to implement them now and down the road. Pay may be essential to an employee, but if the benefits provided aren’t as equally impactful, your employees can become disengaged and lose passion for their work. Sitting down with your employees to listen to what benefits they value will allow you to see where improvements can be made. Instead of taking the risk of a high turnover rate, start bulking up your benefits today.

This DATIS Blog was written by Carlos Lozano, DATIS, on November 3rd, 2016 and may not be re-posted without permission.

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