61% of employees would be willing to accept a lower salary if the role includes great benefits. But a standard benefits package—including health and dental insurance—isn’t necessarily enough to attract and retain the top candidates.
Out-of-the-box benefits can help you support workers and your company’s bottom line.
What benefits are common?
Out-of-the-box benefits are different from the expected benefits. So which ones have become the norm? Here are the top ten benefits most employers offer:
– Health insurance
– Dental insurance
– Vision insurance
– Health and well-being programs
– Mental health and emotional services
– Paid time off (PTO)
– Retirement savings plans, such as a 401K
– Life insurance
– Disability insurance
– Employee assistance programs
These benefits are undoubtedly important. But to help you break out from the norm, we rounded up our top unexpected benefits to offer.
What to consider when choosing benefits
Before we jump into the list of benefits, we want to explain what you need to consider when choosing benefits:
– Is there a cost for employees?
– What value does this bring to employees?
– What does it cost the company to offer this benefit?
– What percentage of employees will use the benefit?
– How easy is it to implement?
Now that you understand what to consider when choosing benefits, here’s our list of unique benefits you can offer.
Out-of-the-box benefits to consider
Financial health programs
86% of employees say finances are a top source of stress. Inflation and economic instability are major issues. Not many employers have programs in place to help employees deal with their financial stress. You can offer a financial health program, including:
– Financial education
– Financial literacy programs
– Retirement planning
If employees are NOT financially healthy, here are some ways this affects your organization:
– Increased healthcare costs
– High turnover
– Distracted employees
– Low participation in company-sponsored retirement plans
Plus, mentally and financially healthy employees are 37% more likely to be productive at work.
Workplace flexibility with reimbursements
97% of employees desire remote work—either full-time or hybrid. Offering work-from-home flexibility is an excellent start to giving employees what they want. If you’re worried about productivity, don’t be. 83% of employees are more productive when working remotely. You don’t have to be remote full-time, but many employees would like more workplace flexibility.
Another out-of-the-box benefit is to provide reimbursements for their home office equipment. Only 31% of employers are reimbursing remote workers for their expenses, including office supplies, devices, and internet services. Not only will this make your workers happy, but it will help you stand out from the crowd against other employers.
Offer more paid time and sick time
“We realized back in May 2020 that nobody was taking days off,” says Ryan Denehy, CEO of Electric. And it’s true. In 2019, 55% of American employees didn’t use their vacation time. 54% of workers said they felt guilty taking any time off. That’s more than half the workforce. This is a problem because if employees work themselves into the ground, they’ll face the negative consequences of burnout.
There’s also an issue with remote employees taking their sick time. Remote workers assume they shouldn’t take sick time, because they won’t get anyone else sick. You don’t want remote employees neglecting their health—it’ll cost both of you more in healthcare costs in the long run. It’s better that they heal and get the rest they need.
Here are some ways to offer more paid time and sick time (and make sure employees actually use it):
– Offer mandatory paid vacation time
– Provide an incentive for taking vacation time (such as a $500 bonus)
– Paid maternity and paternity leave
Also, never underestimate the importance of crafting communications. Effective messaging can encourage employees to take their paid and sick time.
Other unique options
You can be creative when it comes to creating your own unique benefits offerings. To help you brainstorm, here are the benefits that are most valued by job seekers:
We highly recommend prioritizing what benefits your employees actually want. We find there’s often a chasm between what employers offer, versus what employees want. Reference this list as you create your own unique benefits offerings. You can also create ways to get feedback and poll employees.
No matter what benefits you offer, prioritize communication
It’s not enough to simply offer benefits. You also need to drive employee understanding and engagement with communications. Benefits that aren’t used are just dollars wasted.
7 in 10 employees want to keep learning about their benefits—even after signing up. They want to understand their benefits and how to access them.
We know creating benefits messaging is no easy feat, but we’re here to help. LearnYour Benefits helps you create year-round promotional campaigns and a one-stop benefits education site. Schedule a demo today to learn more. It’ll only take 20 minutes.
