Leveraging Benefits Packages to Help Improve Your Hiring Efforts

tim mossholder GOMhuCj O9w unsplash scaled
cropped F EBM Bio
Written by Frank Mengert

Attracting great talent to an organization isn’t as easy as it was years ago. Today, many more businesses are vying for the attention of job candidates while offering various incentives to help improve their applicant counts.

For most businesses, the means needing to look past simply offering an attractive salary to get noticed. Many individuals are looking for organizations that are willing to invest in them in the long term. While this can come in many forms, employer benefits packages are a great way to prove this.

A thoughtfully designed benefits package can be a game-changer for organizations looking to widen their potential talent pool and improve their hiring efforts. By providing a comprehensive selection of benefits, it shows potential job candidates where your values are as an organization, helping you not only increase the number of resumes you receive but also improve long-term staff retention rates.

Understanding Your Ideal Job Candidates

A big part of creating a benefits package that appeals to your ideal candidates is to take the time to recognize what matters most to them. While you may not be able to meet everyone’s needs, you can short-list the benefits that are likely to get the reaction you’re hoping for.

To help you get started in the right direction, research what other similar brands are offering to their employees. This will give you a good baseline for what’s competitive. Make a list of the standard offerings that most companies offer while also noting unique company perks that stand out. 

Next, you consider the demographics of the potential employees likely to apply for your job openings. For example, many Millennials and Gen Z employees place a high priority on achieving a better work-life balance. To appeal to this need, you might want to consider applying alternative benefits like flexible working arrangements or mental health support services. This is a great way to highlight your business’s priorities concerning the well-being of your employees and helps to personalize the brand.

Explore Core Benefits Offerings

As you start looking at the different benefits options available to attract more job applicants, there are a few offerings that most organizations typically like to include. Some of these key benefits are:

Health Insurance

Many people highly value flexible healthcare plans employers offer when looking at new job opportunities. Depending on specific state regulations, there may be certain minimum coverage options and reporting standards required by the organization. Many standardized healthcare plans include forms of coverage for doctor visits, emergency procedures, maternity care, and prescription medication

While not offered by all employers, vision and dental care are other forms of healthcare coverage that many individuals value. Although most of these options won’t cover all the costs associated with medical care, they can significantly lower out-of-pocket expenses.

Retirement Plans

Another important feature of many benefits packages is retirement savings plans. These types of plans are designed to help employees save for their future and are a great way to encourage individuals to stick around for the long haul.

401(k) plans are popular choices for incorporating these types of plans into employer benefit packages. These arrangements let employees deposit a portion of their pre-tax earnings into a retirement savings account. Businesses can also match a certain percentage of these contributions to encourage more employee participation.

Paid Time Off (PTO)

Employee time off is another critical aspect of a comprehensive benefits package and can be one of the greatest attractants for high-quality employees.

While companies may have their own strategies for offering paid time off, a popular trend in some industries is to offer unlimited vacation time. This approach allows employees more flexibility in managing their time off needs and helps them more effectively balance their personal and professional responsibilities.

Measuring the Impact of Your Benefits Program

Having the right benefits program in place can be a powerful tool for attracting, retaining, and motivating your employees. But how do you know if your benefits program is as effective as it should be? This is where benchmarking and measuring its performance over time is so valuable. Here are some steps you can take to achieve this:

1. Track Employee Satisfaction

One way to gauge how well your benefits program is structured is to go straight to the source. Ask your employees how they feel about your benefits packages and where they could be improved. Use surveys to gather employee feedback and gauge their overall satisfaction. 

Make sure to ask specific questions about their perceived value of the benefits, how often they use them, and how well they understand the details of each benefit.

2. Monitor Key Metrics

An important metric to track over time is your employee turnover rates. You’ll want to understand whether there are any potential connections between employee departures and the format of the benefits being offered.

Employee engagement is another important indicator. Fully engaged employees are more productive and committed to the work they do. By monitoring engagement metrics like absenteeism or work performance, you’ll be able to see if and how these change in relation to any addition or removal of certain benefits offerings.

3. Conduct Regular Competitor Reviews

It’s important to see how your benefits and other business perks stack up against your competition. You’ll want to regularly compare your offerings to those of similar organizations in your industry and region. This can help you identify areas where you may be lagging behind or might help you highlight the areas where your business goes over and above for employees.

You should also regularly evaluate the costs of your benefits programs against their perceived value through a cost-benefit analysis. This will help you ensure that you’re balancing the financial impact of employee investments while still achieving the right ROI.

Put Together a More Attractive Benefits Offering

A comprehensive benefits package can be a great investment for your business. It helps attract and retain high-quality talent and showcases your commitment to the professional growth and overall well-being of your workforce. By offering the right combination of benefits, you’ll create a more positive and engaging work environment that will help your business scale long-term.