Are benefit packages really important? There is much competition for recruits and employees and manufacturers especially need to stand out to potential candidates if they are going to get their products to market in a timely fashion. Let's discuss how not having a good benefit package can cost you more money in the long run.
- Recruiting - In most interviews companies are asked about their benefits packages. You can fail to attract that perfect candidate if you do not have a good benefit package for your employees. Recruits often compare the offerings of potential employers and you can be eliminated if you don't have a strong benefit package.
- Retaining Employees - Just like with recruits you can lose good talent to another company if you do not have good benefits. SHRM says that replacing an employee can range from 50% to 200% of annual salary costs due to hiring and training costs. Reducing your turnover by keeping employees happy will result in keeping customers happy as well. Having good employee morale will help attract new talent when they talk about how they love where they work and a great benefit portfolio helps to anchor in-demand employees.
- Healthier Employees – Employees will take advantage of preventative care as well as sick visits when they know they can go to the doctor/dentist when they (or their dependents) have a need. Thus, keeping the employees healthier and reducing the spread of seasonal illnesses among the team. When they are ill, they can use their time off plans to recuperate and get better. When an employee knows you care for them, they do their best for you and overall morale is higher among such employee bases.
Now that we have covered why we want to set up our benefits packages, let's discuss what types of benefits I see offered most often.
Primary Benefits
- Time Offs - vacation, sick, PTO, Paid Holidays, Bereavement Leave
- Retirement Plans - 401ks, 403b, or Pension Plans, HSA
- Medical, Prescription, Dental, and Vision
- Flexible Schedules like summer schedules where you get every other Friday afternoon off, or 4/10, or 9/80 schedules, 2 on/2 off
Other Options
- Dependent Care (FSA)
- Life Insurance - most companies offer Company Provided Life Insurance and some also offer additional life insurance for the employees, spouse, and/or children.
- Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) - most companies offer Company Provided AD&D and some offer supplemental coverage for the employees, spouse, and/or children.
- Wellness programs
- Long-term Care policies
- Bonuses
Other Time Offs
- Maternity & paternity leave (Paid Bonding time for new parents)
- Military leave
- Family Medical Leave – FMLA (when not required for employers with less than 50 employees)
- Time off for volunteering
- Wedding Day(s)
- Extended Illness Leave (roll over unused sick time into a bank for catastrophic illness)
Others
Putting together a great Stock options
Performance bonuses
Charitable gift matching
Education & skills
Gym memberships
Mobile phone discounts
Company cars
Employee discounts
Free lunches
Student Loan Pay Off
Class fee reimbursement (non-job related)
Company Filed Day / Olympics
Pet Insurance
Heat / Weather Bonus (Manufacturing environments experience extreme temperature swings)
Cold Water and Gatorade stations around the plant floor
Discounted Event tickets (concerts and ball games)
Putting together a great benefit package for your recruits and employees can help give you a competitive advantage and keep your customers happier due to service by happy employees. Look at what you can afford and work with your HR team and broker to come up with the best benefit program for your company.
