Businesses of all sizes, especially small businesses, need help finding and keeping good employees. With smaller teams, employers need to keep talented people for as long as possible.
Because of this, it is crucial for small businesses to offer benefits that will attract and keep as many workers as possible. Employers can ask workers what kinds of benefits they would be most interested in and then use that information to make decisions about employee benefits.
There are some things that all employees of small businesses have in common, even though each team will have different needs and goals.
This article will discuss six popular perks that small businesses use to attract and keep workers.
Health Insurance
One of the benefits that small business employees always want the most is health insurance. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever to have good health insurance. Employers can compete for the best workers by offering good health benefits.
Leave Benefits
Employees value the ability to take time off from work. And because of the COVID-19 pandemic, employees may have to take care of more people than they did before. This makes it even more important to have flexible schedules. Depending on the job, leave benefits may include paid time off (PTO), vacation days, or sick days. Increasing these benefits could be an excellent way for employers to attract and keep employees. This could mean letting people earn PTO faster, giving them more sick days, or letting them make their schedules.
Performance Bonuses
People want to be noticed for the hard work they do. Doing it can help morale and make it easier to keep employees. Adding performance bonuses as a benefit for employees can be a way to deal with this. There are different kinds of performance bonuses, but the general idea is to reward employees in some way for doing a good job. How this works in real life depends on the job. Employees might get things like gift cards, cash, more time off, or other perks depending on how well they do their jobs. But before giving such bonuses, employers should ensure they follow any employee pay laws that apply to the workplace.
Retirement Planning
Employees care a lot about their financial security, and this feeling grows as they get closer to retirement age. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s also on the minds of people who are having trouble making ends meet. Workers put time and effort into their jobs. In exchange for their years of service, many workers want their employers to put money into their retirements. A 401(k) with matching contributions can be a great way to get and keep good employees because it shows that the employer cares about them in the long run.
Professional Development
Employees may leave a job for reasons other than money, such as wanting to try something new or needing more of a challenge. Therefore, employers should think proactively about ways to keep employees around. In other words, when it comes to top performers, employers should be reluctant to let these employees go.
That’s where professional development comes in. This usually means cross-training employees for other jobs or preparing them in different ways to take on more responsibilities. This helps provide the employee with more growth opportunities while keeping them within the business. In addition, having these learning opportunities shows potential employees that a workplace has room for growth and is willing to help employees reach their career goals, two things that can be very important in recruiting conversations.
Wellness Benefits
Wellness is a hot topic, and employees are increasingly looking for employers who take wellness seriously. However, looking at wellness programs through the lens of the pandemic could be seen as ignoring health as a whole, which employers want to avoid.
Different workplaces will provide various wellness benefits, but all of them will strive to offer some variety. Some examples are counseling for mental health, healthy snacks in the break room, gym memberships, fitness trackers, yoga classes, and other perks. At the end of the day, workers want to know that their bosses care about them. This means putting health and happiness first.
Conclusion
Knowing which employee benefits to offer as attraction and retention tools can be challenging. One of the best places to start is surveying current and prospective employees, as the offerings are meant for them. Beyond that, the perks listed in this article are popular among employees, making them a viable option to try as well. However, these benefits are only some employers’ options to help attract and retain employees.
Reach us today to learn more about these perks and other potential incentives.