Employees are at the core of any good business. If they are well-motivated and valued, they can help companies to achieve high levels of productivity. To maintain a good workforce, companies need to have attractive employee benefits. Here are what employee benefits mean, what benefits are provided, their objectives, and other details.
What Does ‘Employee Benefits’ Mean?
Your workforce is important in the efficiency and growth of your business. While you will be paying your workers a salary, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are happy or valued.
Although many workers will be productive at work, additional benefits that the employer provides will add to their happiness at work and so assist in increasing their productivity. These used to be called ‘fringe’ benefits, but they are now known as a compensation package.
Many companies now understand the importance of these benefits for keeping their workforce happy and healthy. Examples of large companies recently judged to offer the best compensation packages to their employees include Google, Microsoft, and Facebook.
What Benefits Do They Offer?
There are some common benefits that companies will give their employees. These benefits include:
- Free lunches, or lunch provided at a subsidized rate. This can either be in a company canteen or as a special deal created with a local restaurant or food outlet.
- Free medical cover for the employee and their family. This can be a big incentive for some workers and include dental cover as well.
- Life insurance is another one of the employee benefits that can make a big difference.
- Retirement funds are offered by many companies. These funds can include a pension, a lump sum or both.
- Maternity leave for up to 90 days for female employees. However, parenting leave for male employees is also offered by many companies.
- Gym or other recreational facilities at either the workplace or a local gym.
What Are the Objectives of Employee Benefits?
Companies have realized over the years that offering benefits is a good idea. Some of the reasons they offer such incentives include:
- To offer protection to the employee against accidents. Hence, the company might provide life insurance along with medical coverage.
- To attract or retain employees. If a company wants to keep their best workers or attract new talent, they need to offer something other companies don’t.
- To reward good service to the employer or because the employee holds a special position within the company.
- Medical coverage can help employees return to work sooner and rely less on sick leave.
Deciding Which Benefits to Offer
When you are considering which benefits you can offer your employees, it is important to think about their needs.
For example, if your company office is far from the nearest town, then subsidized travel would be a good idea. If your company has an active union, discussing with them which employee benefits you should put on the table can help you to make sure these benefits are genuinely useful.
Conclusion
Offering benefits to your workforce is more about making them happy rather than saving money. However, with the right incentives, you will have a hardworking team you will be able to rely on at all times.
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